Tournament | Rules | Accommodation | Entrants
Section A: General Rules for All Tournaments
Eligibility to play
Only players who fulfil one of the following criteria shall have the right of entry –
(a) British Citizenship, or
(b) British Overseas Territories Citizenship, or
(c) Citizenship of Ireland, or
(d) not less than one year’s continuous ordinary residence in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ending on the 30th June in the calendar year of the Championship in question, or
(e) not less than one year’s continuous ordinary residence in Ireland ending on the 30th June in the calendar year of the Championship in question, or
(f) not less than one year’s continuous ordinary residence in the Channel Islands ending on the 30th June in the calendar year of the Championship in question, or
(g) not less than one year’s continuous ordinary residence in the Isle of Man ending on the 30th June in the calendar year of the Championship in question
Rating
All tournaments will be submitted to FIDE for international rating and the English Chess Federation (ECF) for national rating. It is a condition of playing in the British Junior Rapid & Blitz Championship that the data submitted at the time of entry will be forwarded to the ECF and FIDE as required to enable the games played to be rated by the ECF and FIDE.
Allocation of Ratings in All Sections
The ratings used for each tournament will be in the following order of priority, where the following letters are –
E – National Rating (November 2021)
Q – National Rapidplay Rating (November 2021)
F – FIDE Rating (November 2021)
R – FIDE Rapidplay Rating (November 2021)
B – FIDE Blitz Rating (November 2021)
Rapidplay Tournaments – RQFE
Blitz Tournaments – BRQFE
Where a player has none of these, the organisers will assign an estimate based on all available data on a case-by-case basis, failing which the player will be assigned a rating of 0. National and FIDE ratings will be treated as equivalent to one-another. The ratings allocated by this process will be used in the calculation of any relevant prizes. (See Prize Calculation below for more information.)
Levels of Membership Required
All players registered to ENG must be a member of the English Chess Federation. Players registered to other Federations must be members of their national Federation.
Obtaining a FIDE Identification Number
All entrants must have a FIDE Identification Number at the time of submitting their entry, unless they wish their FIDE nationality to be England. English players without a FIDE Identification Number will have one created at the time the rating files are submitted by FIDE. Please note – at the time of writing, changing this nationality later costs 50 Euros.
Section B: Tournament Specific Regulations
Rapidplay Tournaments
Number of Rounds – 9
Number of Half Point Byes Permitted – 0
Time Control – 15 + 10’
Default Time – when the player’s time expires
Schedule
Round 1 – Saturday, 13th November, 1100
Round 2 – Saturday, 13th November, 1215
Round 3 – Saturday, 13th November, 1330
Round 4 – Saturday, 13th November, 1445
Round 5 – Sunday, 14th November, 0945
Round 6 – Sunday, 14th November, 1100
Round 7 – Sunday, 14th November, 1215
Round 8 – Sunday, 14th November, 1330
Round 9 – Sunday, 14th November, 1445
Pairings Published for each Round – 1030 for Round 1; as soon as available thereafter
Entry Fee – £24 Standard, £36 Late
Sections – Under 8 Open, Under 8 Girls (born 2013 or later); Under 10 Open, Under 10 Girls (born 2011 or later); Under 12 Open, Under 12 Girls (born 2009 or later); Under 14 Open, Under 14 Girls (born 2007 or later); Under 16 Open, Under 16 Girls (born 2005 or later); Under 18 Open, Under 18 Girls (born 2003 or later)
Place Prizes – 1st Trophy, 2nd Trophy, 3rd Trophy
Blitz Tournaments
Number of Rounds – 9
Number of Half Point Byes Permitted – 0
Time Control – 3 + 2’
Default Time – when the player’s time expires
Schedule
Round 1 – Saturday, 13th November, 1630
Round 2 – Saturday, 13th November, 1650
Round 3 – Saturday, 13th November, 1710
Round 4 – Saturday, 13th November, 1730
Round 5 – Saturday, 13th November, 1750
Round 6 – Saturday, 13th November, 1810
Round 7 – Saturday, 13th November, 1830
Round 8 – Saturday, 13th November, 1850
Round 9 – Saturday, 13th November, 1910
Pairings Published for each Round – 1615 for Round 1; as soon as available thereafter
