2022 Ayr Weekend Chess Congress

A Scottish Chess Tour Event

Mercure Ayr Hotel - Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th April 2022

All Main Events: 6-Round Swiss tournaments played under the rules of Chess Scotland (CS)

Saturday Night FIDE Open Blitz: 7 Rounds - 7:30 to 9:30pm

Half prize entry fee for titled players if applied for before 16 May

Sections

Section	Open FIDE Rated CS Graded	Major Under 1800 FIDE Rated CS Graded	Minor Under 1400 CS Graded	FIDE Blitz* Open FIDE Rated
Entry Fee	£36 - (CS Mem.: £34**)	£36 - (CS Mem.: £34**)	£34 - (CS Mem.: £32**)	£6 On the day
1st. Prize	£150	£150	£100	*
2nd. Prize	£75	£75	£50	*
Grading Prizes	£40	£40	£40	*

** Chess Scotland membership discount £2 - all main sections. Only applicable if you have paid for the current year.

Junior discount £10 - all main sections.
Junior is under 18 on the 1st January 2004. i.e. born in 2004 or later.

* We take entries on the day, right up to the start of the competition and we offer a variety of prizes for all levels.

Playing Sessions

Round	Day	Start Time	Expected Finish
1	Friday	6.30pm	10.30pm
2	Saturday	10.00am	2.00pm
3	Saturday	3.00pm	7.00pm
4	Sunday	10.00am	2.00pm
5	Sunday	3.00pm	7.00pm

Time Control

All moves in 90 minutes, with 30 second increments from move 1.

Grading

In determining which section to enter, players should use their live Chess Scotland Allegro grading.
We appreciate as this is the first over the board chess competition many players will have participated in since the start of Covid, there may be some anomalies. We will use gradings/ratings as we deem appropriate.

Players in a FIDE rated section (Open, Major and Blitz)

Players in the Open, Major and Blitz must have a FIDE Identification Number (FIN)*. Chess Scotland can register players who are eligible for a Scotland (SCO) code – eligibility rules here. List of registered players here. Please contact Chess Scotland to request a FIDE registration and provide your full name, town of residence and year of birth.

*Which must be Licenced. Former FIDE Arena players who have not registered with their national federations may fall into this category. If this is the case, it generally resolved quite quickly by your national federation. Please enquire if you are unsure of the registration rules before deciding to enter by using our contact form.

COVID Safety Arrangements

• If there are government restrictions at the time of the event, they will apply at the event
• Players must not attend if they have Covid symptoms or have recently tested positive and a full refund will be given
• The hotel have limited us to 96 players in order to keep a degree of social distancing during the tournament

Conditions of Entry

The organisers reserve the right to:

• Increase or decrease prize money
• Transfer entrants between events
• Split or merge events depending on numbers
• Withhold prizes from ungraded players if they play in events below their known strength
• The organisers reserve the right to refuse entry without assigning a reason
• Spectators, and players who have finished their game, are not allowed in the playing hall and may asked to leave the playing hall.
• Take any other measures deemed necessary to ensure the smooth running of the congress

Photographs

Photographs taken at the event may be used for publicity purposes. Any objection should be notified to the event organiser prior to the event.

Hotel Accomodation

Mercure have arranged a 15% discount from the rate of the day at the time of booking (please be advised that the rate changes daily). To book a bedroom, please call us on 01292 844 299 option 3, (our office is open Mon-Fri, between 9am and 5pm) and quote reference number: 154543 (subject to availability).

The Saturday Evening FIDE Open Blitz

The Saturday Evening FIDE Open Blitz is open to all, juniors and adults. You don’t have to be participating in the weekend congress to take part. Entry Fee for all players is £6 payable at the event.

Start time – 7.30pm. Finish time – 9.30pm., approx.

It is one section over 7 rounds. We offer a variety of prizes for all levels and abilities.

Please see the section 'Players in a FIDE rated section (Open, Major and Blitz)' above, all players must be FIDE registered before the tournament.