The Munster Junior Chess Championships 2025 were held on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December 2025 at the West County Hotel, Ennis. Age bands were U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18, with a Girls Champion Shield for each age group above age 10. Titles can only be won by Munster residents. The organiser was John Cassidy.
Limerick prize winners
U8 winner: Aydin Sanuj
U12 winner: Aayan Sanuj
U14 winner: Korneliusz Bartczak; 3rd in U14: Maslen Briggs
The Shannon Rapidplay chess tournament was held on Sunday 19 October 2025, from 12 pm to 4 pm, at the Shannon Oakwood Hotel.
Rate of play: all moves in 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move
Entry fee: €10 (multiple entries, €25 maximum per family). Players were asked to register the night before, as the draw was made in advance
Prizes: trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, and a trophy for Top Girl
Levels: Level 1, under-9s and beginners; Level 2, juniors only (intermediate, playing less than 2 to 3 years); Level 3, open to all ages, experienced players (for example ICU rating 1000–1400); Level 4, open to all ages, stronger players (for example ICU rating 1400+)
The 33rd Cork Congress was held from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 October 2025 at the Clayton Hotel, Cork City, 10 Lapps Quay, Cork.
Format: five-round FIDE-rated Swiss in all sections, with 90 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment from move 1
Sections: Masters (1800 and above), Majors (1550 to 1850) and Minors (1600 and below)
Entry fee: €60 for all sections, or €50 for entries received before 26 September. Entries closed on Wednesday 1 October, with online entry at icu.ie/events/1968
Contact: Mark Watkins
Eligibility: all Irish residents must be members of the Irish Chess Union
The 104th Irish Championship was held from Friday 1 to Sunday 10 August 2025 at the Treacys West County Hotel, Clare Road, Ennis (tel. 065 686 9600).
Main event: nine rounds. Rounds 1–8 from Saturday 2 to Saturday 9 August at 3 pm; Round 9 on Sunday 10 August at 11 am
Eligibility: Irish federation players rated 1900+ (FIDE or ICU, any 2025 list)
Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment from move 1
Prizes: guaranteed prize fund of €4,000, with a first prize of €1,500. The winner is declared Irish champion and offered a place on the next Irish Olympiad team, subject to the eligibility criteria
Other events: Irish Junior U20 and U12 Rapid Championship, Irish Rapid Championships, a Weekday Open, an Irish Junior U20 and U12 Blitz Championship, weekend Opens and the Irish Blitz Championship
Entries and details were handled through the Irish Chess Union calendar (www.icu.ie/calendar); the entry contact was John Cassidy.
The Munster Junior Chess Championships 2024 were held on 7–8 December 2024 at the West County Hotel, Ennis. There were 102 entries in five age groups: U8, U10, U12, U14 and a combined U16–U18 section. The tournament controller was Ray O’Brien and John Cassidy was the organiser, who presented the prizes.
Limerick prize winners
U18: 1st Jamie Comley (4.5/5 in the combined U16–U18 section); 2nd George Stack (4/5)
U16: Cathal Murphy, section champion
U12: Maslen Briggs, section winner
Henry Shagoyan won the U14 section.
Source: Limerick Chess Club archive.
Photographs
2024 Munster Junior tournament 2nd U18 section prize winner George Stack(Limerick) George scored 4/5 points.
2024 Munster Junior tournament 1st prize winner Cathal Murphy(Limerick) being presented with the U16 section Champion trophy by John Cassidy.
2024 Munster Junior tournament joint 2nd and U16 prize winner Misha Hudkov(Ukraine/Ennis) being presented with his prize by tournament organiser John Cassidy.
2024 Munster Junior tournament U16 joint 6th overall and girls 1st prize winner Leonie Heydemann(Ennis) presented with her prize by organiser John Cassidy.
The Ennis Open was held from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 February 2022 at the West County Hotel, Clare Road, Ennis. It was a five-round event with 132 players.
Prize winners
1st: IM Sam E. Collins (Gonzaga), 5 points.
Joint 2nd–3rd: FM Colm Daly (Bray) and Sam O’Neill (University College Dublin), 4.5 points.
Report by Neal Kirby. The Limerick Chess Club junior team won the West of Ireland Junior League 2016-17, beating Ennis 3.5–0.5 in the final on 15 January 2017. The Limerick team was James Naughton (board 1), Con Kirby (board 2), Colm McElwain (board 3) and Frankie Naughton (board 4).
Rounds 1–2
Held at the West County Hotel, Ennis, on Sunday 16 October 2016. Limerick won 7 of the 8 games. The Ennis team, who all play in Limerick, put up a strong display against Limerick in the first round. The Ennis team was Evan Forde, Dylan Murphy, Sean Hehir and Aaron Lillis.
Rounds 3–4
Held at the Oranmore Lodge Hotel, outside Galway City, on Sunday 13 November 2016. Limerick won 3 of the 8 games, while Ennis won 7 of 8 and took the lead, with Ennis on 10.5 and Limerick on 10 before the final rounds.
Round 5 and the final
Held at the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe, on Sunday 15 January 2017. Limerick won round 5 by 4–0 against Briarhill, giving them 14 out of 20 for the league after five rounds. Ennis took round 5 by 3–1 against Ballinasloe for 13.5. The top two teams then met in the final, and Limerick beat Ennis 3.5–0.5 to take first place.
Place
Team
Points after round 5
1
Limerick
14
2
Ennis
13.5
3
The Bish
11.5
4
Galway
10.5
5
Ballinasloe
7.5
6
Briarhill
3
A second Ennis team, Ennis National, won the West of Ireland Shield, taking 22 of 24 games and a 4–0 win in the Shield final.
The Irish National Clubs Championship 2015 was held over the weekend of 25–26 April 2015 at the West County Hotel, Ennis. Six teams played four rounds: Adare, Ballinasloe, Ennis, Gonzaga, Limerick and Loyola.
Limerick’s matches
Round 1: Ennis 3–3 Limerick
Round 2: Limerick 1–5 Ballinasloe
Round 3: Adare 5.5–0.5 Limerick
Round 4: Limerick 1–5 Ennis
Limerick finished 6th with 0.5 match points. Adare and Gonzaga qualified to represent Ireland at the European Clubs Championship in Skopje, on 17–25 October 2015. The championship was organised by John Cassidy and Andrew Ingram, with Brian Scully as controller.
