2nd Kent FIDE Congress

supported by savills

Friday 19th to 21st July 2024

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TUNBRIDGE WELLS BRIDGE CLUB (Photo Gallery 2023)

40 London Road
Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1DL

Tunbridge Wells Bridge Club is located directly off the A26 (London Road) as it passes through Tunbridge Wells (the nearest Rail station is 50 minutes away on a straight train from London Bridge). The venue is about 3 minutes walk from Tunbridge Wells Rail station. There is limited car parking on site on Saturday & Sunday (NO Parking for Round #1 on Friday) but Paid spaces should be available at all times at less than 100 yards from the venue at the Torrington Car Park

5-Round Swiss Tournament (Time Control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from start)

3-Sections ECF & FIDE rated: Open, U1900 & U1600

Chess-Results Tournament Page with Entries appears here

SECTIONS

REGULATIONS & CONDITIONS OF ENTRY:

All entrants must be either Gold or Platinum members of the English Chess Federation, or members of another chess Federation with a live FIDE ID. ECF members at other levels will be able to upgrade to Gold by paying only the difference in fees to ECF directly or pay the ECF Pay-to-Play fee at entry point. Please see the ECF website

Please note that Entries are only Accepted when the correct payment has been processed online. Unrated players will be requested to provide evidence of their playing strength/past grade or rating to enter them in the suitable section - Organiser reserves the right to change the section of player/s or withdraw them

Entries on the day of the tournament will only be accepted (if the event has capacity) in Cash before 9.15am, and will be subject to an additional surcharge of £10. Late entries will be paired at the Organiser’s discretion

Please DO NOT ENTER the tournament if you are not comfortable playing in a Merged Section in case there are Insufficient Players in a section/s, forcing us to combine them

Players without a FIDE ID code will be registered as ENG

Please enter early to avoid paying late fee - the event is limited to 100 players

PLANNED PLAYING SCHEDULE

Please aim to arrive by 6.00 pm to allow a prompt start to the first round of the day. While every effort will be made to adhere to the planned playing schedule, we may have to be flexible based on how the day unfolds

PRIZES

The Organiser/s reserves the right to reduce the Prize fund (£1615) if there are less than 80 entries for the event, And/Or merge sections if there are insufficient entries (less than 16) in any section. Prize fund will be increased to £2015 upon crossing 105 paid entries

Winners will be announced within two working days from the conclusion of the event. Money prizes (as advertised) will be awarded to winners & these will be endeavoured to be disbursed via bank transfers within two to five working days from the receipt of bank details. No player can win more than one prize and the Organiser's decision will be final. (i) Only players with a current ECF / FIDE rating are eligible for Rating prizes. Rating prize is given to a player (who hasn't won a place prize) scoring the highest number of points with the lowest rating from the bottom half of the players as listed by Starting Rank for the tournament (ii) In all sections (barring the Open), players without an ECF or FIDE rating can win a maximum prize money of £100 - the remaining prize money will be apportioned to other winners in that section/s

In case of a tie on points for Place position/s, the prize will be jointly shared, suitably modifying the overall prize money. In case of there being more than one player tied for the first place, there will be no second place prize, as the latter prize money will be pooled for the first prize joint winners - the winners' prizes in all cases of joint winners will be shared based on their tie-break scores in proportion as outlined below

REFUNDS

Refund requests on entries fees will be considered up to 7 days before the event start time & an admin fee of £9 will be charged per refund per player. No refunds will be issued less than 7 days before the event start time for any reason. Full refund will be issued (i) to players in a section that has been deleted due to insufficient entries i.e. less than 16 players or (ii) if a player has been requested to withdraw due to higher rating in case of merged sections

RATING

The Higher of the latest ECF and FIDE Classical Rating Lists will be used to determine player’s ratings as published on the first of the month. Both ECF and FIDE ratings will need to be below the stated section limits to be eligible for the U1600 & U1900 sections. In case neither an ECF nor a FIDE Classical Rating is available, Estimated Ratings (with evidence from local club, popular online chess platforms such as Chess.com or Lichess)/Rapid Ratings may also be used by the Organiser to determine a player's section as required

RATE OF PLAY, Requesting Half-Point BYE & WITHDRAWALS

Each player will have 90 minutes plus a 30 second increment per move from start & as such all moves are to be recorded

If your opponent has not arrived within 30 minutes of the start of a round, they will be defaulted and you should report to the Organiser’s desk for taking a bye or for re-pairing as feasible for the round/s

