Post date: 08-Oct-2016 15:59:57
The 40th annual Kidlington Chess Tournament will be held on Saturday & Sunday 4 & 5 February, 2017 at our usual venue, Exeter Hall, Kidlington. We hope to see you there!
In this, our 40th year, the congress is again a five-round tournament divided into four sections. But we are making a few changes. The Under-120, Under-145 and Under-180 sections remain the same as last year, but the top section will now be an Open section, rather than having a grading cap of 225. The total prize fund has increased to £1970, with an Under-90 grading prize added in the Under-120 section.
Another change will be of particular interest to local players. With the approval of the Oxfordshire Chess Association's recent AGM, the Oxfordshire Individual Chess Championship is being revived after a long gap, with the title and trophy going to the eligible player with the highest combined score in the Open sections of the Witney Chess Congress (coming up on 22 & 23 October) and the Kidlington Chess Tournament in February. (For more details, see separate news item.) If you are an ambitious Oxfordshire player, you are therefore encouraged to enter not only the Kidlington Tournament but also (if you have not already done so) the Witney Congress coming up very soon. See the Witney Chess Club website for further details and how to enter.
Kidlington is an ECF Grand Prix event, and again in 2017 a British Championship Qualifying Tournament, with the winner of the Open section (or, if he/she is already qualified, the next-highest-placed eligible player) qualifying for a place in the 2017 British Chess Championship to be held in Llandudno from 28th July to 6th August 2017.
As usual, we shall have the excellent bookstall provided by Chess Direct, and a fine range of refreshments provided by Hackett's Food & Drink of Witney.
Entry forms for Kidlington will be posted on the Kidlington Tournament website and on the ECF website's Events Calendar in the next few days. Printed forms will also be available soon.
Gerard O'Reilly
(Organizer, Kidlington Chess Tournament)