Ryde Rapid Chess Tournament: Sat 20th Jan

The first Ryde Rapid Tournament will take place on Saturday 20th Jan 2024.

The goal is to get people familiar with competitive formats ahead of more rated events and an Isle of Wight Chess Congress later in 2024. We will also be testing formats, tools and equipment while we prepare for larger events and taking photographs to promote the eventual congress.

Entry will be £14.50 with x15 Early Bird tickets available at £10, this must be paid in advance through Eventbrite - This covers the cost of room hire and prizes. Tickets are available on the link below. Maximum capacity is x30 players. Any profit will go towards purchase of new equipment for the congress. In future we will aim to attract sponsors to reduce the cost to players and increase the prize pool. Please book early so we can plan accordingly.

Buy Entry Ticket

The Chess format will be as follows:

5 Round Swiss - Unrated

15 min clocks with 10 seconds increment (Games last about 30 mins to 50 mins).

You will not be required to record moves. Differences will be settled by the arbitrator.

Game 1 - 10am

Game 2 - 11.30am

Lunch break

Game 3 - 2pm

Game 4 - 3.30pm

Game 5 - 5pm

Byes are not available but you may withdraw after any round if you need to go.

Prizes:

1st, £50 + a Trophy + IOW Chess Mug

2nd, £20 + a IOW Chess Mug

3rd, IOW Chess Mug

In the event of a tie, final placing prizes will be determined by the Bucholz system (points based on ranking of people you win or draw against). If this is even a single 3+2 Blitz game will be played after the final round at approx. 6pm.

Prize payments will be made by bank transfer the day after the event.

As an unrated event we will use a free tournament software, later events will use the ECF tool. This software has all the features we need for pairing, withdrawals, byes and overall score. Pairings and seat locations will be posted 15 mins before the round start.

Players rating will be based on Chess .com or Lichess rapid ratings (provide on the morning), in the case of none an estimate rating of 1000 will be used. This will only impact the Round 1 pairings and be used to give an estimated overall performance ELO.

Maximum capacity x30 players. Tickets will not be refunded if you cancel within 7 days of the event. You will however get a free ticket to the next Rapid Tournament. We are aiming to run these every couple of months and move to rated play.

We are also hosting x2 practice events of shorter time controls, these are on 8th Dec and 15th Dec at the Friday evening chess session. These are free and do not have prizes. Please register your interest on the Facebook Group event so we can estimate numbers - linked here.