Players may take a Half-Point Bye in advance for Any One Round Except the Last Round if requested on the entry form or with an arbiter / Organiser on the day for an upcoming round

Players who do not show up for a round without an explicit permission from an arbiter /Organiser will be considered as withdrawn for all future rounds & removed from pairings

PAIRINGS, SECTIONS & CLOCKS

All pairings will be done using 'Swiss Manager' software and displayed on Chess-Results.com

Please ensure to check that your Rating (higher of ECF & FIDE) & Name is correctly displayed on the Chess-Results page at least one day ahead of the tournament & report any discrepancies to the Organiser promptly, but certainly much ahead of the pairings for Round #1. Default time is 30 minutes, after which Re-Pairing may be made for each player whose opponent has not arrived and for any player otherwise having a full-point bye. If a player does not show up before the default time for a round without written intimation to the Organising/Arbiting Team, then that player shall be excluded from the tournament for all the remaining rounds automatically. Reinstatement of the excluded player will be at the discretion of the Organiser / Chief Arbiter at an additional fee of £10

In general, sections will not be merged for pairings. However, the Chief Arbiter reserves the right to merge sections if there are insufficient number of entries in one or more sections - Prizes would then be suitably adjusted

Score-sheets will be provided for recording games & it is a requirement that moves are recorded at all times throughout the game based on the specified time control- please bring your Clip-board & Pen/Pencil. Digital clocks will be used in all sections

FAIR PLAY REGULATIONS

To comply with FIDE regulations - All mobile phones and electronic devices (unless used for medical reasons with information to the Chief Arbiter), including smart watches, must be switched-off at all times in the Playing Hall. They should be put either on the control desk or face-down on the playing table, or in a bag under the desk that must not be moved whilst games are in play. If it is evident that during play, a player’s device is not turned off or a player has such a device on their person or has had access to any such device, the player shall be defaulted & will unfortunately forfeit / lose the game

Any spectators (Players are classified as spectators after finishing their games), Parents/guardians/carers and others who may enter the Playing Hall must also have their mobile phones / electronic devices switched-off at all times

DISPUTES

In the event of a dispute regarding the rules during play, a player should Pause the Clock and summon an Arbiter - any appeal on the Arbiter's decision will be made to the Chief Arbiter within 10 minutes of the incident. The Chief Arbiter's decision will be final & binding in all matters

REFRESHMENTS

Basic Tea & Coffee will be available at the venue to purchase - paying by Contactless Card is the preferable mode of payment as we encourage a cashless system of settlement. Kindly tender exact change when using cash. There are many outlets on the high street nearby offering refreshment choices

DISABLED ACCESS

The venue is Disability friendly - any such person needing help is requested to inform the Organiser in advance

PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographs of players may be taken during the tournament to form the tournament photo gallery. Additionally, players can expect to be on camera while playing on live DGT boards (if used). By participating in the tournament, players acknowledge and agree to these conditions.Photographs taken at the event may be used for publicity purposes by the Organiser. It is allowed to take photos only during the first five minutes of each round - if using mobile phones to take photos in the playing hall, please ensure to keep them in flight mode at all times. Any objection to being photographed should be notified to the event Organiser prior to the event

BEHAVIOUR, PARENTAL SUPERVISION and DISCLAIMERS

Please treat the premises with respect and follow all signs and rules as requested

A high standard of behaviour and respect for others and the property (venue) is always expected. Players entering or leaving the Playing Hall while other games are in progress should do so quietly

Smoking / Vaping including e-cigarettes is NOT allowed in the playing venue; nor is the consumption of alcohol

The Organisers and Arbiters are unable to act "in loco parentis" for children. Parents/guardians/carers are responsible for their children throughout the entire duration of this event. Children under the age of 8 must remain under sole parental supervision throughout. Supervision of children over the age of 8 and teenagers may be shared between adults. However, Parents/guardians/carers should note that they are still ultimately responsible for their children and their behaviour at this event

The Organiser accept no responsibility for any damage, theft or accident to the person or property of any competitor, trainee or other visitor at this event, nor are they responsible for the effects of actions of anyone else attending this event

GDPR - Personal data is held solely for the purposes of our events. This is for administration and to keep you updated on future chess events. We share some data with the English Chess Federation and FIDE for rating purposes. Results, ratings and photos may be used on social media pages or in publicity unless informed otherwise.

Additional Conditions of Entry