Irish Chess Championship
The Irish Chess Championship is the national Championship of Ireland, currently run by the Irish Chess Union (ICU), the FIDE-recognised governing body for the game.[1] Below is the list of champions. The first champion was J.A. Porterfield Rynd, who won the Dublin Chess Congress 1865 No. 3 Tournament, reserved for "amateurs, bona fide resident in Ireland for the 12 months prior to 1st September 1865".[2]
The Irish Chess Association was founded in 1885. Its congresses of 1886 and 1889 included provision for determining the Irish Championship, and the winners were Richard Whieldon Barnett (later Sir Richard Barnett) and George D. Soffe, respectively.[3]
The Hibernian Chess Association was established during the 1891-92 season, and held one Irish championship, in 1892, which was won by J.A. Porterfield Rynd.
Since its foundation in 1912 the Irish Chess Union has organised the Irish Chess Championships. The events ran sporadically at first, but have been held annually since 1924, except for suspension during 1941-45.
The Irish Chess Championship has run in various formats including a round robin competition, a match system, and a Swiss system competition. Since 2013, the championship has been organised as a 9-round Swiss event, open to players registered as IRL with FIDE, who meet a rating requirement.
Irish Champions
| Year | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1865 | James Alexander Porterfield Rynd[4] | First winner |
| 1886 | Richard Whieldon Barnett[5] | |
| 1889 | George D. Soffe | |
| 1892 | James Alexander Porterfield Rynd | First person to win two championships |
| 1913 | John O'Hanlon | First person to win two consecutive championships |
| 1915 | ||
| 1922 | T.G. (Thomas George) Cranston | |
| 1924 | Philip Baker | |
| 1925 | John O'Hanlon | First person to win three championships |
| 1926 | First person to win four championships | |
| 1927 | Philip Baker | First, and so far only, person to win three consecutive championships |
| 1928 | ||
| 1929 | ||
| 1930 | John O'Hanlon | First person to win five championships |
| 1931 | T.G. (Thomas George) Cranston | |
| 1932 | John O'Hanlon | First person to win six championships |
| 1933 | James C. Creevey | |
| 1934 | ||
| 1935 | John O'Hanlon | First person to win seven championships |
| 1936 | First person to win eight championships | |
| 1937 | Thomas Cox | |
| 1938 | ||
| 1939 | Bartholomew O'Sullivan | |
| 1940 | John O'Hanlon | First person to win nine championships |
| 1946 | Bartholomew O'Sullivan | |
| 1947 | Patrick A. Duignan | |
| 1948 | Dónal J. O'Sullivan | |
| 1949 | Patrick Brendan Kennedy | |
| 1950 | T. Vincent Maher | |
| 1951 | Patrick Martin Austin Bourke | |
| 1952 | Michael Joseph Schuster | |
| 1953 | Edmund Noel Mulcahy | |
| 1954 | Terry Kelly | |
| 1955 | T. Vincent Maher | |
| 1956 | Dónal J. O'Sullivan | |
| 1957 | ||
| 1958 | Wolfgang Heidenfeld | |
| 1959 | Brian Reilly | |
| 1960 | ||
| 1961 | John Reid | |
| 1962 | John Reid / Michael F. Littleton | Shared title First shared title |
| 1963 | Wolfgang Heidenfeld | |
| 1964 | ||
| 1965 | Michael F. Littleton | |
| 1966 | John L. Moles | |
| 1967 | Wolfgang Heidenfeld | |
| 1968 | ||
| 1969 | Nicholas James Patterson | |
| 1970 | Paul Henry | |
| 1971 | John L. Moles | |
| 1972 | Wolfgang Heidenfeld | |
| 1973 | Hugh MacGrillen | |
| 1974 | Anthony Doyle | |
| 1975 | Eamon Keogh / Alan Templeton Ludgate | Shared title[6] |
| 1976 | Bernard Kernan | |
| 1977 | Ray Devenney / Alan Templeton Ludgate | Shared title |
| 1978 | Alan Templeton Ludgate | |
| 1979 | David Dunne / Eamon Keogh | Shared title[7] |
| 1980 | Paul Delaney | |
| 1981 | David Dunne / Philip Short | Shared title |
| 1982 | John Delaney | |
| 1983 | David Dunne | |
| 1984 | Eugene Curtin | |
| 1985 | Eugene Curtin / Mark Orr | Shared title |
| 1986 | John Delaney / Philip Short | Shared title |
| 1987 | John Delaney | |
| 1988 | Philip Short | |
| 1989 | Niall Carton | |
| 1990 | John Delaney | |
| 1991 | Stephen Brady | |
| 1992 | ||
| 1993 | Niall Carton | |
| 1994 | Mark Orr | |
| 1995 | Brian Kelly | |
