Hello everybody! The new year is fast approaching, and this means the new Irish Champion for 2026 must soon be decided. The Irish Championship is an 8 player event that will be played some time early in 2026 (exact date not yet decided). Anyone who has been living on the island of Ireland for at least 2 years, or is an Irish/Northern Irish citizen is now invited to try and qualify for the main event!

The qualifiers are played online, with the best 4 players advancing to the championship. (The top 4 finishers last year, Xinqun Lu, Larion Syrotkin, Philippe Renaut and John Courtney are automatically qualified for the championship). The form to enter the qualifiers is here. The deadline to enter the competition is 11pm on December 1st.

Everyone is encouraged to compete, even if you think you won’t qualify. The qualifiers give the chance to play interesting games online, sometimes against very strong opponents. We will see if the reigning champion, Xinqun Lu, can be be dethroned. Good luck to all!