Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Details of upcoming UK events, please provide working links if possible.
Nick Grey
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Nick Grey » Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:07 pm

The Bittoms is also the nearest to Kingston Chess Club as well as the University.

Not worth trying Fairfield or Kingfisher. Apart from shoppers also football, and Leisure Centres.

Have cash & card ready too because machines can get vandalised etc.

Plenty of park and ride & public transport links. On Sunday it is easier to park as shops open later.

It is all part of the adventure & on the 213 bus route where most of the Surrey Congresses were open (Sutton, Cheam Non-such, Coombe Girls School, & now Kingston University).

As the weather forecast is mentioning an Indian Summer and it is also half-term give the organisers a lot of credit.

Robert Page
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Robert Page » Wed Oct 10, 2018 8:29 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:23 pm
Tim Spanton wrote:
Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:20 pm
EXCEPT it clashes with Guernsey
Scarborough as well.

http://www.scarboroughchesscongress.org.uk/
Scarborough is offering £6000 in prize money, five sections and a £500 first prize in each. It may be a long way north for some people but not surprisingly it also has over two hundred entries with two and a half weeks to go.

John Foley
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by John Foley » Thu Oct 11, 2018 3:30 pm

Update on car parking at Kingston University. It is possible to park all day for £2.70 on Saturday and Sunday at the Fassett Road car park. Parking is around 100 spaces, first come first served. Friday is also possible after 4.30pm but the car park is full until people start leaving at 5.00pm.
Parking Information.jpg
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Nick Grey
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Nick Grey » Thu Oct 11, 2018 11:31 pm

On Scarborough.

I may be a bit hazy on my history as I was a pup back then but the Surrey Congresses in the 1980s at Sutton had more prize money lots more sections & higher numbers. With 7 games in a Easter weekend. Oh those 70s/80s chess organizers you were brilliant (some still are).

Mike Gunn
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Mike Gunn » Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:04 pm

With 3 days to go before the congress starts we have a healthy entry of about 80, but we can always manage some more - and we have decided not to charge the £5 surcharge on entry for entering between Tuesday and Friday.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Adam Raoof » Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:06 pm

Mike Gunn wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:04 pm
With 3 days to go before the congress starts we have a healthy entry of about 80, but we can always manage some more - and we have decided not to charge the £5 surcharge on entry for entering between Tuesday and Friday.
This is great news, Mike - many thanks! Is the late entry fee really effective these days, if the intention is to encourage people to register earlier?
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Mike Gunn
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Mike Gunn » Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:12 pm

Adam, it seems to work in that we received more than half the entries so far in the last 2 days - it means we can (comfortably) check all those ECF memberships.

Nostalgia corner: (see Nick above) I think my first Congress was in 97 when we had more than 500 entries and the Open was won by a certain Michael Adams.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Adam Raoof » Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:16 pm

Mike Gunn wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:12 pm
Adam, it seems to work in that we received more than half the entries so far in the last 2 days - it means we can (comfortably) check all those ECF memberships.
The problem with this is that (anecdotally) players are leaving it that late to register for events these days, with or without a late fee.

Anyone needing to check their membership status should look themselves up at https://ecf.azolve.com/MemberFinder.htm - sometimes a paid up member does not appear, even on this database, if you look them up by name - but they do appear when searched for by membership number....
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Alex Holowczak
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Alex Holowczak » Wed Oct 24, 2018 2:31 pm

Adam Raoof wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:16 pm
Mike Gunn wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:12 pm
Adam, it seems to work in that we received more than half the entries so far in the last 2 days - it means we can (comfortably) check all those ECF memberships.
The problem with this is that (anecdotally) players are leaving it that late to register for events these days, with or without a late fee.
I had 48 entries for my Rapidplay when I went home on Saturday after the Council meeting. 7 days later I had 146. They've always doubled in the last week, but never before have they trebled. I don't have a late fee except for on the day entries, but I'm going to have to adjust my staffing plans accordingly if the trend continues.

Nick Grey
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Nick Grey » Wed Oct 24, 2018 8:29 pm

I think issue is ECF office was not going to help on 12th Oct or 15th Oct something about papers & counting.
On 22 Oct I spent 20 minutes in a queue at the bank to get the Congress Account set up to pay my entry fee. So please do not change those details for the next one. When I got my lunch I rang ECF - less than 1 minute to renew.

My bank have been very particular with bank card fraud as well as internet. Which is why when paying on one of Adam's tournaments I pay into his bank account.

I am aware that my organisers want me to input onto their website - so as I'm back online now as my parents do not have internet which is where I have been staying for a few days.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Adam Raoof » Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:32 am

Mike Gunn wrote:
Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:35 pm
3 sections:
FIDE rated Open, incorporating SCCU Championship
FIDE rated Major (U1900 and U160)
ECF graded Minor (U130)
Chief Arbiter: Adam Raoof.
Full details, online entry and entry form can be found at www.surreychesscongress.co.uk
Just to remind players to register for this event before turning up to play so that we can allocate the right amount of space for each section!
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Richard Bates
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Richard Bates » Thu Oct 25, 2018 12:12 pm

6pm start, 90' + 30" time control, venue closes at 10pm?

Could be problematic...

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Oct 25, 2018 12:47 pm

Ow, yes, the probability of at least one 60+ move game is pretty high.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by Adam Raoof » Thu Oct 25, 2018 1:01 pm

IM Jack Rudd wrote:
Thu Oct 25, 2018 12:47 pm
Ow, yes, the probability of at least one 60+ move game is pretty high.
In round one, slightly lower probability? Also, we do have some leeway for Q+P endgames...
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John Upham
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Re: Surrey Chess Congress October 26-28

Post by John Upham » Sat Oct 27, 2018 11:01 am

Where (on-line) may I find the live games for the Surrey Congress ?
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