Cambridge International Open

The English Chess Federation is organising a Cambridge International Open Chess Tournament from 15th to
19th February, 2023 in Cambridge. This will be a 9 round Swiss System tournament, open to all English and
foreign players with a valid FIDE ID. The event will provide an opportunity for participants to achieve
International title norms. The event is supported by the University Arms Hotel.

Section A: General Rules for the Tournament

Rating and Grading

The tournament will be submitted to FIDE and the English Chess Federation (ECF) for rating. It is a condition of
playing in the English Chess Open 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
The ratings used for tournament will be in the following order of priority based on available rating.

Max (F, E), R, Q

where the letters have the following meanings:

F FIDE Rating (February 2023)
E ECF Rating (February 2023)
R FIDE Rapidplay Rating (February 2023)
Q ECF Rapidplay Rating (February 2023)

Where a player has none of these, the organisers will assign the players in alphabetical order, after rated players.

The ratings allocated by this process will be used for pairings and in the calculation of any relevant prizes. (See Prize
Calculation below for more information.)

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 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.

Membership Requirement
The following players are not required to pay a rating surcharge:
(a) Gold or Platinum members of the ECF, or
(b) Players whose FIDE nationality is not ENG.

All other entrants must pay a £12 surcharge to take part in the event.
Section B: Tournament Specific Regulations

Playing Schedule
Registration Required Yes, by 18:00 on Monday 13th February (see Section E: Registration
for more details).
Format Swiss System
Number of Rounds 9
Number of Half Point Byes Permitted 2
Time Control Game/90 + 30’
Default Time 30 minutes
Schedule Round 1 Wednesday, 15th February 10:00
th
Round 2 Wednesday, 15 February 16:30
Round 3 Thursday, 16th February 10:00
th
Round 4 Thursday, 16 February 16:30
Round 5 Friday, 17th February 10:00
th
Round 6 Friday, 17 February 16:30
th
Round 7 Saturday, 18 February 10:00
Round 8 Saturday, 18th February 16:30
th
Round 9 Sunday, 19 February 10:00

Over-Running Games & Delay of Game

A player whose game finishes less than 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of their next game will be offered
a 30-minute break before the start of that game. An arbiter will inform the player’s opponent accordingly, and delay
the start of that game until the new start time.

Pairings

Pairings Published for each Round As soon as available and no later than one hour before each round.

Section C: Prizes
Place Prizes 1st £1,500
2nd £750
3rd £500
4th £300
Rating Prize Bands 2000 – 2200 1st £200
1800 – 1999 1st £175
1600 – 1799 1st £150
< 1600 1st £125
Additional Prizes English Women 1st £250
English Women 2nd £150
English Women 3rd £100

Section D: Ranking

Ranking will be based on the points scored.

Where a place in a group is tied between two or more players, the following tie-breaks will be used for ranking
purposes:

(a) Direct Encounter

(b) Buchholz Cut 1
(c) Buchholz
(d) Sum of Buchholz

Notwithstanding the above prizes will be shared equally for players finishing on equal points. (See Prize calculation)

Section E: Entry Fees

Free Entry
Entry is free for Grandmasters (GM & WGM), and International Masters (IM). The entry fee for other players will be
as follows:
- Standard £60
- Late £65

Entry Fee Deadlines

Standard Till 15th of January
Late From 16th of January

Section F: Prize Calculations

The place prizes in all tournaments will be awarded to the player scoring the most points. There will be no tie-breaks
applied, and in the event of a tie on points, the prize money will be shared equally between all tied players.

The rating prizes will be calculated on W-We, where W is the number of points scored, We is the expected number
of points based on the difference between the ratings of the players in the game. A player is only eligible for a rating
prize if:
- The player has not defaulted any games in the tournament, and
- The player had not withdrawn from the tournament (see the section on Byes below)

Players allocated a rating of 0 (see Allocation of Ratings in All Sections above) are not eligible for rating prizes.

Where there is a tie for a rating prize, the prize shall be won by the lowest-rated player involved in the tie.

Where a player wins a place prize and a rating prize, the player will win whichever prize is of the higher value.

Each player can win only one prize, the higher value one.

For additional prizes based on age, players are only eligible for the lowest age additional prize they are eligible for.
For example, a player eligible for the Under 10 prize cannot also win the Under 12 prize. The calendar year definition
is used for all age prizes; for example, an Under 18 is born in 2005 or later.

