In the small but strong field, only the defending champion John Delaney and Philip Short had ever won the title before. Of the other contenders, Stephen Brady, Colm Daly, and Mark Heidenfeld, who was playing in his first Irish championship, were the highest rated.

Brady raced to a lead with full points after three rounds, including a win against Daly. But he suffered a disaster in round 4: after choosing the dashing but utterly unsound Double Muzio variation of the King's Gambit, he lost in 16 moves against Heidenfeld. He recovered with a further three consecutive wins, including defeats of Delaney and Short.

Heidenfeld was well in contention until a devastating round 7 loss to Daly, and otherwise drew too often. The other contenders took points off each other, with Delaney also losing to Daly, Short losing to Heidenfeld, and Daly convincingly defeated by Gerard McDonnell. But for stumbling into a mating net against Short in the first round, from a much better position, McDonnell could well have challenged for the title, though he too lost to Brady.

Brady finished with two draws to win comfortably, a point clear of Daly, Heidenfeld, McDonnell, and Gerard O'Connell. He led all the way, apart from falling ½ point behind after the disaster in round 4. Strangely, especially since he was top seed by FIDE rating, he was described at the time as a “surprise” winner; and after four rounds, only Daly, Heidenfeld, and Short were listed as candidates for the title.