Fifth Lancaster FIDE Rapid Play Congress Saturday 24 January 2026 – Prize Fund £1,000 (subject to entries)

Location of Congress

The Storey, Meeting House Lane, LA1 1TH - only 5 minute walk from Lancaster Station - on left hand side as you walk towards town centre and opposite the castle. Parking facililites are not available at The Storey. Pay for parking spaces available in the city. The venue itself is Disability friendly.

Contact: Richard Walsh, Congress Director - Email - – [email protected]

This year the entire congress will be FIDE and ECF rated.

We are very grateful to Lancaster City Council for sponsering our congress

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 FIDE ID from outside England and an up to date regristration 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 explain how you get one. It is free, quick and easy to do. Junior gold ECF membership is free for the first year

Prize fund £1,000 subject to entries plus additional prizes subject to further sponsorship. This is a not for profit event. Donations are welcome.

Food and drink will be on sale in the licenced café area downstairs from 9 am to 6pm on the day. During this time only food and drink purchased on the premises is allowed.

Sections, prizes and timings

· Open – First £130, second £70. Grading prize £50 U2100

· Major - U1900 First £130, second £70. Grading prize £50 U1800

· Intermediate – U1750 First £130, second £70, Grading prize £50 U1620

· Minor First U1500 £130, second £70. Grading prize £50 U1300

· Those without an ECF or FIDE rating can win a maximum of £50 except in the Open and are not eligible for grading prizes

Schedule

· 6 rounds. FIDE and ECF rated

· 20 minutes each plus 10 second increments

· Opening of congress – 9.45 am

· Round 1 – 10 am

· Round 2 – 11.15

· Round 3 – 12.30

· Round 4 – 14.00

· Round 5 – 15.15

· Round 6 – 16.30

· Prizes and close 17.30

FIDE rapid play rules on time penalties for illegal moves etc will apply. Capacity up to 120 entrants. Arbiter decisions are final and by entering this congress you will be bound by this.

· Chief Arbiter – Hambel Willow

· Deputy Chief Arbiter – Sacha Torregrosa

Entry

Entry costs:

· ECF Gold or Platinum members affiliated to England - £25

· FIDE registered players not affiliated to England - £27 (the extra £2 is to cover the ECF costs of adding their results to their national FIDE ID account)

Entries received on Wednesday 21 January and Thursday 22 January, if accepted, will require a £5 late entry fee. You are strongly advised to check that there are available spaces for late entries before entering late to avoid disappointment. The Final deadline is midnight Thursday 22 January. We are not taking entries on Friday 23 or on the day

Entries so far can be found by clicking on this link.

Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Lancaster Rapid 2026

How to enter – UK bank account holders:

Please pay entry fee by direct transfer to the Lancaster Chess Club Account (plus late entry fee if appropriate).

· sort code 40-03-33

· account number 82357054

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 £27 entry fee arrives as £27 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 – HSBC

Address of bank – 1 Centenary Square, Birmingham B1 1HQ

Address of account associated with HSBC bank - The Treasurer

Lancaster Chess Club

Flat 34, Sir John Lyon House

8 High Timber Street

London EC4V 3PA

IBAN number - GB37HBUK40033382357054

SWIFT/BIC code - HBUKGB4141B

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 Richard Walsh [email protected]

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 [email protected] 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 in round one please let Richard know in your entry e-mail. Byes are not allowed in any other rounds.

Entrants who are ECF gold or above members who do not have a FIDE ID will be contacted to explain how to get one and will be asked which 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 [email protected] the following information:

· First Name

· Second Name

· Sex

· Date of Birth

· Club if any

· Screen shots of chess.com and lichess ratings charts

· Link to ECF Membership code on the ECF grading database or FIDE ID

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 original December 2025 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 December ratings. Players’ ECF or FIDE ratings from the January 2026 original 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:

· ECF Rapid Play Grade

· FIDE Rapid Play Rating

· ECF Standard Play Grade

· FIDE Standard Play Grade

· ECF on-line Rapid Play Grade

· FIDE on-line Rapid Play Grade

· ECF on-line Standard Play Grade

· FIDE on-line Standard Play Grade

· Chess.com grade – for pairing and section allocation purposes only – not eligible for grading prizes

· Lichess grade - for pairing and section allocation purposes only – not eligible for grading prizes

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 including players with only a chess.com or lichess grade 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. If we obtain further sponsorship the exception will be three diversity prizes where winners of these may receive one other prize. In the event of a tie for a diversity prize the prize money will be divided between the winners. The diversity prizes will be £50 each. 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 November 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 round 1. No other byes are allowed and if taken will result in zero points for that game.

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 and parking:

Find a parking space and walk to the venue. The cheapest all-day option is the Station car park which is £4.50. Dearer than the Station but a bit closer is Dallas Road council parking £9.50 for 9 hours (24 hours - £14). There is also NCP parking on Dallas road which is £7.95 but limited spaces. Apart from these there are car parks in the city centre but they are usually more expensive and further to walk. The only free parking is well out of the city centre on side roads.

By rail:

Lancaster Station is on the main west coast rail line from London to Glasgow and has direct links to Manchester Airport. The Storey is 5 minute walk away.