Cork Junior Chess County Championship

Dates: 8-9 November 2025
Venue: Davis College, Mallow, Co. Cork https://maps.app.goo.gl/E2s5B7FwKrTr6DyZ8

U19 Section - Classical Chess

Format: 5-round Swiss (Dutch) Tournament Time control: 60m + 30s (Default time: 30 minutes)
Governing Rules: Based on the current Laws of Chess, players must record their moves until the end of the game. Eligibility: Must be between the ages of 14 and 18 at 23:59:59 on 31/12/2024

U14 Section - Classical Chess

Format: 5-round Swiss (Dutch) Tournament
Time control: 60m + 30s (Default time: 30 minutes)
Governing Rules: Based on the current Laws of Chess, players must record their moves until the end of the game.
Eligibility: Must be aged 13 or younger at 23:59:59 on 31/12/2024

U10 Section - Rapid Chess

Format: 6-round Swiss (Dutch) Tournament
Time control: 15m + 0s (Default time: 5 minutes)
Governing Rules: Based on the current Laws of Chess
Eligibility: Must be aged 9 or younger at 23:59:59 on 31/12/2024

Dates and Venue

Venue: Davis College, Mallow, Co. Cork Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/E2s5B7FwKrTr6DyZ8
Registration deadline: No later than 7th November, 23:59 Dublin Time on the event page for U14 and U19 Section.
No later than 9th November, 08:59 Dublin Time on the event page for U10 Section

Schedule of events:

U14 and U19 Sections

Checking presence of players ends at: 8th November 09:45 (pairings are made afterwards).
Opening briefing: 8th November 09:45
+Round 1: 8th November 10:00
+Round 2: 8th November 14:00
+Round 3: 9th November 10:00
+Round 4: 9th November 14:00
+Round 5: 9th November 18:00

Prize giving is shortly after the last round (around 21:30pm on Sunday the 9th November).

U10 Section

Checking presence of players ends at: 9th November 09:45 (pairings are made afterwards).
Opening briefing: 9th November 09:45
+Round 1: 9th November 10:00
+Round 2: 9th November 10:35
+Round 3: 9th November 11:10
+Round 4: 9th November 11:45
+Round 5: 9th November 12:20
+Round 6: 9th November 12:55

Rounds 2-6 will start earlier if all games in the previous round are complete.

Prize giving is shortly after the last round (around 13:45 pm on Sunday the 9th November).

Aims of the Competition

The aim of the competition is to award the title of Cork County Junior Chess Champion in each of the 3 sections.

The tournment is open to non-residents of Cork County but only residents of Cork as of the 1st of October 2025 are entitled to be awarded to the title and trophy of Cork County Junior Chess Champion.

Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each section regardless of residency.

Additionally we seek to build community through chess and promote an inclusive society, welcoming players of all ages, genders, abilities, and backgrounds.

Organisers

In cooperation with the Kinsale Chess Mates, the Cork Chess Club and the Irish Chess Union (ICU), the competition will be organised by the Piece of Chess under the FIDE tournament regulations.

Arbiters

Chief Arbiter: Zsolt Kardkovács Deputy Chief: Andrew Kelly

Competition Criteria

The following criteria shall be used to determine players’ seeding for sections, in the order listed:

1. The player’s most recent FIDE rating.
2. If no FIDE rating is available, the player’s most recent ICU rating.
3. If no ICU rating is available, the player’s most recent National Federation Rating (if verified).
4. If multiple ratings exist, the highest available rating shall take precedence.

Participants

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

A player may register for only one Section, and only if they meet the age requirements (or other eligibility criteria) for that Section.

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 request up to one half-point bye during the tournament, except in the final round.
Requests made before the tournament begins must be submitted in writing to the organisers no later than the registration deadline.
During the tournament, requests must be submitted in writing to the arbiters’ desk no later than 3.5 hours after the start of the previous round.
Approved byes shall be awarded as ½ point.

Tie-breaks

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

1. Result of a direct encounter if any
2. modified Buchholz (cut 0,1), i.e. by the sum of the opponents' points except the lowest one.
3. Buchholz points, i.e. by the sum of the opponents' points
4. 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.
5. progressive value drawing a lot

Tournament Rules and Terms

FIDE Laws of Chess and standard tournament regulations apply, including, but not limited to, FIDE’s Anti-Cheating Regulations and Anti-Cheating Protection Measures.

Ratings

All games played in the the U14 and U19 Sections are rated by the ICU and FIDE. The U10 Section is unrated.

Presence and Defaults

Default time is 30 minutes in U14 and U19 Sections and 15 minutes in U10 Section.

Players will be defaulted if they are not present at their board within the default time.
Should a player fail to appear for a round and not inform the arbiters, they shall be withdrawn from the tournament.

Parings and re-pairings

Pairings will be conducted according to the FIDE Swiss Pairing rules using FIDE-approved software.
Re-pairing may take place, at the arbiters' discretion, up to the default time plus 10 minutes after the start of any round to provide additional playing opportunities.
The lost time is shared between the players uniformly. Any player refusing to play a re-paired game will be deemed to have lost by default.

Appeals against decisions

A Players' Committee will be appointed before the start of the tournament.
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.

Electronic devices

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.
All devices must be powered off and stored in designated areas as directed by the arbiter and may only be accessed with the arbiter’s permission.

Playing conditions

Chess sets and clocks will be provided for all games. This may include digital boards and online broadcasting.
At the end of each game, players must reset the board and pieces correctly.
Chess sets and clocks must not be removed from the playing area.
Organisers will try to provide sets for analysis outside the playing area; however, players are encouraged to bring their own sets to guarantee availability.

Recording of moves

In U14 and U19 Sections, 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. The tournament may use electronic scoresheets. Scoresheets, whether paper or electronic, remain the property of the organiser. An electronic scoresheet with an evident defect shall be replaced by the arbiter. 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. No claims regarding game results can be based solely on the recordings from digital boards.

Terms and Conditions

Entries

Submission of an entry form and payment of the entry fee constitutes acceptance of the tournament terms and conditions.
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.

All Irish participants in U14 and U19 Sections must be current members of the ICU and in good standing.

The size of the venue is limited to [tbc] players for the competition, all sections included.
A player may register for only one section, and only if they meet the published agerequirements (or other eligibility criteria) for that section. If a player is entered into a section for which their age makes them ineligible, they will be moved to the appropriate section.

All entries are subject to approval by the Tournament Committee. The Committee’s decision is final in all matters, and they reserve the right to refuse entry without providing a reason.

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.
For the U14 and U19 sections, 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 are 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

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.

Abbreviations

ICU: Irish Chess Union
FIDE: International Chess Federation