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The Irish Chess Union (ICU) was formed in 1912, is the governing body for chess in Ireland and a member of FIDE since 1933[1] and the European Chess Union. The ICU promotes Chess in Ireland, maintains the chess rating for players in Ireland which are published three times a year and runs competitions such as the Irish Chess Championship, and selects teams to participate in International Competitions for Ireland. Before the establishment of the ICU there was chess competitions in Ireland run under organisations named The Irish Chess Association which had been formed in 1885 and the Hibernia Chess Association, or indeed run by various chess clubs. The Armstrong Cup is the oldest Irish team league competition and has been played every year since 1888 perhaps giving it the a claim on the longest running chess competition in the world. While chess in Ireland has been concentrated around the big cities of Dublin, Belfast and Cork, there are a number of clubs throughout the country such as Derry, Drogheda, Ennis, Galway, Killkenny, Portadown, Wicklow to name a few. There are leagues held in the provinces and the winning teams (and runners up) playing off in the National Club Championships (although in recent years the Ulster leagues have not participated), with the winning team (and runners up) being entered into the European Club Championships.
Irish Chess JournalThe ICU had published magazines in the past such as the Irish Chess Journal for members of the association, in recent years to reduce costs this has been curtailed since 2007 to a biannual online magazine. Junior Chess Corner was a magazine/ezine produced in 2007 by the ICU aimed at juniors and beginners. There have been a number of incarnations of the official magazine from the ICU, such as Ficheall/Irish Chess Magazine in the 1950's and Chess in Ireland[2], in the 1960's. CompetitionsCompetitions are held through out the year mostly run by individual clubs or by provincial Unions such as the City of Dublin, Cork Congress (Mulcahy Cup), Bunratty, Limerick Open, Galway Congress, Drogheda, Malahide, Bray, Kilkenny Congress, Ulster and Leinster Championships. A number of significant tournaments have been held in the the past
Team CompetitionsThe Leinster Chess Union run chess leagues, there are six divisions, a number of them named after significant figures in Irish Chess. The Armstrong Cup is probably the oldest perpetual chess trophy in the world played continually since 1888.[4]
The Leinster Chess Union also runs a knockout team competition after the team league competitions have finished, the Brannigan Cup, for players from division one and two and Kinane Shield. The Ulster Chess Union run a number of team league competitions in Ulster for teams mainly in the Belfast area. The Belfast and District Leagues Division One play for the Ulster Trophy/Silver King, which has been played for since 1893. The all-ulster league competition usually played in a variety of formats over the years so as to include sides from the rest of the province. In Munster there are three divisions run annually for which club sides in Cork, Limerick, Ennis, Shannon, Tralee, Dungarvin compete Junior ChessUnderage/Schools Chess Provincial and All Ireland competitions are held annually. Glorney and Faber CupsIn 1948 a Dublin businessman Cecil Parker Glorney and competitive chess player and President of Rathmines Chess Club, created the Glorney Cup. It was joined twenty years later by the Faber Cup. These two events have been held annually and bring together national squads from across Europe (although it is mainly just between teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England) for three days of intensive and extremely competitive chess. This year, under 12 and under 14 teams competed alongside their older compatriots. Held this year at Dublin City University and organised by the Irish Chess Union.[5] The 2008 Glorney and Faber Cups were held in Liverpool as part of its City of Culture celebrations.[6] Irish Braille Chess AssociationThe Braille Chess Association of Ireland was established in 1985 to promote Chess among the blind and partially sighted. The BCAI is affiliated to the International Braille Chess Association, the Irish Chess Union and Irish BlindSports.[7] The hold the National Championships and organise teams for international Competition. Correspondence ChessAffiliated to the Irish Chess Union is the Irish Correspondence Chess Association(ICCA) which is the 32-county governing body organising correspondence chess activities for Irish players living at home or abroad. A non-profit-making organisation, we run the national championship, Irish teams and other activities. The ICCA is affiliated to International Correspondence Chess Federation(ICCF).[8] External links
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