The finals for the UK Blitz Championships 2019 will be held at St John’s Hotel in Solihul on the 16th November. The Championships will include an Open and a Women’s final, each event having 16 players with 15 rounds of Blitz games in an all play all format. The Winners will become UK Open and Women’s blitz champions for 2019.
Details of the qualifying players and the draw can be found here —
http://chess-results.com/tnr485040.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES – Open Final
http://chess-results.com/tnr485039.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES – Women’s Final
We are expecting to stream the event live with GM commentary on Chess.com and Twitch, with a copy available for viewing after the event on the ECF YouTube channel, and will advise details on this website and via social media nearer the date for those who would like to follow the games.
Time Control
The time limit will be all moves in 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. The Finals will be a 16-player FIDE-rated Round Robin tournament, with the following schedule —
| Round | Time | Round | Time | Round | Time |
| Round 1 | 12.00 | Round 6 | 14.15 | Round 11 | 16.30 |
| Round 2 | 12.20 | Round 7 | 14.35 | Round 12 | 16.50 |
| Round 3 | 12.40 | Round 8 | 14.55 | Round 13 | 17.10 |
| Round 4 | 13.00 | Round 9 | 15.15 | Round 14 | 17.30 |
| Round 5 | 13.20 | Round 10 | 15.35 | Round 15 | 17.50 |
Pairings
The pairings for the Finals will be drawn randomly in advance of the tournament.
In the event of a tie, the tie-breaks will be as follows —
1. Direct Encounter
2. Sonnenborn-Berger
3. Koya System
4. Tournament Performance Rating, calculated using the players’ ratings in the following order –
1. FIDE Blitz Rating (November 2019)
2. FIDE Rapidplay Rating (November 2019)
3. FIDE Rating (November 2019)
4. Other Rating Assigned by the Organiser. This will normally be a player’s national rating.
5. The tie will remain unbroken, and any prize money for the tied positions will be shared
Prizes
The prize money for the Final will be as follows —
| Position | Open Final | Women’s Final |
| 1st | £1,000 | £500 |
| 2nd | £600 | £300 |
| 3rd | £400 | £200 |
| 4th | £300 | £150 |
| 5th – 8th | £200 | £100 |
| 9th – 16th | £100 | £50 |
| Total | £3,900 | £1,950 |
Explanation of Tie-Breaks Used
Please see the explanation of the tie-breaks as described in the FIDE Handbook here —
http://fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=187&view=article
With regard to Buchholz tie-breaks, players may wish to also read Section F in the above link, regarding the handling of Unplayed Games.