Scéal: 1924 was a busy year for Irish chess, with John O'Hanlon's appearance in Paris and the game also featuring at that year's Tailteann Games
100 years ago, Ireland sent a team to a chess tournament in Paris. Held on the fringes of the Olympic Games in the French capital, it was referred to as the 'Chess Olympics', though it had no official connection to the Olympics.
Organised by the French Chess Federation, the rules were fairly simple. Each country could send a maximum of four amateur players to compete in the competition. They were to be selected by the national chess committee in their home country which would issue them with a certificate to confirm their amateur status.
In Ireland’s case, there was a little confusion over which body would approve candidates who wanted to participate. Firstly, there was the Irish Chess Union, formed in 1912 with representatives from all four Irish provinces. A more recent arrival on the Irish chess scene was the Tailteann Chess Committee which was formed specifically to run the chess tournament at the 1924 Tailteann Games. Letters even appeared in newspapers about which of the two organisations would best do the job.
From TG4, Aonach Tailteann documentary on the 1924 Tailteann Games
John J. O'Hanlon (no relation) from Portadown, Co. Armagh was selected to represent Ireland. He was a founding member of the Irish Chess Union and had won the Irish Chess Championship in 1913. O'Hanlon was one of 54 players from 18 countries who took part in the competition in Paris, described by the organisers as a "real championship of the amateur chess world".
It has come to be referred to as the first unofficial Chess Olympiad, yet another reference to the Olympics. It was held on the knockout principle whereby losers fell out and winners would play again. Each competitor was awarded a commemorative medal and the winners took home a medal and diploma.
While there were some very good players taking part, the world’s best players did not make the trip to Paris. A young Latvian master named Hermanis Matisons took first place. He was awarded a gold medal and given the title of "World Amateur Champion". Second place went to another Latvian, Fricis Apšenieks, and the Belgian Edgard Colle came in third place. They were given silver-plated medals and the rest of the finalists were awarded bronze medals. Ireland finished in 15th position with O’Hanlon winning 5½ points.
Chess has a long history in Ireland with the ancient board game of fidchell, which appeared in early Irish myths and sagas, bearing a close resemblance to the game of chess
On the last day of the tournament, delegates from 15 countries signed a proclamation to establish the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) (International Chess Federation). The Federation became the governing body of chess worldwide and adopted the motto Gens una sumus ("we are one family") in the 1950s.
Ireland was not a signatory to the proclamation and did not take part in the first official Chess Olympiad in London in 1927. Chess players from 16 countries participated in that tournament and Hungary won the tournament with a total of 40 points. Ireland’s first participation at an official Chess Olympiad came in 1935 in Warsaw. John O’Hanlon was part of the four-person team representing the Free State that finished in 20th position out of 20 countries. He was also part of the four-person team from Ireland at the 1939 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires who finished 24th place out of 27 countries.
Chess has a long history in Ireland with the ancient board game of fidchell, which appeared in early Irish myths and sagas, bearing a close resemblance to the game of chess. Chess is believed to have arrived in Ireland around the 12th or 13th century.
Given this history of chess and similar board games in Ireland, it was fitting that it was one of 20 categories of events that made up the programme of the inaugural edition of the revived Tailteann Games in August 1924. The competition was open to anyone of Irish parentage and those who had resided in Ireland for 12 months prior to August 1924. Professional players were excluded from taking part.
A committee was established under the presidency of Prof W.E. Thrift of Trinity College to run the event and the games took place in Regent House in TCD. Players were limited to 20 moves an hour. The prizes for the three tournaments consisted of a work of art and two medals. The Tailteann organisers played up the idea that chess was an Irish invention and that the likes of the mythological warrior hero Cú Chulainn and his constant companion and charioteer, Láeg, were keen players of fidchell.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne in 2020, chess players Hannah Lowry O'Reilly and Jonathan O'Connor talk about the chess boom helped by TV shows like The Queen's Gambit
There were 88 entries in the chess section. The winner was Philip Baker, a Jewish refugee from Latvia who earned his living as a draper and who lived in Dublin with his family. He won the Leinster Chess Union's Armstrong Cup, Ireland's oldest team league competition (and one of the longest running leagues in the world), in 1926 and 1928. The 1928 and 1932 Tailteann Chess competitions were won by John O’Hanlon. The Tailteann Games ended in 1932, but O’Hanlon went on to win more chess competitions home and abroad, and was the first person to win nine Irish Chess Championships.
Chess is still not part of the Olympic Games, but its world governing body was recognised in 1999 by the International Olympic Committee as a Global Sporting Organization. The Chess Olympiad continues to pit the world’s best players against each other. Over its almost 100-year history, there were some occasions when it was postponed due to major world events. There was a gap during 1939 and 1950 caused by the Second World War and it was held online in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. The 45th Chess Olympiad is now underway in Budapest and Ireland currently has a team starting rank of 65th.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
