This page ranks Irish players according to their peak rating in FIDE official published lists. (The list does not account for interim or live ratings.) Only players with a peak rating of 2200 or higher are included. The list reflects all FIDE official published lists up to and including November 2024.
As of November 2024, the list contains 88 male players and 2 female players (Trisha Kanyamarala (2344, ranked 23rd) and Ioana Gelip (2215, ranked =80th-81st)).
- 1-10
- 2600 Alexander Baburin (January 1998)
- 2504 Brian Kelly (July 2005)
- 2495 Sam Collins (August 2014)
- 2487 Conor E. Murphy (December 2023)
- 2446 Alex Lopez (May 2018)
- 2429 Mark Quinn (July 2002)
- 2416 David Fitzsimons (June 2015)
- 2413 Gavin Wall (October 2003)
- 2407 Tarun Kanyamarala (October 2022)
- 2403 Mark Heidenfeld (April 2001)
- 11-20
- 2401 Tom O’Gorman (June 2022)
- 2400 Paul Henry (January 1979)
- 2397 Stephen Brady (May 2012)
- 2395 Bernard Kernan (January 1979)
- 2395 Conor O’Donnell (June 2018)
- 2388 Ryan-Rhys Griffiths (August 2013)
- 2385 Stephen Jessel (April 2017)
- 2380 Mark J. L. Orr (July 1991)
- 2380 Colm Daly (April 2006)
- 2363 Joe Ryan (October 2007)
- 21-30
- 2360 Nick Patterson (January 1978)
- 2360 Kevin J. O’Connell (July 1993)
- 2344 Trisha Kanyamarala (June 2023)
- 2340 Conor O’Shaughnessy (July 1993)
- 2335 David Dunne (July 1988)
- 2335 Daire McMahon (July 1992)
- 2334 Philip Short (September 2018)
- 2334 Killian Delaney (August 2022)
- 2327 Karl McPhillips (December 2015)
- 2325 David Cox (July 1973)
- 31-40
- 2320 Keith Allen (January 1989)
- 2315 Tom Clarke (January 1985)
- 2315 John Delaney (January 1989)
- 2315 Davidson Stewart (January 1990)
- 2315 Henry Li (March 2020)
- 2313 Kavin Venkatesan (September 2023)
- 2305 Paul Delaney (January 1981)
- 2305 Andrew Philip Smith (January 1994)
- 2300 Pat Carton (January 1985)
- 2295 Michael Littleton (July 1973)
- 41-50
- 2295 John Moles (July 1973)
- 2295 Colm Barry (July 1993)
- 2295 Stephen Gillen (January 1995)
- 2290 Eric McMahon (January 1987)
- 2289 Zalan Nemeth (May 2023)
- 2285 Hugh MacGrillen (January 1975)
- 2285 Alan Ludgate (July 1995)
- 2285 Mel Ó Cinnéide (July 1997)
- 2285 Gerard McDonnell (January 2000) (as USA)
- 2282 Paul Wallace (July 2007)
- 51-60
- 2281 Eugene J. Gibney (October 2000) (as CAN)
- 2280 Eugene Curtin (January 1987)
- 2280 Richard O’Donovan (January 1997)
- 2277 John Joyce (October 2004)
- 2265 Niall Carton (July 1993)
- 2264 Adrian Gillen (January 1999)
- 2261 John P. Redmond (November 2014)
- 2260 David Houston (January 1987)
- 2260 Gerard MacElligott (July 1993)
- 2257 John L. Hughes (June 2021)
- 61-70
- 2250 Wolfgang Heidenfeld (January 1971)
- 2250 Paul Cassidy (January 1975)
- 2250 Eamon Keogh (January 1979)
- 2250 Tim Harding (January 1981)
- 2250 Conor Bracken (January 1989)
- 2245 Tony Doyle (July 1979)
- 2245 Kilian Hynes (July 1991)
- 2242 Jonathan O’Connor (June 2018)
- 2240 Eddie O’Reilly (January 1989)
- 2240 John Murray (July 1990)
- 71-80
- 2240 Richard O’Brien (January 1993)
- 2236 Valentine Kalinins (July 2014)
- 2235 Kevin McCann (January 1989)
