For those of you who prefer something a little more laidback than the sturm und drang of the Top 8, may I present the 2021 Correspondence Championship?

Same deal as last year, this tournament is open to anyone who is Irish, has ever lived in Ireland, is married or otherwise related to someone Irish, or has any connection to Irish go, however tenuous.

Games will be played on OGS, time controls will be Fischer time of two weeks basic plus one day per move. Assuming I get enough entries, I will separate the tournament into brackets of 6–8 players, so you shouldn’t be overwhelmed with games, and the games should be at least somewhat balanced.

In order to enter, email eoghanbarry at outlook dot com with your name and OGS username.

Entries close at midnight, Sunday February 7th. I’ll set the brackets on the 8th, and you’ll have a week in which to accept your invitation to the tournament. Games will start at 9am, Monday February 15th.

If I remember correctly, OGS has a weird requirement that you must make your first move within 48 hours, regardless of the time controls, so probably best not to enter if you’re not going to be available around the 15th.