English Chess Forum

A new international tournament in Coventry, following the same format as the one in Cambridge, will be held between 26-31 October.

GM norms will be possible, and entry is limited to 100 players. Entry, for players FIDE-rated 1800+, is available here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/coventry-international/

Why on earth is the ECF launching a tournament like this that clashes with Scarborough, one of the longest running and best tournaments that we have?

This is obviously going to detrimentally affect Scarborough in the higher sections?

Alex Holowczak wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 5:24 pm

A new international tournament in Coventry, following the same format as the one in Cambridge, will be held between 26-31 October.

Whoever wrote the Rules has done too much copy and paste from junior events.

In https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... -Rules.pdf

we are told

Mobile Phones
During play mobile phones and other electronic devices (such as smartwatches and fitbits) must be left with parents in the waiting area. A player must not have any such device about their person or carry it with them during play.

Running 9 rounds over six days is a little more relaxed than running over five. There would be a problem finishing it on the Saturday rather than the Friday as that would clash with the 4NCL in relatively nearby Dudley.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:25 pm

Alex Holowczak wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 5:24 pm

A new international tournament in Coventry, following the same format as the one in Cambridge, will be held between 26-31 October.

Whoever wrote the Rules has done too much copy and paste from junior events.

In https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... -Rules.pdf

Good spot!

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:14 pm

This is obviously going to detrimentally affect Scarborough in the higher sections?

I doubt it - big difference in the sort of player who will play at Scarborough and an event like this, and the geography is sufficiently far away that it won't have much impact on locals.

Alex Holowczak wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:43 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:25 pm

Alex Holowczak wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 5:24 pm

A new international tournament in Coventry, following the same format as the one in Cambridge, will be held between 26-31 October.

Whoever wrote the Rules has done too much copy and paste from junior events.

In https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... -Rules.pdf

Good spot!

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:14 pm

This is obviously going to detrimentally affect Scarborough in the higher sections?

I doubt it - big difference in the sort of player who will play at Scarborough and an event like this, and the geography is sufficiently far away that it won't have much impact on locals.

I'm sorry but this is the sort of typical ECF answer to anything "up north" that really annoys me. Look at the entrants in the Scarborough Open section last year. These are exactly the sort of people who would play both of these events!

Scarborough isn't just a tournament for "locals" it attracts 350-400 per year from across the UK and has done so for a very long time.

You dismiss any feedback out of hand when it doesn't align to an ECF agenda, and yet you berate us at every opportunity when we fail to get behind anything that the ECF wants support for.

My guess would be that the ECF picked this week because it is the school half-term week in England and Wales, and they'd have enough schoolchildren interested in entering for that to be an important consideration.

IM Jack Rudd wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:46 pm

My guess would be that the ECF picked this week because it is the school half-term week in England and Wales, and they'd have enough schoolchildren interested in entering for that to be an important consideration.

Why do you think Scarborough runs that same weekend!

I'm not against more tournaments. But when the ECF is flexing its muscles with its considerable reach/resources/contact list etc maybe it should take a moment to consider how its actions affect others who are already doing a lot of good work. Have they even reached out to the Scarborough organisers to let them know, or even offered to promote the Scarborough Congress to minimise the effect of this new ECF event?

This isn't the same as the local league in Coventry running a local congress for a hundred people in Coventry. This is an ECF event, and as such the national governing body should consider points such as this carefully when launching new initiatives.

You are purposefully targeting the higher end players, and predominantly the younger demographic (due to your choice of dates over the half term). You have every chess player's email account, and as such you have a reach and marketing advantage that no other event can compete with.

If you don't care about non-ECF run events then why not just nationalise Chess now and the rest of us can put our feet up?!

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 10:01 pm

You have every chess player's email account, and as such you have a reach and marketing advantage that no other event can compete with.

Technically not every chess player's email address. But it looks like Andrew is making some very salient points.

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:42 pm

I'm sorry but this is the sort of typical ECF answer to anything "up north" that really annoys me.

I think any notion of a "typical ECF answer to anything up north" is entirely imaginary. We've just held a British Championships in Liverpool, and we've been to Hull three times in 6 years. We increased the number of UK Open Blitz qualifiers in the North of England from 2 to 4, including two in Yorkshire. I've opened talks with two other areas in the North of England about potentially hosting other ECF events recently.

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:42 pm

Look at the entrants in the Scarborough Open section last year. These are exactly the sort of people who would play both of these events!

Having looked at the Scarborough 2024 Open field, I'd be surprised if more than half a dozen people who played in 2024 in Scarborough would play in the Coventry event instead. Should we really not run a titlenorm tournament, a type of tournament which is in high demand (see Kingston and Mindsports this week) because of half a dozen people out of 350?

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:42 pm

You dismiss any feedback out of hand when it doesn't align to an ECF agenda, and yet you berate us at every opportunity when we fail to get behind anything that the ECF wants support for.

No, I don't.

Andrew Wainwright wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 10:01 pm

This is an ECF event, and as such the national governing body should consider points such as this carefully when launching new initiatives.

It isn't exactly a direct copy of the Cambridge event. That started on a Monday and finished on a Saturday. With that format, assuming it was possible to make it from Scarborough to Coventry on Sunday night or possibly Monday morning, it would be possible to play in both. What that would rule out is for players at Coventry to participate in the Saturday round of the 4NCL.

I suspect the 4NCL outranks Scarborough. If push came to shove I think it has more votes at ECF AGMs.

To be fair to Alex it's a good initiative the ecf have taken, norm opportunities are slim in the UK and it is a good market to tap into when you consider people will otherwise spend a small fortune to go to Croatia or some such in order to get a crack at the titles.

With the huge number of chess tournaments now taking place, however, it's pretty impossible to not start stepping on toes, but take solace in the fact that there is such huge demand most are now oversubscribed so I'd like to think that both this Coventry tournament AND Scarborough will be fully attended and profitable

"If you don't care about non-ECF run events then why not just nationalise Chess now and the rest of us can put our feet up?!"

They would still need eager volunteers to run the events without being paid.

It also clashes with 15 fixtures in the Birmingham league and 8 fixtures in the Leamington League although some of those will not contain 1800+ players.

Dan

(edit) And 8 fixtures in the Coventry League, all of which are on the same night of the blitz