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#1 Cambridge Qualifier for Juniors towards the EJCOA National Youth Championship FINALs (July 2026)

(1 pm to 5.30 pm) Sunday, 19th April 2026 

@

Whittlesford Playing Halls (Past Photo Gallery)

Mill Lane, Whittlesford,
Cambridge CB22 4NE

Whittlesford Parkway Rail Station is about 0.8 miles away from the venue & it has excellent transport links from Cambridge city. There is ample Free car parking at & around the venue

5-Round RapidPlay Tournament : 15 minutes + 5 increment from move #1

4-Sections (Boys & Girls) ECF rated: U8, U10, U12, U14-16

Chess-Results Tournament Page with Entries will appear closer to the event here

SECTIONS

REGULATIONS & CONDITIONS OF ENTRY:

Players need to be ECF Junior Gold members or above Else they will need to pay the additional ECF Pay-to-Play fee of £3 for Rating their games

Before entering the tournament, please check your ECF membership status

If required, obtain your ECF membership at the ECF website

OR pay the Pay-to-Play & Game fees

ECF members at other levels can either upgrade to Gold membership by paying the difference in fees to the ECF directly or pay the ECF Pay-to-Play fee of £3 for each ECF rated (junior only) tournament by filling the entry form. *Junior Gold ECF membership is free for the first one year of membership

FIDE Laws of Chess will apply to the tournament games e.g. touch-move etc.. The age limit for each section are based on the FIDE international standard of Calendar year (rather than academic years more often used for junior tournaments in England). All players must declare their date of birth accurately matching the ECF records as the age of the child for entering into the correct age section would be determined as on 1/1/2026 - any incorrect declaration of the date of birth on the entry form may affect their qualification to the finals. The organiser reserve the right to combine **sections due to insufficient entries or as required, but all prizes will still be awarded to the participants of the original individual sections as advertised above - we have combined the U14 & U16 sections into one & whilst players (both genders) from each section will be selected for the Finals at Nottinghamshire, prizes will only be awarded to the top three players in the combined section.

Please note that Entries are only Accepted & updated in Entrants List when the payment is processed online for which an acknowledgement has been received at your end. The organiser will be happy to consider discounted entry fee for those who may be financially constrained. Unrated players will be requested to provide evidence of their playing strength/past grade or rating to enter them in the suitable section - Organiser reserves the right to merge a section for lack of sufficient entries, change the section of player/s or withdraw them

The top girl and boy in each age category will qualify for the National Youth Championship Finals which will be held in Nottingham in July. In the event of a tie, all players in the tie-break will qualify for the finals. It is also possible to qualify for the finals by rating - please see the EJCOA website for more details

QUALIFICATIONS BY RATING

Any player with a published current minimum ECF or FIDE standard play rating (as below) is entitled to enter the EJCOA National Youth Championship Finals directly - if they wish to play in the tournament then they will need to enter a higher age group section based on their rating:

Under 8: 800
Under 10: 1000
Under 12: 1200
Under 14: 1400
Under 16: 1600
 

Please enter early to avoid paying late fee - the event is limited to 80 players & entries are likely to be closed at 3pm local time on the day before the tournament

PLANNED PLAYING SCHEDULE

Please aim to arrive by 12.40 pm to allow a prompt start to the first round. While every effort will be made to adhere to the planned playing schedule, the Organiser does not take responsibility for reason/s affecting the schedule beyond their control

Please note that there are No Scheduled Breaks for Lunch or snacks in between rounds

PRIZES

Trophies will be awarded to the Top Boy and Top Girl in each section provided there are 8 players in each section & gender (U14-16, U12, U10, U8) and medals awarded to the 2nd & 3rd placed Boy and Girl in each section. In case of a tie on points for Place position/s for Trophy & Medals, Tie-break rules will be applied as follows: (1)Direct Encounter; (2) Median-Buchholz; (3) Buchholz Cut 1; (4) Buchholz; (5) Drawing of lots. However, in the event of a tie, all players in the tie-break will qualify for the finals

REFUNDS

Refund requests on entries fees will be considered up to 7 days before the event start time & an admin fee of £9 will be charged per refund per player. No refunds will be issued less than 72 hours before the event start time for any reason. Full refund will be issued (i) to players in a section that has been deleted due to insufficient entries or (ii) if the tournament is cancelled for any reason by the organiser. The maximum refund / liability of the organiser in any eventuality will be the "entry fee" paid per player

RATING

The latest ECF Rapid Rating (FIDE rating only if no ECF rating available) will be used to determine a player’s ratings as published on the first of the tournament month for pairings. In case neither an ECF nor a FIDE Rapid Rating is available, Blitz / Standard /Estimated Rating from Online platforms (with evidence) may also be used by the Organiser for pairings as required. All sections will be sent for Rapidplay rating to the ECF so that every player has a rating / updated rating after the event

RATE OF PLAY, Recording Moves, Half-Point BYE, No Shows & WITHDRAWALS

Each player will have 15 minutes plus a 5 second increment per move from start - moves need not be recorded

If your opponent has not arrived within 10 minutes of the start of a round (no show), they will be defaulted and you should report to the Organiser’s desk for taking a full-point bye for the default or for re-pairing to play either a tournament game or a friendly ECF rated game as feasible for the round/s

Players may take a Half-Point Bye in advance for Any One Round Except the Last Round if requested on the entry form or with an arbiter / organiser on the day for an upcoming round

Players who do not show up for a round after the default time without an explicit permission from an arbiter /organiser will be considered as withdrawn automatically for all future rounds & removed from pairings for smooth running of the tournament. Reinstatement of the excluded player will be at the discretion of the Organiser / Chief Arbiter at an additional fee of £10

