Sligo Chess and Culture Festival 2027

♟️ The Sligo Chess & Culture Festival is about much more than chess.

One of the reasons we moved the festival to the Radisson Blu Hotel, Sligo was to place visitors right in the heart of everything that makes this part of Ireland so special.

Irish Country Magazine has just featured the hike to Queen Maeve's Cairn on Knocknarea, one of Sligo's most iconic landmarks. The trail offers spectacular views across Sligo Bay, Benbulben and the Wild Atlantic Way.

For many of our international visitors, the festival is more than a tournament. It's an opportunity to experience Ireland's history, landscapes, music, food and culture.

Whether it's hiking Knocknarea, surfing at Strandhill, enjoying traditional music, or exploring everything County Sligo has to offer, we hope you'll build a little extra time into your visit.

📖 Read the article here:
https://irishcountrymagazine.ie/why-this-county-sligo-trail-should-be-on-your-summer-hike-list/

📍 Knocknarea is just 15 minutes from the Radisson Blu Hotel, home of the 2027 Sligo Chess & Culture Festival.

Visit Sligo Sligo BID

👋 Welcome to the Sligo Chess & Culture Festival Community!

I'd like this group to be more than just a place for festival announcements. My hope is that it becomes a community where chess players from Ireland and around the world can connect throughout the year.

Whether you've played in the festival before, are planning to visit for the first time, or simply enjoy following what we're doing, you're very welcome here.

This group is a place to:
♟️ Meet other players
📸 Share photos and memories from past festivals
🚗 Arrange travel and accommodation
💬 Ask questions about the festival
🧩 Discuss chess and share interesting games, puzzles, and ideas
🎉 Celebrate each other's achievements

To get things started, I'd love to hear from everyone.

Please introduce yourself in the comments:
• Where are you from?
• Your current rating (if you have one)
• Have you played in the Sligo Chess & Culture Festival before?
• What's one chess goal you have for the coming year?

I'll start...

I'm Craig, Festival Director of the Sligo Chess & Culture Festival and Chairperson of Sligo Chess Club. I'm British/American and have called Sligo home since 2019. My current classical FIDE rating is 1514. I have never played in the festival before as I'm too busy behind-the-scenes.

My goal this year is to continue growing the festival while finding more time to improve my own chess—I spend far more time organising than playing!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone better!

♟️ Has your child discovered a love of chess?

The Sligo Rapid Series is launching this August, and we're especially excited about our new Rising Stars (Under 12) section.

⭐ Designed as a gentle introduction to tournament chess, the Rising Stars section is perfect for children who have learned to play through Ficheall, their school chess club, a local chess club, or simply at home.

If your child enjoys playing chess but has never entered a tournament before, this is the ideal next step.

✔️ No previous tournament experience required
✔️ No need to record moves
✔️ Friendly, welcoming atmosphere
✔️ 10+5 rapid chess using chess clocks
✔️ Trophies at every tournament and for the overall series

The series also includes a FIDE-rated Open Section for players of all ages and abilities who want to build or improve their FIDE Rapid Rating.

📍 First Tournament
🗓️ Saturday, 15 August 2026
📍 Mercy College, Sligo

Whether you're a parent looking for your child's first tournament or a player looking for regular FIDE-rated rapid chess, we'd love to welcome you to the inaugural Sligo Rapid Series.

👉 Find out more and register:
sligochessfestival.com/sligo-rapid-series

Please share this post with parents, teachers, schools and chess clubs who may know a young chess player ready to take their first step into tournament chess.

♟️ What a day for chess in Sligo! ☀️

Here are a few more of our favourite moments from in Queen Maeve Square.

From our beginner workshop and Lukian Hushpit's simultaneous exhibition to casual chess throughout the day and a 44-player blitz tournament, it was wonderful to see people of all ages enjoying the game together.

Congratulations to our blitz tournament trophy winners:

🥇 Iaromir Kurochkin (Summerhill College)
🥈 Jonathan Melling (County Mayo)
🥉 John Healy

Special congratulations also to Mariia Sobol (Best Woman) and Nikodim Kurochkin (Best Under 12).

A huge thank you once again to Brew & Barrel , Queen Maeve Square, and Sligo BID for partnering with us to bring free community chess to the heart of Visit Sligo.

We can't wait to do it again! ❤️♟️

Irish Chess Union

We’re in full swing celebrating in Queen Maeve Square in Visit Sligo. Sligo BID Irish Chess Union FIDE - International Chess Federation

We’re in full swing celebrating in Queen Maeve Square Sligo in Visit Sligo. Sligo BID Irish Chess Union FIDE