Galway Online Winter League

The Galway Online Winter League will run from December until March/April. Participants will play one 45minute game with 10second increment about every two weeks.

Entry is free and open to all, and 100% of the entry fee will be returned in prizes. To enter, email your name and lichess username to galwaychess[at]gmail[dot]com before the end of November (You will need to register a (free) account on lichess.org.)

The list of entrants can be seen on the right-hand side of this page, with draws draws and results below.

It goes without saying that computer/human/intelligent cat/book/etc. assistance is not allowed.

A list of dates for the matches is posted below (pretty much every two weeks, with exceptions for Christmas etc.) The dates will be Thursday evenings at 8pm, but you can arrange* (in good time) to play with your opponent any mutually convenient time within the ten days after that. E.g., if the date of the round is listed as November 12th, the result should be emailed to us by November 23rd, so that we can announce the draw a couple of days in advance of the next round on the 26th. If neither player sends in a result in time, the game will be deemed a loss for both players, and two consecutive unexplained no-shows will be deemed a withdrawal from the tournament.

If you, for some reason, fancy having a practice or friendly with your opponent, please don’t use the same time control. Play 44+11 or whatever instead; this makes it much easier for us to find the correct game if necessary

If you have any questions, please email us at galwaychess[at]gmail[dot]com.

FINAL (April 21st) Alex vs. Pete

About twenty of you tuned in to watch the final showdown, and were rewarded with two highly entertaining games:

And so, we crown Alex the 2021 GOWL Champion!
Congratulations!
Congratulations also to Silver-placed Pete and Bronze-placed Conall.
Thanks to all of you who took part!

ROUND 9 (April 8th)

DATES:
Round 1: December 3rd
Round 2: December 17th
Round 3: January 7th
Round 4: January 21st
Round 5: February 4th
Round 6: February 18th
Round 7: March 4th
Round 8: March 25th

If after the 8 rounds there are two people tied for 1st place, we will have a playoff between them. If there are more than two people tied for 1st place, we will have a 9th round, involving all players. If after the 9th round, there are two people tied for 1st place, we will have a playoff between them. If there are more than two people tied for 1st place, we will have a 10th round, involving all players, etc.

*The email addresses of the entrants will be shared with other entrants for this purpose.