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Not really in the mood for a competitive game? Would you rather pore over a chess position with a nice glass of chardonnay complimentary tea?

Then come along this Thursday the 22nd to our puzzle night. There will be puzzles (and their solutions) for all levels. So if you want to feel smart and good about yourself there’ll be some mate-in-one and sac-sac-mate puzzles for you. And those who want to feel dim and inadequate, there’ll be an infuriating study or two to ponder over as well. In fact, to whet your appetite, try the one below. It’s white to move and gain a nice advantage. For the solution, you’ll have to come along this Thursday 🙂

Want to improve your chess? As in, actually really improve? Then you need to play long games that give you the time to concentrate and properly think through your moves. And also games where you write down the moves that you and your opponent play so you can go through the game afterwards and analyse it, identify your mistakes and learn from them.
So you REALLY should take part in our classical Winter League! Both you and your opponent start with 90 minutes on the clock as well as getting 15 seconds increment per move and each player is expected to record their moves so they can learn from their games once they have concluded. We will play one round about once a month until the final round some time in April.
So go to our Winter League page, follow the sign up steps, and get the most out of your chess games this winter!

A reminder for parents of children who are interested in playing chess, that the Galway junior chess club is starting back this Wednesday the 16th of September, in the Galway Lawn Tennis Club in Salthill. 

To register or for more information, contact brendan@chessossity.com.

All are welcome to play some 5 minutes plus 5 seconds increment blitz this Thursday the 17th of September.
Beginners or those fairly new to chess might find this night a good opportunity to dip their toe into over-the-board play for the first time. If you make a blunder and lose the game, sure what harm! Another one will be starting in just a few minutes. Experienced players will now doubt like to show off their opening prep and questionable impressive sacrifices.
The doors to the Bridge Centre open at 7pm with round 1 starting at 7.30pm

to inform people abou blitz chess event in Galway Chess Club on September 17th 2026

It was great to get back to regular club nights on Thursday with a great mix of old and new faces turning up for some 10+10 rapid. Jan and Obi battled it out for the top spot and even a 5+0 blitz playoff couldn’t separate them with both having to settle for an equal share of the spoils when the dust had settled

We are back on September the 10th!

We hope everyone had a great summer, and played as much chess outside in the blistering heat as possible. Well, it’s the time of year when the evenings are drawing in again and that can only mean that chess season is about to start up once more.

We have a full calendar planned for the next few months . As usual we will be running our classical time-control winter league, our blitz and rapid evenings. as well as nights for solving puzzles as casual/beginner play. lWe are also hoping to bring back FM Yury Rochev for another simultaneous exhibition which was a huge success last year.

We will be back for another year in the Munster League here we are hoping to return to our rightful place in Division 1.

We can’t wait to get things going again and are really looking forward to seeing you all there on the 10th!

We were delighted to host a simultaneous exhibition with FM Yury Rochev on May 14th. Yury took on 6 players from Galway Chess Club simultaneously with each player having 60 minutes on the clock and Yury having slightly more with 75 minutes. All participants also had 30 seconds increment per move.

The players from Galway were Brian Gallagher, Seth McGready, Bill Delee, Ronan Zaletel, Lorcan Heron, and Jan Thomas Nordgreen. Yury finished with a score of 5.5 out of 6, with 2 of wins coming by checkmate and 3 resignations. The only draw of the event came against Lorcan, who was also the youngest participant, and can be very pleased with his result

Many thanks to all who participated, to those who came along to watch, and to Yury for taking the time to play the event. We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future!

The gallery looks on as Yury makes his first move against Brian
Seth would go on to give Yury a very tough game that lasted almost 3 hours
Brian went for an all out kingside attack!
Lots of interest in Lorcan’s game. Lorcan was the only player to achieve a draw against Yury
Our chairperson Maureen Gallagher presenting Yury with a well-earned bottle of wine. Thanks again Yury!

Final round of the Autumn Rapid League will take place on November the 13th. Play starts at 7.30pm. All welcome

Thursday the 23rd is an open/casual night in the club. So come along for some light-hearted games, drink some tea and just have a chat!

Tonight, Thursday the 2nd of Octiber, is Round 1 of the Winter League. All games being played tonight have been pre-arranged and so there won’t be any casual chess happening tonight, in case people were planning on dropping in.

However, come join us next Thursday the 9th as we are playing a blitz match against a combined NUIG students + alumni team in the Bridge Centre. All are welcome. Kick off is at 7.30pm!

Final Standings from 5+5 blitz, Thursday September 18th!

Join us for some blitz this Thursday the 18th!

Play starts at 7.30pm so try to arrive before then to make sure you are paired for the first round

We’re back on Thursday 11th of September for a new season of chess full of horrendous blunders mindless sacrifices careful moves and brilliancies! Have a look at our calendar to see what evenings appeal to you. The first evening is an open night of casual play (ideal for beginners or people just getting started in chess.)
Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Announcing Galway Rapidplay 2025!

We are having a rapidplay tournament in the Galway Bridge Centre on Saturday August 16th.
Places are limited so go to the tournament page and book your place!

We are closed for the summer!

