This year, for the first time, we managed to have two teams in the All-Ireland Community Games finals, which were organised on 4th July 2026 in Kilkenny. While we were there, we secured first place in the U16s and second place in the U13s. Congratulations to both teams!
The Cairn Community Games is one of the oldest and most renowned competitions throughout Ireland where children can meet, bond, and compete in various fields. Chess is one of them, and as usual, it is organised as a team competition where each team faces another on five boards in order of strength. The team collecting the most points on these boards wins the duel. That means it is not enough to have one or two good players; rather, you need a consistent and well-established team to win. That being said, our teams performed extremely well in a tough environment.
The U13s’ glory
The U13 team (Logitha Krishnakumar, Ryan Heneault-Collins, Ciaran McCarthy, Hugh Morrissey, Caimen Dardis, Kevin O’Brien, Shane Duggane, Daniel Sweeney, Gearoid Linehan, Aidan Clifford) had a great run to the final. They were very strong, securing the Cork trophy; however, in the Munster final, they were challenged by the Ennis team. The result was a tie, but a higher-board win ensured Kinsale made it to the final.
The team changed a lot during the season due to illness and other unfortunate factors. But on the plus side, this also shows how strong Kinsale’s bench is. Thanks to these kids, who stood tall in all of their matches, the team only lost one game in the whole series. Congratulations!
U16s: Third time’s the charm!
We had been to Kilkenny before—last year—and we were in another final the year before that. Both were won with strong will and brilliant play. This year, more than half of the team has changed, and while transitions are hard, this year’s team added one more ingredient to the list: their whole heart.
The team—Ákos Kardkovács, Rory Hayden, Seán Kelleher, Daniel Sweeney, Seán Heneault-Collins, Toots Lynch, Alan Wang, and Aisling O’Mahony—brought the U16 trophy back to Kinsale for the third time in a row.
This year, the Cork round was completed without a single lost game. The Munster final seemed to be secured early on: the team won the first two matches, starting off 2–0 in the first half an hour. In the end, it turned out to be a close call until Toots Lynch secured the last point required to get into the final.
In the national final, they copied the Munster result: they won the first round relatively easily; however, the decider did not start as planned. We were down 0–2 in the first hour. Slowly but steadily, the most experienced players turned things around, and while the room was already empty, Seán Kelleher and his opponent fought to the very end to decide the fate of the trophy. Seán needed a win at all costs. He didn’t blink—leaving no chance to his opponent and putting all his might into the victory. It was an incredible treble! Thank you, guys!