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

edit
 
John O'Hanlon (1876–1960) won the championship nine times between 1913 and 1940.
 
Six-time winner, Wolfgang Heidenfeld (1911–1981)
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
2021 Mark Heidenfeld
2022 Tarun Kanyamarala
2023 Alexander Baburin

Irish Women's Champions

edit
Hilda Chater
(1st Women's Olympiad, Emmen 1957)

Source:[8]

Senior / Veteran winners

edit
edit
includes history, scores, crosstables, bios, and interviews.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ FIDE Directory, Member Associations
  2. ^ "Irish Championship 1865", ICU web site
  3. ^ McAlister, David (1999). "History of the Early Championships". The Irish Chess Archive. Archived from the original on 2 March 1999 – via the Wayback Machine).
  4. ^ "Login". www.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Login". www.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Login".
  7. ^ "Login".
  8. ^ "Irish Women's Championship", Irish Chess History web site (David McAlister, ed.).
  9. ^ "Irish Veterans Championship". www.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Irish Veterans 2012". ratings.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Irish Veterans 2011". ratings.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Irish Veterans 2013". ratings.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Irish Veterans Championships 2015". ratings.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  14. ^ "The Irish Veterans Championships 2016". www.icu.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.