English Chess Forum

Alex – in the 2023 congress, the longest game was 214 moves and finished at 1.30am on Saturday morning. I can't take that risk with this venue.

Thanks. These are all valid points.

The reason for dispensing with the increment is that the venue has a strict shutdown of 10.00pm. We cannot risk very long games which would take us beyond that.

This event returns for 2026 at a new venue – St Catherine's School in Bramley – on the weekend of Friday 10 to Sunday 12 April. Main details: • 5-round Swiss tournament • Two sections – Open and Major (U1800) • Time control – 35 moves in 105 minutes then all remaining moves in a further 30 minutes. ...

Congress numbers are much lower than expected: only about 70 so far, compared to 135 in 2023 and 160 in 2024. The reasons are unclear. There is competition from other events – but that was the same before. The congress is no longer viable as currently structured. We decided to keep it in the calenda...

Fine. But the original post does give the impression that this is a new initiative. And also that you are the driving force behind it.

As you say, better coordination is needed. However, the nature of the Guildford venue means we are very restricted in our choice of date.

It's good to see a new chess event on the calendar.

However, I'd be interested to know why John chose a date for this event which he knew was a direct clash with the nearby Guildford FIDE Congress.

The Guildford FIDE Congress will now take place on the weekend of 25 to 27 April 2025 , and not the weekend of 11 to 13 April 2025 as earlier advertised. The entry on chess-results is still showing the earlier dates. https://chess-results.com/tnr1066498.aspx?lan=1&art=0&turdet=YES You now have a cl...

The Guildford FIDE Congress will now take place on the weekend of 25 to 27 April 2025 , and not the weekend of 11 to 13 April 2025 as earlier advertised. The University of Surrey have told us that the venue is no longer available on the original date as they have had to accommodate a large universit...

Yes. I prefer to keep things as simple as possible. By the way it's not clear to me whether the £6 Junior P2P concession applies to Juniors from other FIDE Federations as well as to ENG registered Juniors. For information there were 57 Juniors in the Guildford FIDE Congress 2024. Of these, 50 were J...

There has been a change to the entry fee structure following publication of the new ECF charges for 2024/25: Entry fee The entry fee is the same for all sections: £45 – ECF Gold / Platinum members. £60 – All others (i.e. +£15). This reflects the new ECF arrangements for Membership, Pay to Play and G...

Entries are now open for the 2025 event which runs from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 April 2025 at the same University of Surrey venue as before. 5-round Swiss in four sections: • Open • Major – U2000 • Minor – U1600 • Senior – aged 60+ on 1 January 2025. All sections ECF-rated and FIDE-rated. Time contro...

I expect the answer to these questions is obvious, but I can't immediately find it on the ECF website.

1. For game fee purposes, did the 2023/24 season begin on 1 July 2023 or 1 September 2023?

2. Do online leagues (eg 4NCL Online) attract game fee liability?

We have taken a closer look at the available space and decided that we can accommodate a few more players. As at 12.30pm on Tuesday 9 April, we have the following places available in each section: • Open: 2 • Major: 1 • Minor: 11 Anyone interested in playing should complete an entry form and be prep...

The compromise was the outcome of a long email exchange between me and another player in the Open (not this player).

The event has 160 entrants and is now full. Any further entries will be placed on a waiting list in case of late withdrawals. No payment is required at this stage.