The 17th LEYLAND CHESS CONGRESS
Saturday 23rd August to Bank Holiday Monday 25th August 2025
The Business Centre, South Ribble Borough Council Civic Centre,
Leyland. PR25 1DH

Welcome

The annual Leyland Chess Congress will be held over the August Bank Holiday Weekend, Saturday to Bank Holiday Monday. It is a 6 round Swiss congress, two rounds each on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. The congress is an ECF Graded event and the Open & Major are FIDE Rated.

The FIDE Open Tournament is a British Championships Grand Prix event.

Sections

Section	FIDE Open	FIDE Major U1900*	Minor U1650
Entry Fee	£38(£53 for English players who are Bronze or non member's)	£38(£53 for English players who are Bronze or non member's)	£34(£47 Bronze or any non ECF members )
First Prize	£250	£250	£170
Second Prize	£100	£100	£85
Third Prize	£50	£50	£40
Grading Prize	U1950 - £40	U1750 - £40	U1400 - £40

Please Note The ECF have upgraded Silver members to Gold membership, so you will not have to pay an additional fee for either the Open or Major tournaments.

* The higher of FIDE or ECF will be used for entry qualification.

If you are playing in the Open or Major Section and do not have a FIDE ID, please contact your preferred National Federation before the event. At present, changing your nationality with FIDE will cost you money, so make sure you are listed with the Federation that you wish to belong to.

Please enter early. A late payment fee becomes payable during the previous weekend, plus an additional 'On the day fee' for those who enter after the entry date cutoff.

Time Table

	Day	Time
Opening Ceremony	Saturday	09:25
Round 1	Saturday	09:30 - 13:30
Round 2	Saturday	14:00 - 18:00
Round 3	Sunday	09:30 - 13:30
Round 4	Sunday	14:00 - 18:00
Round 5	Monday	09:30 - 13:30
Round 6	Monday	14:00 - 18:00
Prize Giving	Monday	After the last round

Missing players will be defaulted after 30 minutes from the start of the round.

Ratings

FIDE ratings will be used for pairings for both the FIDE Open and the FIDE Major tournaments. For those without FIDE ratings, ECF ratings may be converted. ECF and FIDE ratings will be taken from the August ECF list. Otherwise, other lists may be used at the organisers’ discretion.

Players without a rating must give full information regarding their playing strength, including their best previous results and / or their highest rating.

The Organisers reserve the right to transfer an entrant to another section.

Rate of Play and Pairings

All games must be completed in 1 hour 50 minutes plus 10 seconds per move.

The Venue

The venue is less than 10 mins. from the M6 Exit 28
Refreshments are available
There is free car parking at the rear of the venue

Harry Marsden Memorial Trophy

There is a special trophy available at the Leyland Congress, to be held for one year. The Leyland Chess Congress Shield, in memory of Harry Marsden, will be awarded to the highest scoring player, in any section, who is resident in the borough of South Ribble or a member of Leyland Chess Club. In the event of a tie, the trophy will be decided on Sum of Progressive scores, then the Sum of Opponents score if required.

Conditions

The organisers reserve the right to:

• Transfer entrants between events
• Withhold prizes from ungraded players if they play in events below their known strength
• Redistribute in whole or in part a prize won by a competitor who has won or shared a prize
• Take any other measures deemed necessary to ensure the smooth running of the congress