FIDE U2000 - a 9-round tournament at the Emirates Stadium
The FIDE U-2000 is a 9-round Swiss tournament for players rated that are unrated or rated below 2000. Players with ratings aove 2000 are welcome to join us for the FIDE Masters. Below you will find all the information necessary to event the event - and the entry form itself is at the bottom of this page.
Entrants to the FIDE U-2000 tournament are able to spectate on the main event of the 2024 XTX Markets London Chess Classic or listen to the live grandmaster commentary, provided their game for the day has finished, at no extra charge.
Who can enter?
To enter for the FIDE U-2000, you must have a FIDE rating below 2000 (October or November 2024 rating lists). English players must be Gold or Platinum members of the ECF. Non-English players must provide their FIDE Identification Number (FIN) at the time of entry. If you do not have a FIN, you must apply to your own federation for a FIN. Non-English players must also pay a £15 surcharge.
Schedule
Round 1: Friday 29th November @ 4pm
Round 2: Saturday 30th November @ 10am
Round 3: Saturday 30th November @ 4pm
Round 4: Sunday 1st December @ 4pm
Round 5: Monday 2nd December @ 4pm
Round 6: Tuesday 3rd December @ 4pm
Rest Day: Wednesday 4th December
Round 7: Thursday 5th December @ 4pm
Round 8: Friday 6th December @ 4pm
Round 9: Saturday 7th December @ 10am
Time Control
90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes until the end of the game, with 30-second increment for each move starting from move one.
Prize fund - £4,600
1st - £1,000
2nd - £500
3rd - £250
4th-6th - £100
Top women - £500, £250
Top player aged U21 - £500, £250
Rating prizes:
1799 - 1600: £250, £100
1599-1400: £250, £100
U1400: £250, £100
Players may win more than one prize. In the event of a tie, prizes will be shared. To win an U21 prize, players must have been born on or before 31st August 2003. The FIDE Rating List of November 2024 will be used to determine whether or not a player qualifies for a rating prize.
Prize Calculation
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 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.
The additional prizes are won in addition to any other prize a player might win, and are awarded as if they were
Entry fee
£50 if entering before 22nd November 2024, £100 entry fee thereafter.
Free enry* for all female players (British citizens only),
Free entry* for U25 (must be born on or after 1/12/1999 (British citizens only),
Free entry* for all active Chess in Schools’ tutors.
* Players who qualify for free entry in this way must also be Gold members of the English Chess Federation.
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.
Byes
Two 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 in one of two ways only:
o To the information desk at the event, or
o By e-mail to festival@londonchessclassic.com – Please note: Do not use any other e-mail address you may have for one of the event organisers, as they will not necessarily be accessing e-mails as the publication deadline approaches. Bye requests missed by the organisers that have not been sent to the correct e-mail address will not have their request granted, and will instead score a 0 point bye in that round if the player chooses or is unable to play this game, and be subject to the Defaults regulations outlined above.
A player will score 0 if the second Half Point Bye request is in the last round, or if both the Half Point Byes are requested in the last two rounds.
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.
Pairings
Pairings for each round will be published by midnight on the day of play, with pairings for round 3 published as soon as possible after the conclusion of round 2.
Late games
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; and thus, they will count towards the tournament scores, and be ECF and FIDE rated. 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.
Extra games
A player whose opponent does not arrive before the default time in the Masters and Under 2000 sections will win their tournament game by forfeit.
The player who won their game will then be offered the following opportunities for an ECF and FIDE rated game. The arbiters will use their best endeavours to pair such players in the following priority order, against a player whose rating is broadly equal to their own:
(1) A game against a player in the same tournament as them
(2) A game against a player in a different tournament to them
(3) A game against a player who has entered neither tournament, but who is available to play a game that day
The player is entitled to declare that they do not wish to play a game, and the arbiters will exclude the player from the Extra Games process.
Extra Games will be submitted for rating but do not count towards the results of the tournament. The time limit for these games will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Fair play policy
Please see the London Chess Classic Festival Fair Play Policy.
Appeals procedure
Decisions of an arbiter may be appealed to the 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 £50 which will be returned if the appeal is successful.
Appeals committee
The Committee for the Elite Tournament will serve as the Appeals Committee for the Festival.
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.
Zero tolerance to 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 London Chess Classic.
Liability
The organisers accept no responsibility for any loss, theft or accident during the tournament.
Right to refuse entry
The Chief Organiser reserves the right to refuse entry without being required to state a reason, and to transfer players between tournaments at any time.
