Southend Adult Community College, Ambleside Drive Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 2UN
28 March – 1 April 2024
2024 MAIN FEATURES
The Southend Easter Chess Festival 2024 comprises the 4th Southend FIDE Rapid on Thursday 28 March 2024 (“Rapid”) and the 66th Southend Easter Chess Congress from 29 March to 1 April 2024 (“Congress”).
Venue
Southend Adult Community College Ambleside Drive, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2UN
Schedule
- 4TH SOUTHEND FIDE RAPID
- Thursday 28 March
- 6 Rounds, G25+5;
- Three sections – Open/U1700/U1400;
- Round 1 at 10.30 am, finish by 6 pm;
- Rapid entries are now CLOSED. NO entries on the day.
- 66TH SOUTHEND EASTER CHESS CONGRESS
- Friday 29 March to Monday 1 April 2024
- Friday to Sunday (incl): Rounds at 11:00 am and 4:00 pm
- Monday: last round at 11:00 am
- All sections, 7 rounds, G90+30
- Southend FIDE Open
- ‘Leigh-on-Sea’ FIDE and ECF U1900
- ‘Westcliff ECF’ U1600
- ‘Thorpe Bay’ ECF U1300
- Closing date for entries to the Congress: 10.00 pm Thursday 28 March 2024 – NO entries on the day.
- All games take place at the venue given above
- Friday 29 March to Monday 1 April 2024
Pairings and Results
The above link takes you to the Congress Open, from which you will be able to navigate to each section of the Fesitval plus the Masters. Initially, however, you will need to click on ‘Show tournament details’ to bring it out of archive.
The Essex Championship 2023-24
The title of Essex Champion will be awarded to the highest placed eligible player in the Southend FIDE Open.
The holder (2023) is FM David Haydon (Brentwood).
The Essex Minor Championship 2023-24
The title Essex Minor Champion will be awarded to the highest placed eligible player in the Leigh on Sea U1900.
The holder (2023) is Peter Laundy (Basildon).
Ratings all sections
Ratings for eligibility and pairings, all tournaments, will be those published at 1st March 2024. See further detail in the Ratings section below.
Other Features
- Bookstall by Chess & Bridge who kindly supply the equipment for the Congress
- yElena’s Cafeteria
- Live Games – top three boards in the FIDE Open
Entry
Click here for: Online entry pay by card via Stripe or by BACS or cheque in the post (details on the form at this link).
Click: Link or Download below for: Entry Form (pdf) – includes form for postal entry.
PLAYING SCHEDULE RAPID
Thursday 28 March
6 Rounds – 10.30 am Start – Finish by 6.00 pm
Rate of play G25+5
All moves in 25 minutes + 5 seconds per move.
All sections are ECF and FIDE Rapid rated.
PLAYING SCHEDULE – CONGRESS ALL SECTIONS
Friday 29 March – Round 1 at 11:00 am and Round 2 at 4:00 pm
Saturday 30 March – Round 3 at 11:00 am and Round 4 at 4:00 pm
Sunday 31 March – Round 5 at 11:00 am BST and Round 6 at 4:00 pm BST
Monday 1 April – Final Round 7 at 11:00 am BST
Rate of Play, Congress ALL sections – G90+30
All moves in 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
Players please note: in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess, when the increment per move is 30 seconds or more, all moves have to be recorded, even if your remaining time dips under 5 minutes.
All Congress sections are ECF rated and the FIDE Open and FIDE U1900 are also FIDE rated.
PRIZES
The Prize Fund for the Congress is a guaranteed minimum of £2,700. This guaranteed minimum may be increased as finances allow.
Where ties occur, prize money will be shared. Ties for the Essex trophies will be resolved by the Sum of Progressive Scores and, if necessary, the Sum of Opponents’ Scores.
Prizes per section
Rapid – all sections
FIDE rated sections: Open, U1700, U1400
Minimum prizes each section: 1st £80; 2nd £40; 3rd £20
Congress – all sections
FIDE Open
Minimum prizes: 1st £450; 2nd £250; 3rd £150; Rating £110
FIDE and ECF U1900
Minimum prizes: 1st £300; 2nd £200; 3rd £100; Rating £70
ECF U1600 and ECF U1300
Minimum prizes each section: 1st £145; 2nd £100; 3rd £50; Rating £30
No player may win more than one prize (other than “Additional prizes”, below). If a player qualifies in two categories (e.g. a place prize and a Rating Prize) the larger prize will be paid.
