Bunratty is the “Big Daddy” of Irish weekenders but this year it managed to surpass itself, breaking the 350 mark – it usually “only” has about 300 competing. The 2015 Masters, played 20-22 February, was won by Wesley So, one of the coming men in elite-level chess and already in the top 10 FIDE-ranked players.
Bunratty, like most Irish weekenders, has too tight a schedule to be FIDE-rated but this year, as in 2013, the Congress organisers added the “Bunratty Classic” – a FIDE-rated title-norm tournament. I’m currently working on a revamp of the Landmark section, so the inclusion at Irish Chess History of these two “Classics” will have to wait a little longer. However over at IRLchess there is a comprehensive report on the 2015 edition.
However, I have now posted a Bunratty page with results of the Masters since 1994- my thanks to Gerry Graham, one of the organising team there, for allowing me access to his personal archives. As a result, the information presented is more comprehensive than it would otherwise have been. Only the inaugural year of 1994 has a scarcity of detail – any help with this edition would be gratefully received.
In the Twittersphere and elsewhere, there seemed to be a few rather staid souls who considered that people should only enjoy themselves at a chess tournament by playing chess. Of course, one of the great attractions of Bunratty (and some of the other Irish weekenders) is the craic, as shown by the picture below.
Craic at the 2011 Bunratty Congress
Irish Chess History 