Refund Policy

Any entrant who withdraws by 16th March 2025 will be entitled to a full refund. Any entrant who withdraws after that date may be granted a partial refund at the discretion of the organisers.

Default Time and Repairing

The default time for a round is 30 minutes. Repairing will be at the controller’s discretion.  If players are repaired, the game will be played with an adjusted amount of time equivalent to the remaining time in the round from when the repaired game commences.

Byes

A ½ point bye may be claimed for any one round except the final round and must be requested at the time of entry.

Prizes

Prize money will be forwarded within 14 days.

The rating prize bands will be decided by the organisers once the entrants are known. They will be published before the event commences.

In the event of ties, players will share prizes.

First prize in the Major, Intermediate and Minor and all Rating prizes are only open to players with a published K or A ECF rating.

If a low number of entries are received the organisers reserve the right to reduce the value of the prizes.

Treatment of more than one prize per competitor:

A) Where a player would otherwise be eligible for more than one prize outright (i.e. not shared), they will be awarded the higher of the two prizes and the lower prize will be allocated to the next best eligible performer.

B) Where a player would otherwise be eligible for more than one prize where at least one of those prizes is shared with another player, the organisers may either adopt the approach described in A) above or, if more appropriate, pool the relevant prizes and split them as fairly as possible between the players. The organisers’ decision on the allocation of prizes in these circumstances shall be final.

West of England Chess Union (WECU) Champion & Qualifying Place for the 2025 British Chess Championship

The highest placed player in the Open section who meets at least one of the following criteria will be the West of England Chess Union (WECU) Champion:

• Birth in that county (a WECU County).
• Five years residence in that county at any time (a WECU County).
• Two months immediate previous and present membership of a club either in or affiliated to that county (a WECU County).
• One month immediately previous and present residence in that county (a WECU County).
• Present attendance as a teacher or a student at a school, college or university in that county (a WECU County).

In addition, by meeting the above criteria, the highest placed player in the Open section will be offered the WECU qualifying place for the 2025 British Chess Championship and will have their entry fee to that tournament paid up to a maximum value of £310 by the WECU providing:

• They are not an GM, IM, WGM or WIM (and therefore automatically qualified with a free place).
• They meet the British Chess Championships qualifying entitlement as contained within its Qualification Regulations 2025 .

If they do not meet the above criteria or the place is declined, then the WECU qualifying place will be offered to the next eligible player.

If two or more WECU players have the same highest score, then the following tiebreak rules will be applied to determine the British Chess Championship Qualifying Place in this order:

• The results between the individual players will be considered but only if they have all played each other with wins counting in favour and losses against a player.
• The player or players with the higher ‘sum of progressive score’.
• If two or more players are still tied then the player with the higher “sum of opponents’ ratings” based upon their 4 highest rated opponents.
• If two or more players are still tied then the player with the higher ‘sum of opponents’ scores’.

Should the winner of the WECU qualifying place choose to defer their entry by one year (as permitted within the British Chess Championship Qualification Regulations 2025), the place will be funded by WECU at the winner’s 2025 entry fee rate.

The tournament organiser’s decision regarding the British Chess Championship Qualifying Place will be final.

Rating used for Pairings, Determining Section

Where a player has an Original March 2025 ECF Standard A or K rating this will be used for pairing, determining the eligibility to play in a given section, rating prize eligibility and British Championship Qualification tie-breaks.

In the absence of an ECF Standard A or K rating, a combination of the following will be used to determine a rating that will be used for pairings, section eligibility,  and British Championship Qualification tie-breaks: ECF Standard P rating, ECF Rapid Ratings, FIDE ratings, online ratings and any other relevant information that is available. Players without ECF Standard A or K ratings should provide evidence of their playing strength. The organisers’ decision on the appropriate rating will be final.

The right is reserved to assign players to specific tournaments.

Anti-Cheating

Any mobile phone or other mobile device capable of running chess software must be turned off and left on the playing table in plain sight of your opponent before you make your first move and for the duration of the game. If a mobile phone or other mobile device is found to be turned on or being carried by a player after they have made their first move, then they will forfeit the game. Players may be scanned before, during and after games. If there is any evidence that a player has used a device to run chess software whilst playing or if they refuse to fully comply with anti-cheating checks they will be excluded from the tournament.

Food and Drink

No food or drink may be brought into the hotel for consumption.

Free water will be available in the playing area. Other drinks and food will be available to purchase in the hotel.

Parental Responsibility

Parents or guardians are responsible for their children during the tournament. The organisers and helpers are not able to act “in loco parentis” and are not able to take responsibility for any child’s actions, or for the actions of anyone that may affect your child.

Accommodation

The Dorset County Chess Association takes no responsibility for the booking of rooms which is a separate contract between you and the hotel.

Parking

There is parking available at The Bournemouth West Cliff Hotel which may be chargeable and Parking Eye CCTV is used to monitor usage. We have been advised by the hotel that there will be an overnight rate of £10 per 24 hours if staying at the hotel. We have also been advised that if you park at the hotel during the day, then this is complimentary but please check with the hotel on arrival. In all cases you must register your car number plate details at the hotel reception within 10 minutes of parking to avoid any potential fine. The Dorset County Chess Association takes no responsibility for any parking fines issued which is a separate contract between you and the hotel.

Photographs and Data Protection

Photographs will be taken at the event and may be used on the Dorset Chess website, the Dorset Chess Newsletter, the Dorset Junior Chess Newsletter and other local chess websites. By entering you, (the player or in the case of a junior, i.e. under 18 years old, the player’s parent or guardian) are consenting to the publication of such photos and your/your child’s results in the tournament.  Your results will be passed to the ECF for rating purposes and prior to the tournament your membership details may be checked with the ECF.

Other than as specified in the paragraph above, your personal details including your address, email address and phone number will NOT be passed to any third party. Your personal details will be retained to aid in the distribution of prizes and to inform you of future events organised by the Dorset County Chess Association.

You may request the deletion of your personal information by contacting the organisers at https://www.dorsetchess.co.uk/contact-martin-simons/