4NCL Bradford Congress 2026

Friday 23 – Sunday 25 January 2026

Prize fund £3,000

Sections

FIDE Open: 1st £500; 2nd £250; 3rd £120; 4th £80; best performance prize of £50.

Entry fee £35 (£51 incl. pay to play fee – see Notices section below).

FIDE U2000: 1st £500; 2nd £250; 3rd £120; 4th £80; Best performance prize £50.

Entry fee £35 (£51 incl. pay to play fee – see Notices section below).

FIDE U1700: 1st £500; 2nd £250; 3rd £120; 4th £80; Best performance prize £50.

Entry fee £35 (£51 incl. pay to play fee - see Notices section below).

Playing Schedule:

A ½ point bye may be taken in rounds 1–4.

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.

Assigned Ratings

Players’ ECF standardplay ratings from the January 2026 list will be used for determining allocation to sections, tournament pairings, and best performance prizes.

Players without an ECF standardplay rating will have a rating assigned to them by the organiser based on any other rating information they have, such as their FIDE standardplay rating, their ECF rapidplay rating, or a rating from another national federation. Any rating so assigned will be at the organiser’s discretion, and the organiser’s decision is final. Such players are encouraged to check their section eligibility before entering the tournament.

All sections will be both FIDE and ECF rated.

Notices

There is an additional pay to play fee for non-ECF members or Bronze-level ECF members of £16.00 (juniors £6.50). Entrants who are not under 18 years of age on Friday 16 January 2026 should pay the £16.00 adult pay to play fee.

Prizes may be changed subject to numbers of entries.

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

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

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.

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

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

Discounts: GMs/WGMs and IMs/WIMs free, FMs/WFMs half price.

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

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 with registration to ENG at the time the rating files are submitted by FIDE. Please note: At the time of writing, changing FIDE registered nationality at a later stage will cost 50 Euros notification fee payable by the player to the ECF/FIDE. Additional transfer and compensation fee charges may also apply as set out in the FIDE handbook for titled and higher rated players. Players with a FIDE registration of RUS or BLR will not be eligible to enter events as per current FIDE and ECF policy. They may however use FIDE’s fast track procedure to change their FIDE affiliation to FID as a basis for entering and providing they are otherwise eligible.

All players who do not want to be registered with FIDE as ENG must be registered with another federation BEFORE playing.

Players registered with FIDE as RUS or BLR are not eligible to participate.

Hotel Information

Cedar Court, Bradford

Disclaimer

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

© 4NCL

Four Nations Chess League

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