European Chess Union announces the 1st European Cities & Towns Chess Championship which will take place on Sunday, 23rd January 2023, in hybrid cities venues. The event consists of four categories: Open, Women, Seniors, and Youth (U12). The first edition of the new European Competition is supported by the FIDE Development fund.
Each City or Town has the right to nominate one team of 4 players in each of 4 categories:
- Open Tournament (any age)
- Women Tournament (female participants)
- Seniors Tournament (players over 50 years, born in 1972 or earlier)
- Youth Tournament (players up to 12, born in 2010 or later
The event will be played in 9 rounds, Swiss System, with rate of play 10 minutes for a game per player + 3 seconds increment after each move. All the players compete from the approved tournament hall(s) per city/town. Tournament halls are selected and installed by the local organisers.
Each City or Town can participate in one or more tournament without being obliged to compete in all tournaments. The teams are registered by the city representative (municipality) or/and by the local Chess Union or club. Each City/Town will appoint one representative for the technical meeting and any communication during the event. The registration/ECU entry fee is 100 euros per team per tournament to be paid directly to ECU.
Registrations should be done online in period from 15th October till 20th January through the Tornelo Online Chess platform. A guide on how to register your team through Tornelo Online Platform:
Any question can be sent it to [email protected]. The deadline for registrations and fee payment is 20th January 2023. The event will be live transmitted with video footage from all venues, interviews, and all games. More details will be announced.
According to FIDE Online Chess Regulations, at least two arbiters will be appointed for each playing venue: a Local Chief Arbiter (LCA) and a Local Technical Arbiter (LTA). If there are more than three teams (12 players) in a playing venue, then one additional arbiter is required for. The local arbiters shall be FIDE licensed and able to communicate in English language. The arbiters are independent and cannot be team representatives. National Chess Federations will appoint the local arbiters in the venues that will approved by the ECU Arbiters Council.
Titles – Prizes – Qualifiers
- The first winner team (gold medal) in each of 4 categories is the European Chess Town Champion 2022 in the respective category.
- The first 3 winners of each category will be awarded with Trophies and their players with special e-medals (gold, silver, bronze).
- The first winner City/Town of the combined categories of the competition (Sum of the match points from 4 tournaments, then, if equal, sum of the game points) receives the title “Absolute European Chess City/Town Champion 2022”.
- The 4 players of Winner Open team will be hosted in the European Individual Chess Championship 2023 (2 double rooms FB) with ECU expenses.
- The 4 players of Winner Women’s team will be hosted in the European Individual Chess Championship 2023 (2 double rooms FB) with ECU expenses
- Winner Team in Senior Section will be hosted in European Senior Team Championship 2023 with ECU hosting expenses for 4 players (2 double rooms FB).
- Winner team in Youth Section would be hosted in European Youth Team Championship 2023 U18 (2 double rooms FB) with ECU expenses.
- The 4 players of 2nd and 3rd team of Youth Section will be awarded with annual training Program (7 months) through the European Chess Academy program with top chess trainers.
- ECU Certificates will be available for all teams