PAIRINGS, SECTIONS & CLOCKS

All pairings will be done using 'Swiss Manager' software; Round #1 pairings will be endeavoured to be published by 12.45pm on the day & pairings for all other rounds published as soon as feasible and displayed on Chess-Results.com. If there is an odd number of players in a section, then one player in the draw will receive a full-point bye for that round and, if possible, will be paired for a friendly game instead. (Players score 1 for a win, ½ for a draw, 0 for a loss)

Please ensure to check that your Rating & Name are correctly displayed on the Chess-Results page at least one day ahead of the tournament & report any discrepancies to the Organiser promptly, but certainly much ahead of the publishing of the pairings for Round #1

Default time is 10 minutes after start (clocks will be started for all players irrespective of their presence), after which Re-Pairing may be made for each player whose opponent has not arrived and for any player otherwise having a full-point bye

In general, sections will not be merged. However, the Chief Arbiter reserves the right to merge sections if there are insufficient number of entries in one or more sections

Digital clocks will be used in all sections and help will be given to anyone unfamiliar with them

All mobile phones and electronic devices must be switched-off at all times in the Playing Hall. They should be put either on the control desk or face-down on the playing table, or in a bag under the desk that must not be moved whilst games are in play. If it is evident that during play, a player’s device is not turned off or a player has such a device on their person or has had access to any such device, the player shall be warned in the first instance & unfortunately defaulted on second instance with a forfeit / loss of game

Any spectators (Players are classified as spectators after finishing their games), Parents/guardians/carers are not allowed to spectate the games, & anyone entering the Playing Hall must also have their mobile phones / electronic devices switched-off at all times

FAIR PLAY REGULATIONS & SPECTATING

All mobile phones and electronic devices must be switched-off at all times in the Playing Hall. They should be put either on the control desk or face-down on the playing table, or in a bag under the desk that must not be moved whilst games are in play. If it is evident that during play, a player’s device is not turned off or a player has such a device on their person or has had access to any such device, the player shall be warned in the first instance & unfortunately defaulted on second instance with a forfeit / loss of game

Any spectators (Players are classified as spectators after finishing their games), Parents/guardians/carers are not allowed to spectate the games, & anyone entering the Playing Hall must also have their mobile phones / electronic devices switched-off at all times

DISPUTES

In the event of a dispute regarding the rules during play, a player should Pause the Clock and summon an Arbiter - an appeal on the Arbiter's decision can be made to the Chief Arbiter within 10 minutes of the incident. The Chief Arbiter's decision will be final & binding in all matters

REFRESHMENTS

Basic Tea, Coffee, Squash & light snacks may be available at the venue to purchase - paying by Contactless Card is the preferable mode of payment. Kindly tender exact change if using cash. Food and drink may be consumed in the non-players' waiting area adjacent to the main playing hall. 

ACCESSIBILITY

The venue is Disability friendly - any such person needing help is requested to inform the Organiser in advance. There is disabled parking immediately in front of the hall. The tournament room and waiting areas are all on ground level, and there is a disabled toilet.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographs of players may be taken by the Organiser during the tournament for publicity / promotional purpose - by participating in the tournament, players acknowledge and agree to these conditions. Any objection to being photographed should be notified to the event organiser prior to the event in writing. Parents / Guardians are allowed to take photographs in the playing hall of their own children Only (before the games begin) for safeguarding reasons

BEHAVIOUR, PARENTAL SUPERVISION, SAFEGUARDING and DISCLAIMERS

Psyon Chess is grateful to Whittlesford Memorial Hall for the use of this community facility. Please treat the premises with respect and follow all signs and rules as requested. A high standard of behaviour and respect for others and for their property is expected at all times

Smoking / Vaping including e-cigarettes is NOT allowed in the playing venue; nor is the consumption of alcohol

The Organiser/s and Arbiters are unable to act "in loco parentis" for children. Parents / guardians / carers are responsible for their children throughout the duration of this event. U16s must not be left at the event without adult supervision, although this may be shared. All children aged under 10 must be supervised by their own parents / guardians / carers. However, Parents/guardians/carers should note that they are still ultimately responsible for their children and their behaviour throughout the event

Psyon Chess has adopted the ECF Child Protection Policy, which can be found on the ECF website appearing here

The organiser/s accept no responsibility for any damage, theft or accident to the person or property of any player, trainee or other visitor at this event. Nor are they responsible for the effects of actions of anyone else attending this event

GDPR - Personal data is held solely for the purposes of our events. This is for administration purpose and to keep you updated on future chess events from Psyon Chess - you may choose to opt out by unsubscribing to our emails. We share some data with the English Chess Federation for rating purposes. Results, ratings and photos may be used on social media pages or in publicity unless informed otherwise

Additional Conditions of Entry

• Spectators and Players who have finished their game (they then become spectators) are generally not allowed to stay in the Playing Hall (area #1) and may be asked to leave the Playing Hall. There will be seating arrangement for non-players in an adjacent facility on a first-come-first-serve basis(designated as the Non-Players' area #2) - the organiser does not guarantee any seating for non-players beyond what is available & budgeted at the venue. Non-players are expected to maintain low voice levels at all times to avoid distracting the players & other Hall users. Any movement outside the Playing Hall or the Non-Players' area (designated hired premises) will be construed as trespassing so please confine yourself to either of area #1 or area #2 at all times based on your status. If you have any queries please email the organiser through the Congress website

  THANK YOU