| Notes |
| Key |
In "Pairings & results", - "(age)" denotes the player's age on his or her birthday in 2026 (irrespective of whether the birthday fell before, during, or after the event)
- "x-ch" denotes former Irish champions, via circled dot for defending champion, dot otherwise
- "ol" denotes players who are scheduled to play in the 2026 (Open) Olympiad, Samarkand
- "ch#" denotes the number of championships the player played in, including this one
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| Olympiad place |
The champion is guaranteed an automatic Olympiad place for the 2028 (Open) Olympiad, if eligible. |
| Débuts |
- 18 players made their Irish championship débuts: Andhurthi, Biswal, Campbell, Field, Martin Fitzgerald, Niall Fitzgerald, Greenan, Heron, Hughes, Landmark, Murray Liu, Mariya Boby, Moull, Mulukutla, O'Brien, Singhal, Thomas Boby and Tureshbayev.
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| Ages |
The median age (actually "(age)"; see Key above) was 18. |
| Eligibility |
Under rules approved at the 2018 AGM, some players could have the rating requirement ignored provided they were nominated by: a. The ICU Executive (maximum 2 players); or b. The tournament organisers (maximum 1 player). In addition, the Irish Women’s Champion, Irish 50+ and 65+ Champions, and all previous IRL winners of this event were automatically eligible to play in the Irish Championship irrespective of rating.
For this event, all players met the rating requirement.
Under new rules approved at the 2025 AGM, all players were eligible for the title of Irish champion. |
| Tie-break |
The tie-break method (see Terms and Conditions) was initially adopted for the 2018 championship, based on ICU Executive Committee decision, and subsequently ratified at the 2018 AGM for all Irish championships; it was modified on July 18, 2026 to change the procedure for resolving ties for places in the playoff match. |
| Bye allowance |
Before the start of the championship, a player could request a half point bye for one round in the first 5 rounds. No half-point byes are permitted after the fifth round. Any bye requests received for rounds 6-9, or for any round after the tournament has started, would be a zero point bye. |
| Ratings |
- FIDE ratings are from the August 2026 list.
- ICU ratings are from the July 2026 list.
|
| Records |
The 55 players who were included in the draw for round 1 would consitute the largest field ever for an Irish championship, beating the previous record of 53, set at the same venue in 2024, if all players play. (The draw for the initial round included one bye and two players not playing.) |
| Versions |
- v0.1 (1 Aug 2026): preliminary version with first round draw.
- v0.2 (1 Aug 2026): updated with round 1 results and round 2 draw
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| Author |
Seán Coffey |