Staffordshire Chess Congress 2025

These are the proposed words for the  Staffordshire Chess Congress flier.  

Staffordshire Chess Congress

16th + 17th August 2025

Kings Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, 

ST4 9SB.  

What3Words: ///panic.types.luck ; OS Landranger SJ 8783 4528

Prestigious venue 9 minute walk from railway station

Online entry HERE (TBD)

Postal entry form available HERE (TBD)

Entrants list HERE (TBD)

A nice club here here

Light refreshments available

Pay and display parking £5.20 all day Saturday and free on Sunday

Disabled Access

Chief Arbiter: Matthew Carr

5 round Swiss tournament with 4 sections

Open section FIDE and ECF rated

Major u1950, Inter' u1700, Minor u1450 ECF rated

Fisher timing 110 minutes + 10 seconds per move

Prize money (all sections): £300 1st, £150 2nd, and >£50 multiple rating prizes

Round 1 Saturday 9:30am
Round 2 Saturday 2:30pm
Round 3 Saturday 7:30pm
Round 4 Sunday 9:30am
Round 5 Sunday 2:30pm

Congress terms and conditions:

Open section, FIDE latest monthly rating list will be used.

The Open section is also ECF rated.

· All other sections will use the latest monthly published ECF rating list, players without a current rating of any type must provide full information about all results and any ratings previously held including any online rating.

· Entrants in the FIDE Open should be ECF Gold Members or higher

· A FIDE ID is required for FIDE-rated tournaments. Players without a FIDE ID must contact their own federation if they do not wish to be registered as England with FIDE

· The arbiter reserves the right to transfer players between sections at any time.

· All moves to be recorded until your clock goes under 5 minutes  remaining

· Missing players will be defaulted after 30 minutes from the start of the round and players may be re-paired.

· Except in the Open, unrated players win only half of any prize.

· Unrated players are not eligible for a rating prize.

· The number of Rating Prizes will be determined and announced during the event.

· A player qualifying for two prizes receives only the higher of the two prizes.

· Prize money may be subject to change depending on number of entrants.

· Swiss manager dictates the pairings in all rounds and they are not changed to suit individual preferences.

· No Alcohol is to be consumed on site

. Only hot food purchased on site can be eaten on site

· The organisers take no responsibility for children.  A parent or guardian must remain on site at all times and ensure children are properly supervised at all times.

· Refunds may be given at the discretion of the organisers 

· The organisers accept no responsibility for any damage, theft or accident to the person or property of any competitor, or other visitor at this event.

· BY ENTERING, PLAYERS AGREE THAT IN THE EVENT OF ANY DISPUTE, THE CHIEF ARBITER’S DECISION IS FINAL

ENTRY IS COMPLETE WHEN FUNDS HAVE CLEARED

No Prize giving on the day