Bunratty International Chess Festival
The Bunratty International Chess Festival is a chess tournament held annually in the village of Bunratty near Limerick in County Clare on Ireland's west coast. It was first held in 1994 and with around 300 to 350 participants is the most popular and largest open chess tournament in Ireland.
The tournament comprises six rounds in the Swiss system , which are played on a weekend in February from Friday to Sunday. The field of participants is divided into four groups - Masters , Challengers , Major and Minor - based on the ratings of the players and includes several grandmasters , international champions and other titleholders in the Masters group . The prize money for the four group winners is between 300 euros in the minor group and 1000 euros in the masters group.
The winners of the Masters group so far include Nigel Short (2016, 2017), Wesley So (2015), Gawain Jones (2011, 2014), Michael Adams (2012, 2013), Alexander Baburin (1995, 2010), Peter Swidler (2008, 2009), Joel Benjamin (2007), Simon Williams (2006), John Nunn (2003), Mark Hebden (2001), Sergey Tiviakov (1999, 2018), Luke McShane (1998, 2019), Jonathan Speelman ( 1997) and Daniel King (1996).
Web links
- Bunratty International Chess Festival Official Website
Coordinates: 52 ° 41 ′ 46.4 " N , 8 ° 48 ′ 54.7" W.