Prize lists - Full prize lists for each tournament will be published online as soon as possible at the end of the
tournaments. The event organisers will contact all prize winners as soon as possible to arrange for the payment of
prizes.

Section G: Byes
Half Point Byes may be requested (or a request may be cancelled) either:
- At the time of entry, or
- At any point before the pairings are published for each tournament. Where the pairings are published as
soon as they are available, the request should be made no later than the conclusion of the last game in the
 round of the tournament being played. Such requests should be made only to the information desk at the
event.

A player will score 0 if a Half Point Bye request is in the last two rounds.

Players who receive conditions can only request one Half-Point Bye, and it needs confirmation of the organiser.

Players who miss more rounds than the number of Half Point Byes permitted in each tournament will be withdrawn
from the tournament, unless the Chief Arbiter decides otherwise.

Section H: Registration, Defaults & Pairing Alterations

Registration
Players must register in advance of the Cambridge International Open by the deadline specified above in the
Cambridge International Open of Section B. This can be done by completing the registration form on the English
Chess Federation website.

If there is any question about registration, an e-mail shall be sent to [email protected] Please
note: Do not use any other e-mail address you may have for one of the event organisers, as the people who access
them will not necessarily be accessing e-mails as the publication deadline approaches.

Players who do not register will not be included in the published pairings for Round 1. Please see the Late Pairings
section below about players in this situation.

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. Should this be decided, the Chief Arbiter reserves the
right to apply a bond of £50, which will be returned at the end of the tournament if the player takes part in all
remaining rounds. A player who defaults a second game in the tournament will be expelled from it, and shall not
have the bond returned to him.

All re-arranged games listed below will be both graded by the ECF and rated by FIDE.

Late Pairings
The Organisers 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 be considered
available for any of the pairing procedures below once the default time for the relevant tournament has elapsed.

Re-pairings
A player whose opponent does not arrive before the default time will be offered a re-pairing against someone in the
same tournament as them. The player will have the following choices:
(1) Accept the re-pairing
(2) Decline the re-pairing, and have a 1 point bye.
If the player decides to accept the re-pairing, then the game will be played as though part of the tournament. The
time limit for the game shall be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Section I: Appeals Procedure

Process
Decisions of an arbiter may be appealed to the chief arbiter and/ or Appeals Committee provided that
- Such an appeal is received in writing within 30 minutes of the arbiter’s decision, and
 - Such an appeal is accompanied by an appeal fee of £100 which will be returned if the appeal is successful.
- The Appeals Committee’s decision is final and binding in all matters.

Publishing the Appeals Committee

A list of members of the Appeals Committee will be published before the start of Round 1 of the Event.

Section J: Spectators and the Press

For the purposes of this section, all members of the Press are considered to be spectators.

Use of Cameras/Video Equipment

Spectators are welcome to take photographs and/or video footage of the tournament for the first 10 minutes of
each round of the event and with the exception of any players who have asked for their photographs not to be
taken..

Spectators must use either a camera or video equipment. The camera’s flash should be switched off. Mobile phones
can only be used by the permission of an Arbiter.

The above regulations notwithstanding, the tournament’s official Press Officers are entitled to take photographs
and/or video footage at other times during play with the permission of an arbiter.

Expelling Spectators
All arbiters are empowered to enforce the entirety of Section H, and may not be appealed against. They are
empowered to ask spectators or the Press to leave the playing area immediately should they be in breach of these
regulations. Should a spectator refuse this request, or show dissent by word or action to the arbiter, then the
spectator’s accreditation may be revoked. In the case of a member of the Press, this includes the revocation of their
Press badge.

Section K: Miscellaneous

Mobile Phones
During play mobile phones and other electronic devices must be completely switched off and placed in a bag below
the table or on the table in front of the player. A player must not have any such device about their person or carry it
with them during play. Players are advised that they may wish to use the free cloak room service provided by the
venue in order to store their belongings during play.

A player will be immediately forfeited if during the game any such device either
(a) makes any sound; or
(b) is found to be switched on; or
(c) is found to be about their person or being carried by them.

Anti-Cheating
Players may be scanned before or after their game.

Parental Responsibility
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.

Liability
The organisers accept no responsibility for any loss, theft or accident during the tournament.
Zero Tolerance of Abuse
The Chief Arbiter is empowered to expel a player from all tournaments entered, either for a number or rounds, a
number of days, or in their entirety, who shows dissent by word or action towards an arbiter, or any member of staff
connected with the Cambridge International Open.