NB These minima may be increased as finances allow.
Additional prizes
The following prizes are additional to the main prize fund.
David Wood Junior Prize
In addition to other prizes the sum of £75 will be awarded by the David Wood Memorial Trust, for the best performances by Essex Juniors (Under 18 on 31 Aug 2023). The sum awarded will usually be split three ways (£25 each) subject to there being three deserving performances.
NB There will be no Prize Giving ceremony. Prizes will be paid by bank transfer.
ENTRY FEES
Rapid – All sections
Entry Fee: £31
Congress – All sections
Entry Fee: £47
Online Entry
You can enter online and pay by card via Stripe, of by BACS or by cheque. Details for each payment method are included in the online form, link below.
Click for: online entry
Entry Fee Coupons
The following coupons may be applied for a discount of 5% from the relevant Entry Fee. Only one concession may be applied to each entry fee, even if you would qualify for two concession categories. If you enter the Rapid and a 7-Round section, the coupon will be applied to each.
se2460+ – Senior (60+);
se24u16 – Junior (U16 at 31 Aug 2023);se24early – Enter by 5 January 2024 (inclusive). – Now expired
NB These coupons only apply to the Entry Fee, NOT to the £9 ECF Pay to Play Fee, if included, which we have to pass in full to the ECF, nor to Donations.
Payment by card via Stripe adjusts the amount automatically on entry of a valid coupon code. This was not the case when paying by BACS or cheque. We have, however, improved the Entry Form treatement of payments by BACS and cheque, in that it now includes discounted amounts, ECF ‘Pay to Play’ (if applicable) and Donations and calculates the total due. The actual payment of the amount due by BACS transfer is still not implemented in the form, but we imagine entrants paying in this way are happier performing such transactions from their own online banking arrangement.
Donations
Costs continue to rise; please consider including a £5 donation with your Entry Fee.
We thank all contributors for their generosity, helping us to cover expenses and maintain standards.
ECF Membership
- For the FIDE Open and the FIDE & ECF U1900, all ENG players MUST be ECF Gold members.
- For the ECF sections, U1600 and U1300, ECF Silver membership (minimum) is required.
ECF Bronze Members or non-Members wishing to enter the Rapid, the U1600 or the U1300 may enter on payment of an additional £9 for the ECF Pay to Play fee. For Bronze members, this will be applied by the ECF to upgrade your Bronze membership to Silver. Non-members will remain non-members.
Note re ECF Membership ECF Non-members should note that, while the £9 Pay to Play fee will allow you to enter the festival, you will remain a non-member and if you play more chess in the year (1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024) you will have to pay another Pay to Play fee for each congress. If you later take out ECF membership, previously paid Pay to Play fees will NOT be taken into account; the cost of membership then will be additional. The ECF ‘rolling membership’ gives a full year’s value as, whenever you join, you will get full 12 months value from the date of joining, not just to 31 August of the current chess year.
Current costs of ECF Membership: Bronze £18, Silver £27, Gold £39, Platinum £75.
See: ECF Membership page | ECF Pay to Play
RATINGS
Ratings for eligibility and pairings will be the lists pubished 1 March 2024.
For those entering rating-limited sections before 1 March, if following publication of the 1 March list(s) you are no longer eligible for the section entered, you will need to change section. However, should you not wish to play in (any of) the section(s) for which you are then eligible and wish to withdraw, we shall be sorry to lose you but will make a full refund of the entry fee paid.
The FIDE Rapid, the FIDE Open and the FIDE & ECF U1900 results will be submitted for FIDE rating. All sections, including the above, will be submitted for ECF rating.
The picture on the home page of the website is by Brendan O’Gorman, whose Gallery of the 2022 Congress you can find linked from the 2022 page (main menu above). We are grateful to Brendan for use of this splendid image, readily granted without restriction.
Southend Easter Chess Festival 