Lancaster University chess Congress
DRAFT PAGE ONLY!
1st Lancaster University Chess Congress
Part of the ECF ‘International Series’
17th – 19th July 2026
Welcome to our 5 round ECF-rated standard play event!
OVER £3,000 in Prizes
Well over 50% of entry fees returned as prizes!
Congress capacity strictly limited to xxx players across three sections.
OPEN / U1900 / U1750
Grading prizes in every section
Best score diversity prizes.
All sections FIDE rated and ECF rated
Unique chance to win signed copy of ‘WINNING!’ By Nigel Short (early entrants only)
OVERVIEW
In Lancaster, beautiful countryside and a spectacular coastline sit alongside an inspiring city which embraces its history in an amazing mixture of arts, heritage and nature. The First International Series Congress is hosted by Lancaster University, one of the world’s Top 200 leading universities.
playing conditions, facilities and accommodation.
https://lancasterandmorecambebay.com/ Link to the main tourist site
https://lancasterbid.org/love-lancaster/ .
The entire congress will be FIDE and ECF rated. Open and Major section games will be uploaded onto public databases.
NEW!
WINNING By Nigel Short – FREE RAFFLE PRIZE to early entrants only.
In 2025 we were delighted to welcome Nigel Short MBE to Lancaster for a highly enjoyable simultaneous display. Lancastrian Nigel is Britain’s most famous chess player, who first attracted media attention at the age of ten when he beat Victor Korchnoi, then ranked number two in the world. He became the youngest ever IM beating Bobby Fischer’s record, and was a GM at 19 years old. Nigel participated in four world championships, and memorably he beat Anatoly Karpov in 1992 to play Gary Kasparov in the final in 1993.
At our Congress we offer a hardback copy of ‘Winning’, Nigel’s award-winning book, signed by the author during his visit to Lancaster. All eligible entrants will be automatically entered in a FREE RAFFLE to win this book, the winner being drawn before the final round.
ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 31st MAY TO BE ELIGIBLE!
Contact: Kevin Shaw, Congress Director Email – hleabirds@aol.com
……………………………
MORE INFORMATION
As the event is FIDE rated all entrants must have a FIDE ID and as such must be ECF gold or above members or have a FIDE ID from outside England and an up to date registration with their own national chess association/federation. FIDE ID comes free with ECF gold membership. If you are a gold member and do not have a FIDE ID then we will need your date of birth to get you one and the process will be explained when you enter. Junior gold ECF membership is free for the first year.
The advantages of having a FIDE ID and rating are that you can play in any FIDE rated event in the world – handy for holidays!
Our capacity is xxx entrants. Once it’s full it’s full. On-line entry only.
Prize fund over , subject to entries plus additional prizes. It is envisaged that this congress will qualify as part of the ECF International Series, subject to their rules and regulations (add their disclaimer).
Food and drink will be on sale at a variety of University owned outlets on campus. We are also grateful for support from LHH, who will likewise offer catering and accommodation.
Sections and prizes
Open – First £700, second £300, third £200. Grading prize £50 U2100.
Major - U1900 - First £500, second £300, third £100. Grading prize £50 U1800
Intermediate – U1750 - First £500, second £300, third £100. Grading prize £50 U1620
In addition there will be three £50 diversity prizes. One for the best score by a female player, another for the best score by an under 16 year old and the third for the best score by an over 65 year old.
Opening of congress – 17.45 pm Friday
All standard play games 110 minutes per player – plus 10 seconds per move time increments. FIDE rules time penalties for illegal moves etc will apply
Round 1 – Friday – 18.00 pm
Round 2 – Saturday - 9.30 am
Round 3 – Saturday - 14.30 pm
Round 4 – Sunday – 9.30 am
Round 5 – Sunday - 14.30 pm
Prize announcements and close 6 - 7 pm Sunday
Chief Arbiter – David Clayton
Assistant Arbiter – Hambel Willow
FIDE and ECF qualified.
Contact details for queries: Kevin Shaw hleabirds@aol.com
Entry
Entry costs:
ECF Gold or Platinum members affiliated to England - £xx
FIDE registered players not affiliated to England - £xx (the extra £2 is to cover the ECF costs of adding their results to their national FIDE ID account)
Entries received after 10 July, if accepted, will require a £5 late entry fee. You are strongly advised to check that there are available spaces for late entries to avoid disappointment.
Entries so far can be found by clicking on this link.
Note it may take a few days before your entry is loaded.
How to enter – UK bank account holders:
Please pay entry fee by direct transfer to Big Green Mountain Account (plus late entry fee if appropriate).
sort code xx-xx-xx
account number xxxxxxxx
Include your initials and surname as a reference so we can match your payment to your entry.
