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1st Orpington FIDE Congress

Saturday, 16 to 17th November 2024

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Sanderson Hall(Photo Gallery)

Mickleham Road
Orpington BR5 2RW

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St. Mary's Cray Rail Station (London Borough of Bromley) is about 0.8 miles away from the venue with excellent transport links & about 45 minutes on a train ride from London Bridge. There is a limited car parking at the venue with ample scope to park with no restrictions on surrounding roads & at the Cotmandene Crescent car park (free), BR5 2RG (off Chipperfield Road)

5-Round Swiss Tournament (Time Control of 60 minutes + 30 seconds increment from start)

3-Sections ECF & FIDE rated: U2100, U1750 & U1450

Chess-Results Tournament Page with Entries appears here

SECTIONS

Section

U2100

U1750

U1450

Entry Fee

To pay, please refer Table of Fees at the Bottom of this page before filling entry form

To pay, please refer Table of Fees at the Bottom of this page before filling entry form

To pay, please refer Table of Fees at the Bottom of this page before filling entry form

1st Prize

£250

£200

£150

2nd Prize

£100

£80

£70

Rating Prize

£60

£50

£40

REGULATIONS & CONDITIONS OF ENTRY:

All players must be ECF Gold members or above OR they will need to pay the prescribed ECF Pay-to-Play fee

Before entering the tournament, please check your ECF membership status

If required, obtain your ECF membership at the ECF website

OR pay the Pay-to-Play & Game fees

ECF members at other levels can either upgrade to Gold membership by paying the difference in fees to the ECF directly or pay the ECF Pay-to-Play fee of £15 / £6 (adult / junior) for each FIDE rated tournament by filling the entry form. Junior Gold ECF membership is free to all for the first year of membership. Players without a FIDE ID code will be registered as ENG. Non-ENG federation players with an active FIDE ID can also take ECF Gold membership (without changing their FED) for a year by paying £35 / £12 (adult / junior) or pay the Pay-to-Play fee of £15 / £6 (adult / junior) for each such FIDE rated tournament.

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 enter early to avoid paying late fee - the event is limited to 80 players

PLANNED PLAYING SCHEDULE

Please aim to arrive by 10 am 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

Round 1: 10:30 am on Saturday, the 16th November

Round 2: 2pm on Saturday the 16th November

Round 3: 5:30 pm on Saturday the 16th November

Round 4: 10.30 am on Sunday the 17th November

Round 5: 2 pm on Sunday the 17th November

Planned Finish : 5.30 pm on Sunday the 17th November

PRIZES

The Organiser/s reserves the right to suitably reduce the Prize fund (£1000) if there are less than 60 paid entries by adjusting against entries in each section, And/Or merge sections if there are insufficient entries in any section

In case two sections are merged, the two place prizes (1st & 2nd) would be added up & split equally into two prizes, with one prize going to the top-scoring player/s from each section - tie break will only be used to decide the split of prize money if there are joint winners from the same section. One rating prize will be awarded for the merged sections as per the standard prescribed policy

Email announcing the Winners on Chess-Results will be sent to all participants & money prizes (as advertised) will be sent via bank transfers within two to five working days from the receipt of Winner's bank details. No player can win more than one prize & if a player qualifies for more than one prize, the higher of the prize money will be awarded, making suitable adjustments to the other prize/s and the Organiser's decision will be final & binding. (i) Only players with a current ECF (not P / Provisional Rating) / FIDE Classical rating are eligible for Rating prizes. Rating prize is given to a player 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

2-way Tie: Prizes split in the ratio 60-40

3-way Tie: Prizes split in the ratio 40-35-25

4-way Tie: Prizes split in the ratio 30-27-23-20

5-way Tie: Prizes split Equally

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. However, players have an option to roll on their entry fee to the immediate next tournament from the Psyon Chess umbrella on the ECF Calendar if the refund request is made within 72 hours from the event start time. Full refund will be issued (i) to players in a section that has been deleted due to insufficient entries or (ii) if the tournament is cancelled for any reason by the organiser. The maximum refund / liability of the organiser in any eventuality will be the "entry fee" paid per player

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 all 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 60 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 are 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 publishing of the pairings for Round #1

Default time is 30 minutes after start, 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 property 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

The Organiser/s also reserve the right to:
  • Transfer entrants between sections & / Or Split or Merge sections depending on numbers
  • Refund players (minus any Paypal payment processing fee if applicable) if the tournament needs to be cancelled for any reason beyond the control of the Organiser
  • Withhold / reduce prizes from unrated players &/ Or Distribute the prize fund as they deem appropriate in the circumstances
  • Refuse entry without assigning a reason & / Or take any other measures deemed necessary to ensure smooth running of the event
  • Change / Delay the Start Timings of the Rounds based on the situation on ground
  • Spectators and Players who have finished their game (they then become spectators) are generally not allowed to stay in the Playing Hall (area #1) and may be asked to leave the Playing Hall. There will be limited seating arrangement for non-players in an adjacent facility on a first-come-first-serve basis(designated as the Non-Players' area #2) - the Organiser does not guarantee any seating especially for non-players beyond what is available & budgeted for at the venue. Non-players are expected to maintain low voice levels at all times to avoid distracting the players & other Hall users. Any movement outside the Playing Hall or the Non-Players' area (designated hired premises) will be construed as trespassing so please confine yourself to either of area #1 or area #2 at all times based on your status.
  • TABLE OF FEES

    Please use the Sum of the Tiered Entry Fee & the ECF Membership fee as applicable per tables (A) & (B) below [based on your Rating & Membership status on the day of entering the event on Congress] for arranging Payment by Bank Transfer to Psyon Ltd. Entries will only be registered & appear on the Entrants list on Congress.org.uk about 2-3 working days from receiving the Payment at Organiser's end. Tiered Entry Fee Table (A)
    Higher of ECF & FIDE Rating Desired Section Tiered Entry Fee in GBP
    1750 to 2099 U2100 48
    Below 1750 U2100 50
    Unrated / Provisional ECF Rating U2100 55
    1450 to 1749 U1750 46
    Below 1450 U1750 48
    Unrated / Provisional ECF Rating U1750 53
    1200 to 1449 U1450 45
    Below 1200 U1450 47
    Unrated / Provisional ECF Rating U1450 52
    Additional ECF Membership Fee Table (B)
    Membership Status ECF Membership Fee in GBP
    Gold / Platinum ECF category members 0
    FIDE Registered players with no ENG affiliation: Adult / Junior 15 / 6
    All Other category ENG members: Adult / Junior 15 / 6

    THANK YOU