Brian Kelly (born 3 November 1978, in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is an international

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player. Although born in England, he moved to

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

when he was 2 years old, and later to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

when he was 12. Both his parents hold Irish citizenshipInterview with Mark Orr
/ref> and he can compete for Ireland in international competitions. He attained the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

in 1998. His current

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

is 2488, with a highest rating of 2504 achieved in July 2005. Kelly won the

Irish Chess Championship The Irish Chess Championship is the national Championship of Ireland, currently run by the Irish Chess Union ( ICU), the FIDE-recognised governing body for the game. Below is the list of champions. The first champion was J.A. Porterfield Rynd, wh ...

twice, outright in 1995 and jointly in 2007. In 1994, he won a gold medal at the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

playing on Board 6 for Ireland, as well as sharing first place in the

Ulster Chess Championship The Ulster Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament organised by the Ulster Chess Union which has been held since 1892. It is currently open to all players who qualify as having been born in any of the 9 counties of Ulster. Nearly all Champi ...

. As of September 2006 he is rated as the strongest native Irish chess player, although he placed behind others such as Alexander McDonnell on the all-time list. He has captained both the

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

teams during his career. He holds the record for the highest score earned by an Irish player in th
British Chess Championship.
He is also a Go player, and has achieved the rank of second kyu whilst playing in the UK, making him one of the strongest Irish Go players.European ''Go'' Database
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Brian 1978 births Living people British chess players Irish chess players Chess International Masters Sportspeople from Belfast People educated at Methodist College Belfast