2025 Torbay Chess Congress Rules

It is a condition of entry that players agree to abide by the following Congress rules.

1. The organisers reserve the right, without giving a reason, to transfer or refuse an entry.
2. In order to ensure comfortable conditions for the players the number of entrants will be limited. Places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. Players wishing to enter after these limits have been reached can ask to be placed on a waiting list by contacting the Congress Secretary.
3. All fees must be paid before play starts. Late entries at the venue are at the discretion of the organisers; please phone first to check availability of places.
4. Entry fees will be refunded for withdrawal notifications received by 30^th October 2025.
5. October FIDE and ECF ratings will determine eligibility to play in a particular tournament. If an entrant has both a FIDE rating and an ECF rating, the FIDE rating will be used in the Open tournament, while the ECF rating will be used in the Major, Intermediate and Foundation tournaments.
   1. An increase in a player's two ratings between entering the Congress and the publication of the October rating list may necessitate a change in tournament allocation. This can be checked on the Torbay Chess Congress website. If you wish to withdraw as a result, please contact the Congress Secretary who will arrange a full refund of your entry fee.
   2. Alternatively, your ratings may decrease. If you become eligible for a lower tournament as a result, and you wish to change, you should contact the Congress Secretary before 29^th October 2025.
   3. For entrants who do not have either a current standard play FIDE or ECF rating, a rating will be estimated on a case-by-case basis by the organisers, based on all available information.
6. The current FIDE Laws of Chess will apply. Excepting: A Player not ready to start play within half an hour of the scheduled start of play time for each round will lose.
7. Seeded Swiss pairings will be made by Controllers using ECF rules or computer programs based on ECF or comparable rules. Pairings between members of the same family or club etc. will be avoided, if possible, at the sole discretion of the Controller.
8. Prize monies will be shared when entrants tie on points. If a player qualifies for more than one cash prize, he shall be paid the higher amount and the Congress Director will decide how most fairly any balance shall be re-distributed. Except in the Open Tournament, an unrated player (i.e. a player entered on the basis of a rating estimated by the organisers) may not win more than £30 in prize money and may not win any rating prize. Cash prizes will be paid by direct bank transfer.
9. Congress equipment may not be removed from the playing or analysis areas.
10. Smoking and live mobile phones/pagers/other electronic communication devices are not permitted in the chess playing and analysis rooms. You must switch off any mobile communication device on your person during play; if a mobile phone on your person makes any sound during play you will lose the game by forfeit.
11. Food and drink must not be brought into the venue for consumption on the premises.
12. Players agree to abide by the decisions of the Controllers and accept that in all matters relating to the Congress the decisions of the organisers are final.
13. The Torbay League Individual Championships are trophies awarded to the highest-placed player in each tournament who is a member of a club playing in the Torbay League. The trophies are the Basil Wallis Cup (the Open), the Challenge Cup (the Major), the Intermediate Cup (the Intermediate) and the Candidates Cup (the Foundation).
14. In order to win the Ralph Newman Cup, one of the following conditions must be met. The player must:
    1. be born in Devon, or

    2. be currently living in Devon, or

    3. go to school, college or university in Devon, or
    4. currently play for a Devon team.
15. With the exception of the Basil Wallis Cup, no player without a current rating may win a trophy. No player will be awarded more than one trophy; trophies will be allocated in the order set out on the trophy page of this website, and the award of a trophy to a player makes that player ineligible for any of the other trophies.
16. Trophies will not be shared. Tie-breaks for the award of trophies will be resolved by sum of progressive scores; if this produces a tie then the Sonneborn-Berger tie-break system will be used.
17. Each entry for the team competition must consist of four players who are bona fide members of the same club.
18. Any photographs taken at the event may be used for publicity purposes. If any entrant objects to this, they must inform the Congress Organiser.
19. Players’ details will be held electronically for the purposes of administering and marketing Torbay Chess Congresses; their entries and results will be published on the congress website; and congress games and results will be submitted to the English Chess Federation for rating purposes and may be published online. Players not wishing to have their details published on the ECF Website should contact the ECF Office directly.