Regular play in the club has stopped for the summer months. but we will return to regular Thursday evening play on September the 11th. We may meet up for the occasional evening of play, however, so keep an eye on your email as we will let you know when this will happen. If you are not on our email list, drop us an email at galwaychess@gmail.com and we will add you so will get our updates. Also follow Galway Chess Club on Instagram to get more regular updates. Regular play will resume on September the 11th. Until then, enjoy the summer!

  • April Blitz results
    by Pete

    The April blitz tournament, held on 10 April, was convincingly won by Alex Drimbarean, with 6½ points out of 7.  (The missing half-point was a penalty for arriving late and missing the first round.)   Second equal, on 5 points, were Pete Morriss and Roland Surlis.  Roland’s performance was particularly noteworthy, as he was one of the lowest-rated participants in the tournament.  The rating prize (for the highest-placed finisher rated in the lower half) would have been won by Roland, but he was ineligible by virtue of having achieved a prize already, and so it went to Padraig Crowe, who scored 3 points.

  • Spring Rapidplay Results
    by Pete

    The Spring Rapidplay was held over three Thursdays in January, February and March. There were ten rounds in all, with players getting up to two half-point byes for each round missed – so that it was possible to get more points than games played. A total of 31 people played in the tournament, but only two dedicated members played in all ten rounds. The final results (with rounds played in brackets) showed that there was a tie for first place, on 6½ points, between Max Gavilovskis (from 10 games) and Pete Morriss (from 6), whilst third, close behind on 6 points, was Oleksandr Skorobogatko (from 7). The rating prize – for the highest-placed finisher rated in the lower half – was won by Fahad Ahmed, who came fourth with 4½ (10).

  • Autumn Rapidplay 2024 Results
    by Pete

    Our Autumn Rapidplay tournament was held over four Thursdays in October, November and December. The convincing winner was Oleksandr Skorobogatko on 7½ points. There was a four-way tie for second place, between Fionn Lennon, Cillian Bracken, Fahad Ahmed and Pete Morriss, each of whom scored 6 points. The rating prize – for players rated in the lower half who did not win a place prize – went to Jaden Kilmartin, who came next on 4½ points.

  • November Blitz results
    by Pete

    Ten hardy souls braved the snow to play in our November blitz tournament on 21st November, although several left early, which meant that the tournament had to be curtailed after six of the anticipated seven rounds as everybody still left had played each other. Nevertheless there was a clear winner, as Brian Gallagher won all six of his games. Second was Pete Morriss, with five wins and a loss (to Brian). The rating prize was won, narrowly, by Adrienne Reich, who scored two points in the four rounds in which she played, and also benefitted from our rule that nobody can win the rating prize two months in a row.

  • October Blitz Results
    by Pete

    Our October blitz tournament, held on 31st October, was won by Lorcan Heron, with 6 points out of 7. Second was Ross du Berry, with 5½ points. The rating prize, for the highest-placed player rated in the bottom half, was won by Fahad Ahmad, with 4 points – which was an excellent achievement, as Fahad was actually the lowest-rated player in the tournament.

  • Season Opening Blitz Tournament (19 September) results
    by Pete

    Our Opening Blitz tournament was won by Christy O’Sullivan, with 6 points out of 7. This was Christy’s first appearance in Galway Chess Club, although he played a lot in Dublin many years ago; Dublin’s loss is our gain, for a change. Second equal were Oleksandr Skorobogatko, for the second time in succession, and Pete Morriss, on 5½. The rating prize went to Aidan Kiely, who scored a highly commendable 4 points.

  • August Blitz Results
    by Pete

    The August Blitz was won by newcomer Ronaldo Alonso, with 5½ points out of 7. Second equal were another newcomer, Oleksandr Skorobogatko, and very-much-not-a-newcomer Michael O’Donnell, who both scored 5 points. (Ronaldo and Oleksandr are both new to Galway Chess club, but are experienced players in their countries of origin, Brazil and Ukraine, respectively. We look forward to seeing them regularly at the club.) The rating prize, for the best-placed player seeded in the bottom half, was won by Cillian Bracken, on 4 points.

  • July Blitz Results
    by Pete

    The July blitz tournament was a truly international one, as we were delighted to welcome visitors from the Czech Republic and Barcelona – and even Mayo – which made it a somewhat stronger tournament than we usually have.  The winner, with an excellent 6½ points out of 7, was Christopher Woods (Mayo) and second was Viktor Zigo (Czech Republic) on 5½.  The rating prize, for the highest-placed player seeded in the bottom half, was won by Aidan Kiely (Galway) who scored a commendable 3½ points.

  • June Blitz Results
    by Pete

    Our June blitz was won by Chris Jonker, who won all his games – a rare event in our blitz tournaments. Second was Alex Drimbarean. The rating prize (highest finish of someone rated in the lower half) went to Adrienne Reich, who also came outright third – an excellent result.

  • May Blitz Results
    by Pete

    Our season-ending blitz tournament, held on 16th May, was won by Pete Morriss, who scored 5½ points out of a possible 7. Second was Lorcan Heron, on 5 points; he would also have won the “most promising junior” accolade, if we had one. The rating prize, for the highest-finishing player rated in the bottom half, was won by Jayden Kilmartin, who scored an excellent 4 points, including wins against the three highest-rated players in the tournament (but somehow he couldn’t beat most of the lower-rated ones!).

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