Details

• Event:

  • Cork Senior Championship + Cork Open

• Dates: 12th-13th September, 2025

• Venue: Ballyphehane Community Centre, Tory Top Road, Ballyphehane, Cork, T12 WC6V

• Format:

  1. The Cork Senior Championship for the Plunkett Trophy
     * 5-round Closed Tournament - 6 Player Round Robin
  2. The Cork Open (incorporating the Cork Intermediate Championship for the [ ] Trophy)
     * 5-round Open Dutch (Swiss) Tournament

• Prize fund: €tbc

• Time control:

  • 75m + 30s (Default time: 30 minutes) in both tournaments

• Entry Fee: €40

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Eligibility

The Cork Senior Championship and the the Cork Intermediate Championship can only be won by players who are either:

• born in Cork and/or
• resident in Cork for at least 6 months prior to the 1st day of the tournament

Players not meeting the above criteria may enter and win the Cork Open but will not be eligible to be awarded the title of Cork Intermediate Champion.

The Cork Senior Championship

The format of the tournament will be a 6 player, 5 round, round-robin tournament.

1. The winner of the previous holding of the event will be automatically offered a place.
   * Kieran Moynihan as the winner of the 1992 event is therefore invited and has accepted his invitation. (https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2500663)
   
2. The winner of the previous holding of the Cork Intermediate Championship will be automatically offered a place.
   * As this is the first running of the event, no player is invited under this category in 2026
3. The remainder of the 6 available places will be offered to the highest rated players on the live FIDE ratings list (who have expressed their interest via this link) following the Irish Senior Championships which conclude on the 9th of August 2026. https://www.icu.ie/events/2155

Acceptance of place

All players must accept their place by the 21st of August.
If a player has not accepted or declines, the next highest player(s) in the list as of 10th August will be invited.

The Cork Open (incorporating the Cork Intermediate Championship for the [ ] Trophy)is open for everyone.

• The highest placed eligible player in the Cork Open will be:
  
  • awarded the title of Cork Intermediate Champion.
    
  • an automatic invitation to participate in the next Cork Senior Championship for the Plunkett Trophy.

Participants

Participants are defined as players who have registered and paid the entry fee through the ICU website and who are not under suspension from participating in events organised by FIDE, the ICU, or any Irish Provincial Union.

Points

• Each individual game is determined by a win (1 point), a draw (½), or a loss (0 point).
• In the case of an uneven number of players in a round, the unpaired player shall receive 1 point (a full-point bye). If late entries are accepted and this results in an uneven number, the last player to register shall instead receive ½ point.
• A player may not request up to one half-point bye during the tournament.

Tie-breaks

In case of a tie, the individual ranking is determined by so-called:

• result of a direct encounter if any
• modified Buchholz (cut 0,1), i.e. by the sum of the opponents' points except the lowest one.
• Buchholz points, i.e. by the sum of the opponents' points
• Sonneborn-Berger points, i.e. by the sum of the opponents' points the player won against, and half of the points if the game was drawn.
• progressive value
• drawing a lot

Dates and Venue

• Registration deadline:

1. The Cork Senior Championship for the Plunkett Trophy
   * Midnight on the 9th of August 2026
2. The Cork Open (incorporating the Cork Intermediate Championship for the [] Trophy)
   * Midnight on Friday the 11th of September 2026 (late entries in person if venue capacity allows and no later than 09:30 on Saturday the 12th of September)

• Checking presence of players ends at: 9:45 (pairings are made afterwards).
• Opening ceremony: 8th November, 2025 9:45
• Round 1: Saturday 12th September 2025, 10:00
• Round 2: Saturday 12th September 2025, 14:00
• Round 3: Saturday 12th September 2025, 18:00
• Round 4: Sunday 13th September 2025, 10:00

• Round 5: Sunday 13th September 2025, 14:00

• Prize giving is shortly after the last round (around 5.30 pm).

Fees

All Sections: * Standard rate: €40

Awards and Prizes

Grading Prizes (GP) will be awarded in each section using tie-breaks where necessary (see also Terms and Conditions).

