In the last list of the top Chess players we published, we ranked the best Maltese Chess players. Now in this article, we’re ranking the best Irish Chess players from Ireland, starting with the number ten spot in FIDE. All of the players in this list are master level players with Elo ratings above 2200. For more information on ratings, see the guide on how to get a FIDE rating.
10. David Fitzsimons
Full Name: David Fitzsimons
Title: International Master
Born: January 1, 1991
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 3269
Rapid: 2363
Blitz: 2295
Classical: 2337
Profiles
David Fitzsimons was accredited with the title of International Master in 2012 and the FIDE Master title in 2012. From 2004 to 2022, David competed in 187 games; with 62 wins, 62 draws, and 63 losses accumulating to an average winning score of 49.73 percent. He has since played in various tournaments, including; Irish New Year GM 2022 in Ireland, 1st EJCOA Forest Hall Inv 2021 in the United Kingdom, Wood Green Inv 2021 in the United Kingdom, and 27th Bunratty Masters 2020 in Ireland.
9. Ryan Rhys Griffiths
Full Name: Ryan Rhys Griffiths
Title: FIDE Master
Born: December 20, 1993
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 2945
Rapid: N/A
Blitz: 2276
Classical: 2352
Profiles
Ryan Rhys Griffiths was accorded the FIDE Master title in 2011. From 1992 to 2019, he played a total of 38 games; with 16 wins, 6 draws, and 16 losses accumulating to an average winning score of 50 percent. He has since played in various tournaments, including Najdorf Mem Open- 2019 in Poland, Rodeby op- 2000 in Sweden, Linkoping-B 2018 in Sweden, and SWE-Ch U16 1998 in Sweden.
8. Mark Heidenfeld
Full Name: Mark Heidenfeld
Title: International Master
Born: January 1, 1968
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 2877
Rapid: 2376
Blitz: 2373
Classical: 2355
Profiles
Mark Heidenfeld was accorded the title of International Master in 1998. From 1986 to 2019, he played 462 games; with 155 wins, 187 draws, and 120 losses accumulating an average winning score of 53.79 percent. Some of the tournaments he played include; the 26th Bunratty Masters 2019 in Ireland, 1st Schachzauber 2018 in Germany, 42nd Olympiad 2016 in Azerbaijan, and Bunratty Masters 2016 in Ireland.
7. Mark Quinn
Full Name: Mark Quinn
Title: Candidate Master
Born: January 1, 1976
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 2731
Rapid: 2374
Blitz: 2225
Classical: 2374
Profiles
Mark Quinn was accorded the title of International Master in 1997 and became a FIDE Trainer in 2020. From 1990 to 2022 he has played in a totaling 561 games; 178 wins, 214 draws, and 169 losses accounting for a winning score of 50.8 percent. The tournaments he last played include; 53rd Italian Teams GpB- 2022 in Italy, Philip Hogarty Mem GM-2019 in Ireland, Kilkenny Master- 2016 in Ireland, and 47th Italian Teams- 2015 in Italy.
6. Tarun Kanyamarala
Full Name: Tarun Kanyamarala
Title: FIDE Master
Born: January 1, 2004
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 2329
Rapid: 2059
Blitz: 2219
Classical: 2379
Profiles
Tarun Kanyamarala was accorded the FIDE Master 2019. In the 120 games, he played from 2018 to 2022, he won 37, drew 35, and lost 48, thus earning a winning score of 45.42 percent. Among the last tournaments, he played include Cattolica Chess Open A- 2022 in Italy, 2nd Festival d’Estate OpA- 2022 in Italy, ICU Easter GM- 2022 in Ireland, and 22nd ch-EUR Indiv- 2022 in Slovenia.
5. Alexander Baburin
Full Name: Alexander Baburin
Title: Grandmaster
Born: February 19, 1967
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 1913
Rapid: N/A
Blitz: 2485
Classical: 2400
Profiles
Alexander Baburin was accredited with the Grandmaster title in 1996 and the International Master title in 1990. He has a FIDE rating of 2400 as of July 2022 and a Peak rating of 2598. In 2008, he emerged victorious in the Irish Championship, an achievement he made during his prime entry into the tournament. he is the only player in Ireland with a Grandmaster title. Baburin clinched the John Bolger Cup in 2022 after defeating Jacob Flynn & Vladyslav Larkin on a tie-break.