Entry Fee – £12 Standard, £18 Late
Sections – Under 8 Open, Under 8 Girls (born 2013 or later); Under 10 Open, Under 10 Girls (born 2011 or later); Under 12 Open, Under 12 Girls (born 2009 or later); Under 14 Open, Under 14 Girls (born 2007 or later); Under 16 Open, Under 16 Girls (born 2005 or later); Under 18 Open, Under 18 Girls (born 2003 or later)
Place Prizes – 1st Trophy, 2nd Trophy, 3rd Trophy
Section C: Entry Fee and Prize Calculation
Entry Fee Deadlines
Standard – online via the ECF website by 1700 on Friday, 12th November
Late – at the venue until –
Rapidplay Tournaments – 1030 on Saturday, 13th November
Blitz Tournaments – 1600 on Saturday, 13th November
Prize Calculation
The place prizes in all tournaments will be awarded to the player scoring the most points. Where a place in a group is tied between two or more players, the following tie-breaks will be used –
- Direct Encounter
- Buchholz Cut 2
- Buchholz Cut 1
- Buchholz
- Drawing of lots
Prize Giving
Full prize lists for each tournament will be published online as soon as possible at the end of the tournaments. There will be a closing ceremony held as soon as possible after the conclusion of play on Sunday.
Byes
Half point byes are not permitted.
Section D: Defaults & Pairing Alterations
Defaults
A player who defaults a game will not be included in the pairings for the next round of the tournament, or any subsequent round, unless the Chief Arbiter decides otherwise. All re-arranged games listed below will be both ECF rated and FIDE rated.
Late Pairings
The Organiser may permit players to enter (or register) after the pairings have been published for Round 1 of a tournament. In general, these players will score 0 points in the rounds they have missed. However, the player may be paired against another player in this category, who has entered the same tournament, and that game shall be played as though part of the tournament. Should any players remain after this process, then they will score 0 points in Round 1.
Re-pairings
A player whose opponent does not arrive before the default time will win their game by default. Re-pairings against other opponents in the same situation will not be arranged other than as rated games.
Section E: Parents and other Spectators
Parents or guardians are responsible for their children during the tournament. The organisers and helpers are not able to act “in loco parentis” and are not able to take responsibility for any child’s actions, or for the actions of anyone that may affect your child.
Parents or Guardians of players are not permitted into the playing area during play in any circumstances. Any information (e.g. where the parent will be waiting for the child) or possession (e.g. water bottles) that need to be given to the child must be done by speaking to a member of tournament staff at the Information Desk/Tournament Office, and one of them will take this to the child.
Spectators are not permitted in the playing area during play.
Section F: Miscellaneous
Section Merging
In the event of insufficient entries to fill a section, the Chief Arbiter and Organiser reserve the right to merge sections at their discretion.
Mobile Phones
During play mobile phones and other electronic devices must be left with the adult supervising them at the tournament. A player must not have any such device about their person or carry it with them during play.
A player will be immediately forfeited if during the game any such device either
- makes any sound; or
- is found to be switched on; or
- is found to be about their person or being carried by them.
Fair Play Arrangements
The Chief Arbiter will arrange for pre-game and post-game scanning. The arbiters reserve the right to scan a player during their game if they have occasion to do so.
Liability
The organisers accept no responsibility for any loss, theft or accident during the tournament.
Right to Refuse Entry
The English Chess Federation reserves the right to refuse entry without being required to state a reason, and to transfer players between tournaments at any time.
Zero Tolerance to Abuse
The Chief Arbiter and Chief Organiser are empowered to expel a player from all tournaments entered, either for a number or rounds or in their entirety, if a player or their parent or guardian shows dissent by word or action towards an arbiter, or any member of staff connected with the tournament.