- 2235 Kieran Greer (January 1995)
- 2235 John S. White (July 2008)
- 2225 John Hurley (January 1996)
- 2223 Shane Melaugh (December 2019)
- 2223 Jason Liu (August 2024)
- 2221 David Murray (September 2018)
- 2215 Ioana Gelip (April 2017)
- 81-90
- 2215 Colin Menzies (April 2023)
- 2214 Michael Dooley (July 1999)
- 2211 Stephen Moran (December 2019)
- 2210 Tony Dennehy (January 1979)
- 2205 Roger Beckett (January 1991)
- 2205 Gordon Freeman (June 2018)
- 2205 Jacob Flynn (May 2022)
- 2204 Paul Dempsey (June 2015)
- 2201 Gerard O’Connell (January 1999)
- 2200 Michael Welsh (July 1995) (as SUI)
- Note: Prof. Arpad Elo’s book The Ratings of Chess Players, Past and Present (1978) is not an official FIDE list, but arises out of the same body of work. The appendix of the book provides retrospective ratings for 476 players. Of these, three were Irish: James Mason (2530), C.H.O’D. Alexander (2475), and Rev. George Alcock MacDonnell (2410).
- References:
- History of Elo ratings 1971-2001, OlimpBase.
- Ratings progress charts (e.g., Alexander Baburin’s), FIDE ratings web site.
- Elo’s Chess Rating List from the book: The Rating of Chess Players, OlimpBase.
- Updated September 17, 2019 (added John P. Redmond, 50th place and John S. White, 70th place).
- Updated October 2, 2019 (added Valentine Kalinins, 68th place).
- Updated October 3, 2019 (October 2019 FIDE list: Conor E. Murphy 2363 → 2407, =17th-18th → 8th; Tarun Kanyamarala 2244 → 2273, 62nd → 48th; Stephen Moran 2208 → 2209, unchanged in 77th place).
- Updated October 31, 2019 (November 2019 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2273 → 2304, 48th → 34th).
- Updated December 3, 2019 (December 2019 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2304 → 2313, 34th → 31st; Killian Delaney 2257 → 2276, 54th → 49th; Shane Melaugh (previously below 2200) 2223, 73rd place).
- Updated January 2, 2020 (January 2020 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2313 → 2320, 31st → =26th-27th; Killian Delaney 2276 → 2278, 49th → 48th; Stephen Moran 2209 → 2211, 78th → 77th).
- Updated February 4, 2020 (February 2020 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2320 → 2349, =26th-27th → 21st; Tom O’Gorman 2295 → 2347, =36th-40th → 22nd; Henry Li 2308 → 2310, unchanged in 33rd place; Trisha Kanyamarala 2238 → 2299, 67th → 37th; Killian Delaney 2278 → 2287, 48th → 43rd).
- Updated March 1, 2020 (March 2020 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2349 → 2376, 21st → 18th; Henry Li 2310 → 2315, 33rd → =30th-33rd; Killian Delaney 2287 → 2302, 43rd → 36th).
- Updated April 2, 2020 (April 2020 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2376 → 2384, 18th → 16th; Killian Delaney 2302 → 2303, unchanged in 36th place).
- Updated May 2, 2020 (May 2020 FIDE list: Killian Delaney 2303 → 2314, 36th → 34th).
- Updated June 15, 2020 (June 2020 FIDE list: no change).
- Updated October 3, 2020 (July, August 2020 FIDE lists: no change; September 2020 FIDE list: Tom O’Gorman 2347 → 2372, 22nd → 19th; October 2020 FIDE list: no change).
- Updated October 30, 2020 (November 2020 FIDE list): no change.
