4NCL International Congress

To celebrate 25 Years of the 4NCL

FIDE Rated U1600

This took place Wed 31 Oct - Sun 4 Nov 2018 at the Park Inn, Telford.

4NCL International Congress We were pleased to announce that two qualifying places for the 2018 British Knockout Championship, to be staged at the London Chess Classic from 8th – 17th December inclusive, were made available to the two highest placed eligible players in the Open section. Players neededd to be registered to England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Guernsey or Jersey for FIDE purposes to be eligible for the qualifying places.   Information about eligibility requirements for the British Knockout Championship, tie-break rules, 4NCL prize fund policy and byes policy can be found on the Terms and Conditions page under the 4NCL International Congress.   The 4NCL International Congress will also offer a qualifying place for the 2019 British Chess Championships in Torquay for players who do not already qualify under the provisions of the British Chess Championships Qualifying Regulations. Players will only qualify if they score a minimum of 60% of the number of rounds in the tournament.   If there is a tie for the highest-scoring eligible player, all tied players will qualify. Should a player/players who qualifies/qualify via the 4NCL International Congress subsequently qualify from National Championships or from the English Chess Unions (Sections C and D in the British Chess Championships Qualifying Regulations), then that will take precedence, and the qualification place via the 4NCL International Congress will be reallocated to the next eligible player(s).

Sections:

FIDE Open: Open to all players (with two qualifying places for the 2018 British Knockout Championship).

Entry fees: GM's and IM’s free, FM’s £50, players rated 2050+ £75, others £100 (Pay to play fees – see Notices section below).

Prizes: 1st £1,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £400, 4th £300, 5th £200, 6th £100, best performance prizes 2 x £100

FIDE U2050: Open to:

(1) FIDE rated players rated below 2050 FIDE and ECF graded players graded below 180 ECF *

Prizes: 1st £600, 2nd £300, 3rd £200, 4th £100, best performance prizes 2 x £100

Entry fee £50 (£60 incl. pay to play fee – see Notices section below).

* If FIDE rated players also have an ECF grade, their ECF grade must be below 180

FIDE U1825: Open to:

(1) FIDE rated players rated below 1825 FIDE; (2) players without a FIDE rating graded below 150 ECF *

Prizes: 1st £600, 2nd £300, 3rd £200, 4th £100, best performance prizes 2 x £100

Entry fee £50 (£60 incl. pay to play fee – see Notices section below).

* If FIDE rated players also have an ECF grade, their ECF grade must be below 150

FIDE U1600: Open to:

(1) FIDE rated players rated below 1600 FIDE; (2) players without a FIDE rating graded below 120 ECF *

Prizes: 1st £600, 2nd £300, 3rd £200, 4th £100, best performance prizes 2 x £100

Entry fee £50 (£60 incl. pay to play fee – see Notices section below).

* If FIDE rated players also have an ECF grade, their ECF grade must be below 120

Prizes (other):

No player may win more than one prize. All place prize money will be shared equally between tied players.

The method for allocating grading prizes can be found in the Terms and Conditions.

GM Norm Event: We will be inviting the requisite number of GMs to make this a GM norm event.

Late Entries: Entries may be accepted on the day subject to availability and payment of a £10 surcharge.

Entry Forms: Completed entry forms, together with the appropriate entry fee (payable to “4NCL”) should be sent to Mike Truran at The Old Farmhouse, 7 Church Street, Ducklington, Witney, Oxon OX29 7UA or emailed to mike@truranfamily.co.uk (in the latter case, please contact Mike for bank transfer payment details).

Playing Schedule:

Three ½ point byes may be taken in rounds 1-8.

Time Control: All moves in 90 minutes plus 30 second increment per move from move 1.

Re-pairing will take place 30 minutes after the start of a round. Players will be defaulted 30 minutes after the scheduled start of a round.

Grades and Ratings

FIDE ratings from the October 2018 list will be used. If necessary players will be transferred between sections to take account of rating/grading movements after date of entry (see below).

All sections will be both FIDE rated and ECF graded.

Players without a current FIDE rating or ECF grade must give details of estimated playing strength, including any previously held grading, or current grading from another body.

Ungraded or unrated players may not win a best performance prize and, with the exception of the FIDE Open, may only win 50% of any other prize.

Notices

There is a pay to play fee of £10 for players who are not ECF Gold or Platinum members or who are non-ECF members registered with FIDE as English.

Prizes may be changed subject to numbers of entries.

The 4NCL reserves the right to transfer players between tournaments at any time.

All pairings will be made using FIDE Swiss pairing rules using Swiss Manager.

The submission of an entry form and payment of the entry fee denotes acceptance that the 4NCL’s decision is final in all matters.

The 4NCL reserves the right to refuse any entry without explanation.

Accommodation

These rates have been negotiated with Park Inn, Telford.

£39.50 BB per person per night (based on two sharing)

£69.00 BB per person per night (single occupancy)

£59.50 DBB per person per night (based on two people sharing)

£89.00 DBB per person per night (single occupancy)

How to Get There

Click here for information about travel to and from the hotel.

Control Team

TBC.

Disclaimer

The 4NCL accepts no responsibility for any damage, theft or accident to the person or property of anyone attending this event.

© 2025 4NCL

Four Nations Chess League 2025

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