Final Castle Chess Congress

Friday the 6th to Sunday the 8th March 2026

@

The Lysses House Hotel

51 High Street 
Fareham, Hampshire. PO16 7BQ

The Lysses House Hotel has recently been refurbished and is located close to the centre of Fareham, one mile from Fareham train station, & there is free parking on-site for 39 cars

6-Round Swiss Swiss Tournament (Time Control of 75 minutes + 30 seconds increment from start)

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

SECTIONS

3-Sections ECF rated: Open, Major (U1901) & Minor (U1601)

REGULATIONS & CONDITIONS OF ENTRY:

Minimum ECF Gold Membership required to avoid additional ECF Pay-to-Play fee of £16/£6.50

Before entering the tournament, please check your ECF membership status

If required, obtain your ECF membership at the ECF website

OR obtain your FIDE ID 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 £15 / £6 (adult / junior) for each rated tournament by filling the entry form. Junior Gold ECF membership is free to all for the first year of membership. Non-ENG federation players with an active FIDE ID can also take ECF Gold membership (without changing their FED) for a year or pay the Pay-to-Play fee.

Please note that Entries are only Accepted when the correct payment has been processed online. 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 change the section of player/s or withdraw them

Entries on the day of the tournament will only be accepted (if the event has capacity) in Cash before 6pm, and will be subject to an additional surcharge. Late entries will be paired at the Organiser’s discretion

Please enter early to avoid paying late fee - the event is limited to 90 players

PLANNED PLAYING SCHEDULE

Please aim to arrive by 6.30 pm to allow a prompt start to the first round of the day. While every effort will be made to adhere to the planned playing schedule, we may have to be flexible based on how the day unfolds 

ACCOMMODATION

This should be done through Castle Chess to gain the best rates in this splendid hotel. There are 21 rooms reserved by us until 1st March. Early booking is advised. There are seven single rooms available and 14 twin/double. There will be an extra charge added to the single rate £20 per night for single occupancy of the twin/double rooms. Please reach out to Tony at tony@mrcorfe.co.uk for accommodation related queries & booking

PACKAGE TYPES:

Entry Fee is included but Non ECF Members must add £16.00

                                                    B&B only

“A”        Single   1 night               £ 130

“B”        Single   2 nights              £ 215

“C”        Single   3 nights              £ 260

“D”        Twin     1 night               £ 100 per person

“E”        Twin     2 nights              £ 155 per person

“F”         Twin     3 nights              £ 195 per person

Single Supplement in a double room: £ 20 per night added to Single Room price.

Non-Players may deduct £45 from the cost of their room.

PRIZES

Expected £160 per section - but not Guaranteed, plus at least one grading prize in each section. Prizes are dependent on entries. The overall fund will be increased if the total number of adult entrants exceeds 60 players. This will be awarded pro-rata to each event based on their numbers. All cash prizes will be shared, but players will only be eligible to win one prize. 

UNRATED players may only win 1/3 of any prize, in any section except in the OPEN! A rated player will be in the ECF list (Standard or Rapid) or other national list.

REFUNDS

Withdrawals: A deduction of £15 will be made from any refund.

The first night’s accommodation booked will have to be paid for unless at least 24 hours notice has been given.

RATING

The latest ECF Standard Rating will be used to determine player’s ratings (for pairings & rating prize) as published on the first of the month. In case an ECF Standard Rating is not available, Estimated Ratings (with evidence from local club, popular online chess platforms such as Chess.com or Lichess) / Rapid Ratings may also be used by the Organiser to determine a player's section as required

Organiser reserves the right to delete / merge a section for lack of sufficient entries, change the section of player/s or withdraw them

RATE OF PLAY, DEFAULTs, BYEs & WITHDRAWALS

Each player will have 75 minutes plus a 30 second increment per move from start & as such all moves are to be recorded

If your opponent has not arrived within 30 minutes of the start of a round, they will be defaulted (awarded zero point) and you should report to the Organiser’s desk for taking a bye or for re-pairing as feasible for the round/s

Pairing allocated byes are set to one point. 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 without an explicit permission from an arbiter /Organiser will be considered as withdrawn for all future rounds & removed from pairings

PAIRINGS, SECTIONS & CLOCKS

All pairings will be done using 'Swiss Manager' software and displayed on Chess-Results.com

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 30 minutes after start, 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. If a player does not show up before the default time for a round without written intimation to the Organising/Arbiting Team, then that player shall be excluded from the tournament for all the remaining rounds automatically. Reinstatement of the excluded player will be at the discretion of the Organiser / Chief Arbiter

In general, sections will not be merged for pairings. However, the Chief Arbiter reserves the right to merge sections if there are insufficient number of entries in one or more sections - Prizes would then be suitably adjusted

Score-sheets will be provided for recording games & it is a requirement that moves are recorded at all times throughout the game based on the specified time control- please bring your Clip-board & Pen/Pencil. Digital clocks will be used in all sections

FAIR PLAY REGULATIONS

All mobile phones and electronic devices (unless used for medical reasons with information to the Chief Arbiter), including smart watches, 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 defaulted & will unfortunately forfeit / lose the game

Any spectators (Players are classified as spectators after finishing their games), Parents/guardians/carers and others who may enter the Playing Hall must also have their mobile phones / electronic devices switched-off at all times

DISPUTES

Appeals against the Arbiter’s decisions will be resolved by an appeals committee. In all other matters the decisions of the organizers are final

REFRESHMENTS

Basic Tea & Coffee will be available at the venue on donation 

PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographs of players may be taken during the tournament to form the tournament photo gallery. By participating in the tournament, players acknowledge and agree to these conditions. Photographs taken at the event may be used for publicity purposes by the Organiser. It is allowed to take photos only during the first five minutes of each round - if using mobile phones to take photos in the playing hall, please ensure to keep them in flight mode with flash off at all times. Any objection to being photographed should be notified to the event Organiser in writing prior to the event

BEHAVIOUR, PARENTAL SUPERVISION and DISCLAIMERS

Please treat the premises with respect and follow all signs and rules as requested

A high standard of behaviour and respect for others and property is always expected. Players entering or leaving the Playing Hall while other games are in progress should do so quietly

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

The Organisers and Arbiters are unable to act "in loco parentis" for children. Parents/guardians/carers are responsible for their children throughout the entire duration of this event. Children under the age of 8 must remain under sole parental supervision throughout. Supervision of children over the age of 8 and teenagers may be shared between adults. However, Parents/guardians/carers should note that they are still ultimately responsible for their children and their behaviour at this event

The Organiser accept no responsibility for any damage, theft or accident to the person or property of any competitor, trainee or other visitor at this event, nor are they responsible for the effects of actions of anyone else attending this event

GDPR

Castle Chess holds the personal data of players who have provided it to us. We will only use it to contact you with regard to the marketing of Castle Chess or other chess related activities. In normal circumstances we will make contact by email or occasionally telephone / mobile. The data required for grading purposes will be sent to the ECF. Results, ratings and photos may be used on social media pages or in publicity unless informed otherwise.

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

The Organiser/s also reserve the right to: 

• Transfer entrants between sections & / Or Split or Merge sections depending on numbers
• Refund players  if the tournament needs to be cancelled for any reason beyond the control of the Organiser
• Withhold / reduce prizes from unrated players &/ Or Distribute the prize fund as they deem appropriate in the circumstances
• Refuse entry without assigning a reason & / Or take any other measures deemed necessary to ensure smooth running of the event
• Change / Delay the Start Timings of the Rounds based on the situation on ground
• 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 limited 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 especially for non-players beyond what is available & budgeted for 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.

THANK YOU