- Updated April 2, 2022 (December 2020 to April 2022 FIDE lists; June 2021: John L. Hughes 2247 → 2257, 61st → 56th; August 2021: Tom O’Gorman 2372 → 2377, unchanged; October 2021: Conor E. Murphy 2407 → 2428, 8th → 6th, Tom O’Gorman 2377 → 2381, 19th → 17th; December 2021: Conor E. Murphy 2428 → 2431, 6th → 5th; January 2022; Karun Kanyamarala 2384 → 2398, 16th → 11th; April 2022: Tarun Kanyamarala 2398 → 2403, 11th → =9th-10th).
- Updated May 8, 2022 (May 2022 FIDE list: Tom O’Gorman 2381 → 2394, 17th → 15th; Jacob Flynn (previously below 2200) 2205, =79th-81st).
- Updated June 3, 2022 (June 2022 FIDE list: Tom O’Gorman 2394 → 2401, 15th → 11th.)
- Updated July 1, 2022 (July 2022 FIDE list: no change).
- Updated August 2, 2022 (August 2022 FIDE list: Killian Delaney 2314 → 2334, 34th → =26th-27th; Zalan Nemeth (previously below 2200) 2245, =62nd-64th).
- Updated October 14, 2022 (September 2022 FIDE list (published August 29, 2022): no change. October 2022 FIDE list: Tarun Kanyamarala 2403 → 2407, =9th-10th → 9th; Zalan Nemeth 2245 → 2247, =62nd-64th → 62nd).
- Updated November 2, 2022 (November 2022 FIDE list: Colin Menzies (previously below 2200) 2204, =83rd-84th).
- Updated December 3, 2022 (December 2022 FIDE list: Colin Menzies 2204 → 2207, =83rd-84th → 80th).
- Updated January 1, 2023 (January 2023 FIDE list): Colin Menzies 2207 → 2213, 80th → 78th.
- Updated February 15, 2023 (February 2023 FIDE list): Zalan Nemeth 2247 → 2273, 62nd → 51st.
- Updated April 3, 2023 (March 2023 FIDE list): Conor E. Murphy 2431 → 2442, unchanged in 5th place; Zalan Nemeth 2273 → 2283, 51st → 47th.
- Updated April 3, 2023 (April 2023 FIDE list): Conor E. Murphy 2442 → 2450, 5th → 4th; Colin Menzies 2213 → 2215, 78th → =76th-77th.
- Updated June 3, 2023 (May 2023 FIDE list): Conor E. Murphy 2450 → 2454, unchanged in 4th place; Zalan Nemeth 2283 → 2289, 47th → 43rd.
- Updated June 11, 2023 (June 2023 FIDE list): Trisha Kanyamarala 2299 → 2344, 38th → 23rd. Also added Eugene J. Gibney (2281, 50th) and Gerard McDonnell, 2285, =45th-48th.
- Updated July 6, 2023 (July 2023 FIDE list): no change.
- Updated April 12, 2024 (August 2023 FIDE list): Conor E. Murphy 2454 → 2458, unchanged in 4th place; Kavin Venkatesan (previously below 2200) 2298, 38th.
- Updated April 12, 2024 (September 2023 FIDE list): Conor E. Murphy 2458 → 2468, unchanged in 4th place; Kavin Venkatesan 2298 → 2313, 38th → 36th.
- Updated April 23, 2024 (October 2023 FIDE list): Conor E. Murphy 2468 → 2481, unchanged in 4th place.
- Updated April 24, 2024 (November 2023 to April 2024 FIDE lists): December 2023: Conor E. Murphy 2481 → 2487, unchanged in 4th place; otherwise no change.
- Updated May 6, 2024 (May 2024 FIDE list): no change.
- Updated August 21, 2024 (June, July, August 2024 lists): August 2024: Jason Liu (previously below 2200) 2223, =77th-78th; otherwise no change.
- Updated September 2, 2024 (September 2024 list): no change.
- Updated October 2, 2024 (October 2024 list): no change.
- Updated November 4, 2024 (November 2024 list): no change.