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The St Albans Chess Congress

Organised by the St Albans Chess Club, the annual St Albans Chess Congress has become one of the most popular congressses in the area, regularly attracting around 200 participants.  The venue at St Columba's College provides abundant parking, a spacious main playing area, a large relaxation area, and a canteen serving breakfast, lunch and hot or cold snacks and drinks throughout the day.

 

Dates

It is normally held over a Saturday and Sunday just before or after the Easter weekend.

The 2014 Congress will be held on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 April - the weekend before Easter.

Tournaments

There are five tournaments:
  • Open - no grade limits
  • Challengers - for players graded 180 and below
  • Major - for players graded 160 and below
  • Internmediate- for players graded 140 and below
  • Minor - for players graded 120 and below

There is over £2,500 in prize money.  The prizes for each tournament are £250, £125 and £65 (£300, £150 and £75 for the Open tournament).  There are grading prizes for each tournament, and also veteran and junior prizes.

The format is a 5 round Swiss tournament, with three rounds played on the Saturday and two on the Sunday.  A player may request a ½ point bye in advance for any one round except round 5.

Details of recent results are set out here.

Times of Play

Saturday                        Sunday  
10.00 Round 1   10.00 Round 4
14.30 Round 2   14.30 Round 5
18.30 Round 3   18.30
(approx)		 Prize giving
 

Food and refreshments will be availabe in the rest area from 9:00am on both Saturday and Sunday, and throughout the Congress.

Rates of Play

36 moves in 90 minutes (30 moves in 75 minutes for re-paired games). Unfinished games will be decided by a 15 minute Quick Play finish.

Sponsors

TCS will attend with a book store offering a range of chess books, trophies, chess sets and chess clocks. 10% of all sales quoting SAC12 will be donated to the St Albans Congress funds.

The St Albans Congress is also sponsored by
the White Lion, Sopwell Lane, St. Albans
the Lower Red Lion, Fishpool Street, St Albans.
 

See our sponsors page for details.

How to enter

Solution Graphics

In due course you will be able to enter the 2014 Congress online, and pay by your PayPal account or credit card. In 2013, approximately two-thirds of the participants entered online, and this way of entering was very popular.

Alternatively, if you would rather pay by cheque you can download and print an entry form. The entry form changes every year, but for the 2013 St Albans Congress:
  • click here to download the entry form in Microsoft Word format (.doc)
  • click here to download it in Adobe Reader format (.pdf).

Enquiries

All enquiries should be directed to Terry Douse:

Telephone: 01727 751072
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
 

Would you like to be kept updated?

If you would like to be kept updated on the forthcoming St Albans Congress, and future Congresses, please click here.

Comments from Previous Congresses

“My favourite tournament. You create a friendly atmosphere. ”
 
“A very enjoyable congress well run and organised at an excellent venue. The website with online entry and payment as well as the list of entrants was much appreciated especially with the recent rise in postal charges! I look forward to entering again next year.”
 
“An excellent tournament which was run very professionally, as always. There was plenty of space on the tables to place flasks, glasses etc, and we were not cramped against our neighbour player. Many tournaments suffer from lack of space on table, not so at St. Albans! The cafeteria was good, as opposed to average, as it had hot food. Many only have sandwiches etc. Plenty of space to park is always important, and this venue has that in abundance.”
 
“I was very impressed with the tournament and the the running of it. I will enter next year, time willing.”
 
“A very well organised event. The team did an excellent job. The venue is perfect. Even the weather was good. My chess wasn't very good - I don't know if you can do anything about that.”
 
“Very good venue and organisation. Well done!”
 
“The web support for the congress is a huge step forward. Well done. These days the ability for potential players to enquire on-line about entries, the venue, past congresses, picture gallery, etc, is a factor in deciding which congress to attend. Your development in this direction with the introduction of looking at the entry list in advance, for instance, is good. Also the availability of results so quickly after the event is a service I'm sure many will appreciate.”
 
“I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, the organisation was first-rate and the website outstanding.”
 
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