Pawn stars: Top chess players converge on Kilkenny for International Masters

The Kilkenny International Chess Masters returned to Kilkenny recently at the Ormonde Hotel and the Club House Hotel.

The Kilkenny Masters was first contested in 1993 and is the flagship event for the Kilkenny Chess Congress, which is the longest running event in the Irish chess calendar.

The competition was established to bring chess grandmasters to Ireland, giving Irish players the opportunity to compete against world-class opponents.

Since its inception, more than 100 internationally recognised chess players have taken part in the tournament. This year’s event featured eight Grand Masters and seven International Masters. 

The competition also featured Women’s International Master, Trisha Kanyamarala, who was Irish Women’s chess champion last year. More than 200 players took part over the weekend at the Kilkenny venues.

A unique feature of the Kilkenny Masters was the fun blitz event held on the Sunday night. The blitz gave novice players the chance to test their skills against chess grandmasters in a more relaxed, social setting. This year’s event was sponsored by CRH.

Maurice Buckley, event organiser and chess coach said the event saw a number of high-quality matches which also featured some of Ireland’s best players.

"I would like to extend my thanks to the event organisers and to the Ormonde Hotel and the Club House Hotel for hosting us," he said.

"I’d also like to congratulate all our winners who were honoured at the prize giving as well as everyone else who took part across the weekend.”