4. Tom O`Gorman
Full Name: Tom O`Gorman
Title: FIDE Master
Born: January 1, 2002
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 1905
Rapid: 2041
Blitz: 2247
Classical: 2401
Profiles
Tom O`Gorman was granted the title of FIDE Master in 2017. From 2017 to 2022 he has played a total of 91 tournaments; with 28 wins, 20 draws, and 43 losses accumulating to an average winning score of 41.76 percent. Tom has competed in some notable tournaments such as; ICU Easter GM 2022 in Ireland, 22nd Ch-EUR Indiv 2022 in Slovenia, Irish New Year GM 2022 in Ireland, and 2nd EJCOA Forest Hall Inv- 2021 in the United Kingdom.
3. Conor E Murphy
Full Name: Conor E Murphy
Title: International Master
Born: January 1, 1999
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 1836
Rapid: 2082
Blitz: 2082
Classical: 2404
Profiles
Conor E Murphy was granted the International Master title in 2021 and the FIDE Master title in 2017. He has competed in a total of 166 tournaments from 2018 to 2022; for which he achieved 58 wins, 63 draws, and 45 losses accumulating an average winning score of 53.92 percent. Notable tournaments he recently competed in include; Krakow International 2022 in Poland, ICU Easter GM 2022 in Ireland, 22nd ch-EUR Indiv 2022 in Slovenia, and GM ASK 10 2022 in Serbia.
2. Alex Astaneh Lopez
Full Name: Alex Astaneh Lopez
Title: International Master
Born: January 1, 1987
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 1587
Rapid: 2377
Blitz: 2488
Classical: 2419
Profiles
Alex Astaneh Lopez was accorded the title of International Master title in 2011 and the title of FIDE Master in 2006. He has competed in a total of 227 tournaments from 2003 to 2020. In those tournaments, he performed averagely by winning 92, drawing 68, and losing 67 in those games thus averaging a winning score of 55.51 percent. He competed in notable tournaments including; 27th Bunratty Masters 2020 in Ireland, 4NCL Div. 1b 2019-20 in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar Masters 2020in the United Kingdom, and Irish New Year Norm GM 2020 in Ireland.
1. Sam E Collins
Full Name: Sam E Collins
Title: International Master
Born: September 5, 1982
Federation: Ireland
Ratings
World ranking: 1092
Rapid: 2446
Blitz: 2386
Classical: 2459
Profiles
Sam E Collins was accorded the title of International Master in 2004 and the title of FIDE Master in 2003. He played for his country from 2000 to 2014 in each chess Olympiad. He became a gold medalist in 2002 while playing for the 2nd reserve. In addition, he clinched the 2002 and 2004 Irish chess tournaments and in 2009, he emerged victorious in the Japanese Chess Tournament. He has competed in a total of 309 tournaments from 1998 to 2022; for which he achieved 109 wins, 114 draws, and 86 losses accumulating an average winning score of 53.72 percent. Notable tournaments he recently competed in include; Irish New Year GM 2022, 4NCL Div 1b 2019-20, Irish New Year Norm GM 2020, and 4NCL Div 1c 2018-19.
That concludes the list of the best Irish Chess players. If you like list posts like this, you may also be interested in seeing the ten best Kazakh Chess players or the best Mongolian Chess players.
Sources
- “Everyman Chess – Publisher of chess books and ebooks”. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- “Grischuk concedes draw on top board for Russia on Day 1 – The Week in Chess”. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- Olympiad teams. The Irish Chess Union. March 15, 2014, accessed July 28, 2019
- “Clock simul: Topalov vs the Irish national team”. Chess News. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2021
- O’Connell, Édaein. “The Green Gambit: The Irish chess stars making waves internationally”. The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- McAlister, David (1999). “History of the Early Championships”. The Irish Chess Archive. Archived from the original on 2 March 1999 – via the Wayback Machine).
- Wolfgang Heidenfeld 1911–1981 by Mark Orr, Irish Chess Union Website (June 1998).
- “Alexander Baburin Ireland’s only chess grand master”. RUSSIANIRELAND – Русская Ирландия (in Russian). 21 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- “The Week in Chess 1430”. theweekinchess.com. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- Men’s Chess Olympiads. Sam Collins. OlimpBase.