Late night chess led to murder - police

A man was killed in Ireland over a late night chess game, police say. Photo / Thinkstock

An Irish man has been knifed to death in a frenzied attack over a late night chess game, detectives believe.

Irish police were called to the scene of the bloody killing in a suburb of north Dublin at around 1.50am local time.

A 39-year-old researcher, who owned the house at Beech Park Avenue, Castleknock, was found with multiple stab injuries inside.

They believe a violent row erupted over a chess move and spiralled out of control.

Another man - aged 34 years and understood to be from Palermo in Italy - was arrested at the scene.

Investigating gardai are not looking for anyone else in connection with the death, which will be treated as murder as soon as post mortem examination results are confirmed.

A police source said: "It was a very unpleasant scene for our people to walk into. This was a bizarre killing and the dead man sustained substantial injuries to his body."

It is understood the dead man was a former journalist with The Voice Today, a Roman Catholic newspaper.

A graduate of University College Dublin, he was more recently a researcher with the Dublin-based Catholic lobby group the Iona Institute.

He is believed to have taken in a lodger in recent months to help supplement his income.

It is not thought there were any drink or drugs involved in the incident.

A knife has been recovered at the scene.

- AAP