Cambridge International Open

[Roger de Coverly]

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/cambrid ... onal-open/

The English Chess Federation is organising the Cambridge International Open Chess Tournament from 15th to 19th February 2023 in Cambridge. This will be a 9 round Swiss system tournament, open to all English and foreign players with a valid FIDE ID. The event will provide an opportunity for participants to achieve international title norms.

It's at the University Arms Hotel which should be familiar to all those who know central Cambridge. You can stay at the hotel, but the B&B rate is £ 149 per night.


I don't know quite how official this is yet, as there isn't a link on the ECF home page. It's on the ECF Events calendar though
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/event-c ... =677540487

[Brendan O'Gorman]

On the ECF home page now. Amusingly, the £149 rate seems to be a special price for contestants.

[Ian Thompson]

On the ECF home page now. Amusingly, the £149 rate seems to be a special price for contestants.

Maybe, and hopefully, it's special in the same way the Caleta hotel in Gibraltar was the year I played - double the publicly available rate that I booked the hotel at.

[JustinHorton]

This is fantastic

[Roger de Coverly]

Maybe, and hopefully, it's special in the same way the Caleta hotel in Gibraltar was the year I played - double the publicly available rate that I booked the hotel at.

Checking at booking.com, the regular price is over £ 200 per night.

Given that the first round starts in the morning rather than the afternoon, a nine round tournament requires five nights rather than four.

[James Toon]

A quick check on booking.com produces many accommodation options at £100 a night or less. My younger son spent four years at Cambridge and this is his verdict on the University Arms Hotel: "Oh yes that's a new fancy one I wouldn't bother with staying there."

[David Sedgwick]

My younger son spent four years at Cambridge and this is his verdict on the University Arms Hotel: "Oh yes that's a new fancy one I wouldn't bother with staying there."

It's not that new. It was the top hotel in Cambridge, with prices to match, when I was an undergraduate.

That is almost 50 years ago.

[Simon Brown]

It's not that new. It was the top hotel in Cambridge, with prices to match, when I was an undergraduate.

That is almost 50 years ago.

It was closed for a while and was refurbished, reopening in 2018. I have a connection to the fund which part owns it, and stayed there a few times, but after some indifferent service in the restaurant (admittedly shortly after the reopening) and being woken twice by a fire alarm in the middle of the night, I went elsewhere. The bar and restaurant are good now though, as are the conference facilities.

[David Sedgwick]

[The University Arms Hotel] was closed for a while and was refurbished, reopening in 2018. I have a connection to the fund which part owns it, and stayed there a few times, but after some indifferent service in the restaurant (admittedly shortly after the reopening) and being woken twice by a fire alarm in the middle of the night, I went elsewhere. The bar and restaurant are good now though, as are the conference facilities.

If I go, it seems that the tournament organisers would be well advised to insist that I don't stay there.

[Roger de Coverly]

It's not that new. It was the top hotel in Cambridge, with prices to match, when I was an undergraduate.

That is almost 50 years ago.

In my time, which is a handful of years before David, its facia on the main road past Parkers Piece was an example of brutalism, in other words new in the 1960s. It was similar in some ways to contemporary developments by the Colleges. Whilst the College developments of the 1960s and 1970s have mostly survived as far as I am aware, using Google Street Map to take a look shows a very classical facade and material about the hotel says it was completely redeveloped in recent years.
https://www.varsity.co.uk/lifestyle/16700

In 2013 it had a fire
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-c ... e-24379988

More on the hotel
https://www.ft.com/content/b136791c-973 ... 205561c3fe

[Simon Brown]

I'd just like to say that despite my knowledge of the hotel, the photos in the FT article have nothing to do with me! Another to add to my rather substantial collection of namesakes.

[Owen Phillips]

Is it really possible to secure FIDE International Norms at an event playing so many 2 Rds in a day? Presumably not a GM norm at least??

Curious?

[Leonard Barden]

Is it really possible to secure FIDE International Norms at an event playing so many 2 Rds in a day? Presumably not a GM norm at least??

Curious?

1.12 There must be no more than twelve hours play in one day. This is calculated based on games
that last 60 moves, although games played using increments may last longer.
1.13 No more than 2 rounds shall be played on any one day.
Each player must have at least two hours in which to complete all the moves, assuming the
game lasts 60 moves.
1.13a In the application for the GM or WGM title based on norms, at least one norm
shall be achieved in a tournament with only one round per day for a minimum of
3 days.

[Owen Phillips]

Thanks Leonard.

My memories were clearly of rules in the past.

Glad to know that each type of Norm is possible then.

ATB, Owen.

[LawrenceCooper]

Is it really possible to secure FIDE International Norms at an event playing so many 2 Rds in a day? Presumably not a GM norm at least??

Curious?

There have been many such events in England since Covid, albeit mainly round robin.