Tournament Rules and Terms

1. FIDE Laws of Chess and standard tournament regulations apply, including, but not limited to, FIDE’s Anti-Cheating Regulations and Anti-Cheating Protection Measures.
2. Ratings
   1. Games Sections U19, U14 and Girls only are FIDE-rated.
   2. Tournament is not rated by the ICU.
3. Presence and Defaults
   1. Default time is 30 minutes with exception to U10 where it is 15 minutes.
   2. Players will be defaulted if they are not present at their board within the default time.
   3. Should a player fail to appear for a round and not inform the arbiters, they shall be withdrawn from the tournament.
4. Parings and re-pairings
   1. The format of the game, including the type of the format and/or the number of rounds in each section may change if that specific section cannot be organised under normal circumstances.
   2. Pairings, where appropriate, will be conducted according to the FIDE Swiss Pairing rules using FIDE-approved software.
5. Appeals against decisions
   1. A Players' Committee will be appointed before the start of the tournament.
   2. Decisions of an arbiter may be appealed to the Players' Committee, provided that the appeal is submitted in writing, and the fee for appeal is paid within 30 minutes of the arbiter's decision. The fee is refunded if the appeal is accepted.
6. Electronic devices
   1. FIDE tournament rules and regulations shall apply. Players must not have any electronic device powered on, carried (regardless its power state), accessed, or used to communicate in the Playing Area during the game, unless explicitly permitted by an arbiter (e.g., for medical devices). Failure to comply will result in forfeiture of the game.
7. Playing conditions
   1. Chess sets and clocks will be provided for all games. This may include digital boards and online broadcasting.
   2. At the end of each game, players must reset the board and pieces correctly.
   3. Chess sets and clocks must not be removed from the playing area.
8. Recording of moves
   1. All moves must be recorded on the provided scoresheet in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess, including situations when a player's remaining time falls below 5 minutes with the exception of Section U10.
   2. In Section U10, the rules of rapid games apply: no recording of moves are required.
   3. If a player is unable to record their moves, they may provide an assistant, acceptable to the arbiter, to record the moves. The arbiter shall adjust the clock in an equitable manner, except in cases where the player has a disability.

Terms and Conditions

Entries

1. Submission of an entry form and payment of the entry fee constitutes acceptance of the tournament terms and conditions (on behalf of a junior player where applicable).
2. Players entering the tournament must not be under suspension from participating in events organised by FIDE, the ICU, or any Irish Provincial Union. Suspended players are ineligible until their suspension has been officially lifted.
3. A player may register for only one section, and only if they meet the eligibility criteria for that section.
4. If a player is entered into a section for which their age (or gender in the Girls only section) makes them ineligible, they will be moved to the appropriate section.
5. The organisers will take into account participants’ preferences for playing in any section for which they are eligible.
6. To maximise opportunities to play (see Aims of the Competition), if two overlapping sections have an uneven number of players and no participant has volunteered to be reseeded before Round 1, the following procedure shall apply:
   1. The two (2) lowest-ranked players in the higher section and the two (2) highest-ranked players in the lower section will be consulted, in that order, about moving section.
   2. If none of these players agree to change sections, the arbiter will decide which player(s) to reseed.

Prizes

1. Only the winners are awarded by trophies.
2. No player may win more than one medal.
3. A player shall only be awarded by the age bands of the section the player plays in.
4. Placement awards (medals, 1st–3rd) will be shared among the tied players.

Data protection and privacy

• All entries are handled by the ICU
• Data Collection. All players must be uniquely and accurately identified before the tournament begins. The following player data will be submitted to the ICU and FIDE to enable post-tournament rating:
  • Full name
  • Player's federation (for first-time rated players, this will default to Ireland)
  • Date of birth
  • ICU ID
  • FIDE ID (if any)
  • Results of all games played.
• Contact information. We need to be able to contact all competitors to resolve any issues that may arise during the tournament and to enable distribution of prizes after the tournament has finished. Some contact information is provided by the ICU along with the list of registered entrants prior to the start of the tournament.
• Photographs. All players over 18 years of age are deemed to allow publication of photographs taken at the event by the organisers for publicity purposes, unless they inform the organisers otherwise.
• Data sharing. Collected and processed data will not be shared with third parties unless required for tournament organisation or to comply with legal obligations. All data and results, however, will be publicly accessible through the ICU and FIDE rating websites.
• Your rights. On your request, we will send you the personal data we have for you, or delete it. For such requests or complaints, please, contact the organisers. You are also entitled to complain to the Data Protection Commission whose website is www.dataprotection.ie.

Code of Conduct

1. General Rules.
   • The ICU's Code of Conduct applies to all participants, organisers, arbiters, and spectators.
   • All players are expected to behave in line with the Aims of the Competition.
2. Special rules of the tournament
   • Smoking or consuming alcohol is strictly prohibited in the venue.
   • Parents, adult players, and spectators are expected to respect children, and be a role model for them.

Abbreviations

• ICU: Irish Chess Union
• FIDE: International Chess Federation