How to enter – non-UK bank account holders:
Payment of entry fees for those with bank accounts outside the UK should ensure that their £ entry fee arrives as £ GBP after deduction of all bank charges. You will need the following information to give to your bank to make the transfer:
Name of bank – RBS
Address of bank –
Address of account associated with HSBC bank - The Treasurer
IBAN number -
SWIFT/BIC code
Include your initials and surname as a reference so we can match your payment to your entry.
After payment, please send the following in an email to Kevin Shaw, at hleabirds@aol.com
ECF Graded players
Go to the ECF database ecfrating.org.uk and find your details. Click on your ECF Code. Forward a link to this to richardsami@hotmail.co.uk together with which section you wish to enter (open, major, intermediate or minor) and your name and rating. Use the priority list below to determine your grade.
Note – if you do not do this you will be treated as an ungraded player unless we can track your details in some other way.
If you would like to take a half point bye please let Kevin know in your entry e-mail and say which round you would like the bye – byes are not allowed in round 5.
Entrants who are ECF gold or above members who do not have a FIDE ID should provide their date of birth and the country they wish to be FIDE registered with. If we do not hear otherwise we will assume England.
FIDE Graded players who are registered outside England
Entrants from outside England should provide their FIDE ID – ideally with a link to it.
Ungraded players
Please email xxxx the following information:
First Name
Second Name
Sex
Date of Birth
Club if any
Link to ECF Membership code on the ECF grading database or FIDE ID
Location of Congress
Location –
Accommodation
Lancaster University Guest Rooms, address.
University has made available well priced student on-site campus accommodation – £70/night – two nights minimum stay - see link for how to book. Please bring your own toiletries. Free parking in visitors car park close to accommodation after 6 pm – before that you will need to pay for a permit at the reception area. Check in after 1 pm on Friday. Check out any time on Sunday. If reception is not open go to the security room by the library. There are regular bus services to and from University Underpass which is 5 mins walk from accommodation.
As there is limited availability early booking is recommended. There are also a very small number of rooms in LHH at a higher price.
There are other hotels in the Lancaster Here is a list of them with direct links – booking via these will most likely be cheaper than through portals like booking.com as hotels don’t have to pay their charges.
Small print
Parental responsibility
Parents are responsible for their children during the congress, the congress organisers and arbiters are not to act as “in loco parents” and are not able to take responsibility for any child’s actions. Or for the actions of anyone that may affect your child. Parents may not speak to their children during their child’s game, or vice versa, without approaching the arbiters first.
Other conditions
Eligibility for grade-restricted sections is determined by the published July ECF or FIDE grading list. This means that which section you enter may be changed by the organisers if your grade changes between the date of entry and the release of the July ratings. Players’ ECF or FIDE ratings from the June 2026 list will be used for determining tournament pairings, and grading prizes.
All sections are ECF and FIDE graded. The following priority is used for section allocation and seeding in the Standard Play event.
ECF Standard Play Grade
FIDE Standard Play Rating
ECF Rapid Play Grade
FIDE Rapid Play Grade
ECF on-line Standard Play Grade
FIDE on-line Standard Play Grade
ECF on-line Rapid Play Grade
Players without a current grade should use any grading previously held from the on-line ECF or FIDE database and provide the link from the site. This may be accepted as their grading subject to approval by the Chief Arbiter. Provisional grades may be used subject to decision by the Chief Arbiter.
Ungraded players are not eligible for a grading prize.
Ungraded players can only win up to £50 for the major, intermediate or minor events. Any unallocated prize money in either event will be allocated to the runner up assuming they are graded.
A player qualifying for two prizes receives only the higher of the two prizes. The exception is the three diversity prizes where winners of these may receive another prize. In the event of a tie for a diversity prize the prize money will be divided between the winners. Prize money is subject to change depending on number of entrants.
In the event of a tie for grading prize, the prize is awarded to the lowest graded player.
Swiss manager dictates the pairings in all rounds and they are not changed to suit individual preferences.
Cancellations – in the event that a player is unable to attend there will be no refund for cancellations after 30 June but please let the organiser know so pairings can be rearranged. No refunds for non UK entrants.
Byes – entrants may take one half point bye in rounds 1-4. The bye may not be taken in the last round.
The Open and Major sections will use duplicate score sheets. Both players must give the top copies to the organisers and sign each of them to confirm the result. The top copies remain the property of the congress.
Cars parked anywhere are done so entirely at the owners own risk.
BY ENTERING, PLAYERS AGREE THAT IN THE EVENT OF ANY DISPUTE, THE ARBITER’S DECISION IS FINAL.
How to find the venue
By road:
By rail: