23-24 August 2025
Venue: The Crow’s Nest, Cork, Ireland
This will be an eight-hanchan open tournament over two days, playing to standard EMA riichi rules.
In addition, the three Irish players (living on the island of Ireland or holding an Irish citizenship) who rank highest in this tournament, will qualify for the subsequent All-Ireland Riichi Mahjong Championship (date to be announced later) where they will face the current champion, Conor Mullin.
Being an EMA ranked tournament (approval pending), players will need to be able to play without any external assistance. Guide sheets will be provided for scoring, which is the responsibility of all four players.
Getting to Cork
Cork Airport has flights from several British airports, as well as major hubs such as Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris CDG. It’s a short bus ride (~€3, you can buy a ticket from the bus driver with cash) or taxi ride (~€20) from the airport into the city. Otherwise, Dublin Airport is 3 hours away from Cork City centre using Aircoach or GoBus services (~€21).
Where to stay:
We are offering to rent student accommodations that are empty for the summer as a group, in the same building as the tournament’s venue (“Crow’s Nest”) or in a building less than a 5 minutes walk away (“Victoria Lodge”). The price will be €55 per person per night, for a single bed in an individual bedroom in a unit with a shared kitchen and living space (Victoria Lodge), or €120 for a double room (Crow’s Nest, price per room and not per person). This is easily the cheapest for an individual room in Cork. If you are interested in this, instructions to book will be included in the registration confirmation email.
Beyond that, Hotel accommodation in Cork is challenging. Affordable options include Sheilas Hostel for a place in a dorm or some AirBNB hosts. We strongly recommend booking as early as possible, as your options will shrink quickly.
Tournament details
Entry fee: €70 (access to the tournament, catering and snacks on both days, to be paid by bank transfer/revolut). Some entry places for low-income players are available at €40 – please contact us to discuss. Please note that depending on budget constraints we might not be able to offer a refund in case of cancellation in the last two weeks before the event.
IMPORTANT: from July on, registrations will only be approved by batches of 4 to ensure we have the right number of players. If you register after then and all tables are already complete, you will be placed on a waiting list.
Registration:
Rules: EMA RCR (pdf, standard European riichi tournament rules)
Format: round robin, 8 rounds
Referee: Maksym Ivanov
EMA observer: TBD
Location: Transportation in Cork is heavily based on car, so we suggest looking for accommodation in walking distance (we do provide an affordable option in the same building, see “Where to stay”). We will also try to accommodate needs for lifts if possible.
Schedule:
Saturday:
- 8:30-9:00 registration
- 9:00-10:30 first round
- 10:30-11:00 break
- 11:00-12:30 second round
- 12:30-13:30 lunch
- 13:30-15:00 third round
- 15:00-15:30 break
- 15:30-17:00 fourth round
- 17:00-17:30 break
- 17:30-19:00 fifth round
Sunday:
- 8:30-9:00 registration
- 9:00-10:30 sixth round
- 10:30-11:00 break
- 11:00-12:30 seventh round
- 12:30-13:30 lunch
- 13:30-15:00 eighth round
- 15:00-15:30 closing ceremony
Registered players:
- Sveta Yaremenko, Ukraine
- Livey Irwin, Ireland
- Sam Sleight, United Kingdom
- Martin Schleimer, Ireland
- Krzysztof Dąbrowski, Poland
- Yucheng Gao, Ireland
- Jonathan Matchett, Ireland
- Katherine Horton, USA