A student from Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin returned home triumphant last night from the 35th Chess Olympiad in the Slovenian town of Bled where he won an individual gold medal.
UCD law student, Mr Sam Collins (20), the youngest member of the Irish chess team, was awarded the medal for being unbeaten in eight games. To secure gold, Mr Collins won seven games and drew one at the competition which ended on Sunday.
Overall, the Irish team recorded their best performance ever at a Chess Olympiad, coming 36th in a field of 135 countries. As expected, Russia took first place in the men's competition while China had the winning women's team. The Chess Olympiad takes place every two years.
In Dublin, Ms Rebecca Jeffers, a member of the Irish Chess Union, said it was "a great achievement for the Irish team".
"Chess gets absolutely no state funding but the team members went over to Slovenia at their own expense and competed well on the world stage," she said.