| 1996 | Richard O'Donovan | |
| 1997 | Joseph Diarmuid Ryan | |
| 1998 | Colm Daly | |
| 1999 | ||
| 2000 | Mark Heidenfeld | |
| 2001 | Stephen Brady | |
| 2002 | Sam Collins | |
| 2003 | Stephen Brady | |
| 2004 | Joseph Diarmuid Ryan | |
| 2005 | Colm Daly | |
| 2006 | Stephen Brady | |
| 2007 | Brian Kelly / Stephen Brady | Shared title |
| 2008 | Alexander Baburin | |
| 2009 | Colm Daly | |
| 2010 | Alex Lopez | |
| 2011 | Stephen Brady | |
| 2012 | Stephen Brady / Colm Daly | |
| 2013 | Colm Daly | |
| 2014 | Sam Collins | |
| 2015 | Stephen Brady / Philip Short | Shared title |
| 2016 | Stephen Jessel | |
| 2017 | Philip Short / Alex Lopez | Shared title |
| 2018 | Alex Lopez | |
| 2019 | Conor E. Murphy | |
| 2020 | Tom O'Gorman |
Irish Women's Champions[8]
(1st Women's Olympiad, Emmen 1957)
- 1953 Hilda F. Chater
- 1954 Hilda F. Chater
- 1955 Hilda F. Chater / Kay Doolan
- 1957 Hilda F. Chater
- 1968 Dorren O'Siochru
- 1969 Catherine Byrne
- 1970 Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy
- 1971 Aileen Noonan / Cecile Meulien
- 1972 Dorren O'Siochru
- 1973 Dorren O'Siochru
- 1976 Dorren O'Siochru
- 1977 Ann Teresa Delaney
- 1980 Suzanne Connolly / Ann Teresa Delaney
- 1982 Edel Quinn
- 2010 April Cronin
- 2012 Karina Kruk
- 2013 Diana Mirza
- 2014 Gearoidín Uí Laighleis
- 2015 Monika Gedvilaite
- 2016 Monika Gedvilaite
- 2017 Ioana Miller
- 2018 Ioana Miller
- 2019 Ioana Miller
Senior / Veteran winners
- 1999 Andrew Thomson[9]
- 2000 Jack Parker
- 2001 Andrew Thomson, Maurice Coveney
- 2002 Pat Loughrey, Maurice Coveney
- 2003 Maurice Coveney
- 2004 No information found
- 2005 Pat Loughrey
- 2006 Paul Cassidy, Colm Egan
- 2007 Paul Cassidy, Jack Killane
- 2008 Jack Killane, Paul Cassidy
- 2009 Paul Cassidy
- 2010 Colm Egan, Art Coldrick, Melvyn King
- 2011 Jack Killane[10]
- 2012 Paul Cassidy[11]
- 2013 Eamon Keogh / Jack Killane[12]
- 2014 Pat Twomey / John Nicholson
- 2015 Tim Harding[13]
- 2016 Eamon Keogh[14]
- 2017
- 2018
Irish Under-19 Champion
- 1949 Michael Fagan
- 1951 Sam Ferris
- 1954 Richard Grogan
- 1957 John McMahon
- 1958 Harry Harte
- 1959 Art Coldrick (O'Connells / Phibsboro)
- 1965 Anthony Cafferky
- 1966 John Moles
- 1967 John L. Moles
- 1968 Paul Henry
- 1969 David Wilson
- 1970 Bernard Kernan
- 1971 Bernard Kernan
- 1972 Rod Nixon & Colm Quigley
- 1973 Rod Nixon
- 1974 Paul Delaney
- 1976 Colm Barry
- 1977 David Dunne
- 1978 Keith Allen
- 1979 Keith Allen, John Delaney, Sean Coffey
- 1980 Keith Allen & John Kennedy
- 1983 Eddie Grant (Phibsboro)
- 1984 Killian Hynes
- 1990 Richard McMaster (Fisherwick)
- 1997 Eoin Spring
- 1998 Adam Kelly (Sam Collins finished ahead but declared Under 16 champion)
- 1999 Sam Collins (Gonzaga)
- 2000 John Kennedy
- 2001 John Kennedy
- 2002 Stephen Stokes (Alex Lopez finished ahead but declared Under 16 champion)
- 2003 Alex Lopez
- 2004 Alex Lopez
- 2005 Matthew Dignam
- 2006 Karl McPhillips
- 2007 Jan Mueller
- 2008 Dara Murphy (Ryan-Rhys Griffiths finished ahead but declared Under 16 champion)
- 2009 Sam Osborne (St. Benildus)
- 2010 Ryan-Rhys Griffiths
- 2013 Hugh Doyle (Cork)
- 2014 Ben Cullen (Gonzaga)
- 2015 Tom O'Gorman (Dun Laoghaire)
- 2016 Conor O'Donnell (Gonzaga)
- 2017 Denis Ruchko (Ballinasloe)
- 2018 Peter Carroll (Gonzaga)
- 2019 Jacob Flynn (Malahide)
External links
- includes history, scores, crosstables, bios, and interviews.
Notes
- ^ FIDE Directory, Member Associations
- ^ "Irish Championship 1865", ICU web site
- ^ McAlister, David (1999). "History of the Early Championships". The Irish Chess Archive. Archived from the original on 2 March 1999 – via the Wayback Machine).
- ^ https://www.icu.ie/tournaments/136
- ^ https://www.icu.ie/tournaments/135
- ^ https://www.icu.ie/tournaments/67
- ^ https://www.icu.ie/tournaments/63
- ^ "Irish Women's Championship", Irish Chess History web site (David McAlister, ed.).
- ^ https://icu.ie/articles/383
- ^ http://ratings.icu.ie/tournaments/76
- ^ http://ratings.icu.ie/tournaments/204
- ^ http://ratings.icu.ie/tournaments/361
- ^ http://ratings.icu.ie/tournaments/709
- ^ http://www.icu.ie/articles/628