'An inspiration to all students': Limerick chess players make award winning move

TWO Mary Immaculate College (MIC) graduates have secured a major entrepreneurial win, taking home the Best Overall Award at the Startup Atlas competition at this year’s Limerick IT Summit, held at Dell Technologies.

Tomás Fitzpatrick and Oisín Flynn, who recently graduated from MIC’s Bachelor of Education programme, founded ChessIreland while in their final year at the college.

Lifelong chess players, the pair first introduced the game to campus life by establishing the MIC Chess Club in their second year and represented the college internationally, most recently competing in the PCU International Chess Cup.

Speaking about the award, Tomás said: “We’re absolutely delighted to receive the recognition of being named overall winners at the Limerick IT Summit. The idea for ChessIreland first started while we were on teaching placement, where we quickly recognised the strong demand for structured chess education in primary schools.”

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“As passionate chess players ourselves, it has been a real pleasure to help spread chess throughout Irish primary schools.”

With the support and mentorship of Dr David Cosgrave, assistant professor in Business Studies & Accounting at MIC, they developed ChessIreland into a start-up focused on building a national chess education ecosystem that nurtures concentration and critical thinking in young people.

Dr Cosgrave said: “Winning Best Overall at the Startup Atlas competition at Limerick IT Summit was a testament to their hard work. Following it up with the largest ever online chess event in Irish history was even more amazing. I’m excited to watch their progress. They are an inspiration to all students at MIC who might want to start their own business.”

Since launching, ChessIreland has grown significantly, working directly with more than 40 schools and has established a network of over 10 community clubs. Fresh from their success at the Limerick IT Summit, Tomás and Oisín also piloted Chess4Schools Live, delivering what is believed to be the largest online chess event in Irish history, reaching around 1,000 children each week.