General
The UKCC reserves the right to make amendments to the rules during the competition to protect the integrity and competitive fairness of the competition.
Overview
The UK Chess Challenge is a chess competition for children resident in the United Kingdom (and British crown dependencies) up to the age of 18 years old. Players born before 01/09/2002 are not eligible.
It is a multi-stage event with qualification required at each stage to progress.
1) Megafinals
2) Gigafinals
3a) Terafinal – Preliminaries
3b) Terafinal – Grand Final
There will also be a separate blitz championship and a ‘variants’ championship. The rules for these events will be published separately.
Online Chess
Stages 1-3a of the Challenge will take place online on our partner’s chess playing platform www.lichess.org
Lichess is an extremely popular chess website where it is possible to play many forms of the game as well as learn new ideas and strategies. All of its features are completely free which sets it apart from other similar sites.
All players wanting to take part in the challenge must create a lichess account AND join the UK Chess Challenge 2021 team. Full instructions will be given on how to do this as part of the ‘on-boarding process’ following registration.
It is the player’s responsibility to ensure they are familiar with the lichess interface. Player’s should ensure they have a robust internet connection (and preferably a backup). If a player disconnects from the server they must try and reconnect as soon as possible. Player’s may be forfeited for disconnections.
Age Categories
For the purposes of the 2021 competition ages will be calculated as at 31/08/2020.
The challenge is separated into 5 age group categories; under 8, under 10, under 12, under 14 and under 18. The child will play in this age group for the entire competition. The only exception to this is the Terafinal where players may nominate themselves to play in a higher age group if they wish.
Some tournaments may have merged sections age groups where players from two or more year groups compete together.
Dates of birth mapped to age categories can be found at the following link https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/age-categories-2021/
Fair Play Policy
A condition of entry is that all players should read and adhere to the Online Fair Play Policy. A copy can be read here
Player’s will be retrospectively awarded a full point for games where it later transpires that their opponent’s were not playing fairly. However – adjustments will not be made to tiebreak scores. Therefore the standings as published by lichess at the end of the tournament are only provisional and subject to change.
Megafinals
General
Season Ticket holders have the opportunity to play in 3 Megafinals across 3 separate weekends – though if a player qualifies from a megafinal they are not permitted to play in subsequent megafinals. Value Pass holders may play in ONE megafinal only.
Players must play in their correct age category event (ie U8, U10, U12, U14 or U18). Megafinals will be split into gender groups where numbers permit (ie ‘all boys’ and ‘all girls’ sections).
Players who enter tournaments they are not eligible for may be disqualified from the entire event.
Tournament details
Megafinal Weekend 1 (12th and 13th June)
Megafinal Weekend 2 (19th and 20th June)
Megafinal Weekend 3 (26th and 27th June)
6 round Swiss
Time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move
To qualify for the Gigafinal players must reach the following “qualification scores”:
Under 8 Megafinal:
Under 8s 4
Under 7s 3.5
Under 10 Megafinal:
Under 10s 4
Under 9s 3.5
Under 12 Megafinal:
Under 12s 4
Under 11s 3.5
Under 14 Megafinal:
Boys 4
Girls 3.5
Under 18 Megafinal:
Boys 4
Girls 3.5
Ties will be split using the UKCC tiebreak rules (see end of document).
The organisers reserve the right to adjust these criteria at any point in the best interests of the competition.
Gigafinals
General
Season Ticket holders have the opportunity to play in 2 Gigafinals across 2 separate weekends – though if a player qualifies from the 1st Gigafinal they are not permitted to play in the 2nd Gigafinal. Value Pass holders may play in ONE Gigafinal only. Players must play in their correct age category event (ie U8, U10, U12, U14 or U18). Gigafinals will be split into gender groups where numbers permit (ie ‘all boys’ and ‘all girls’ sections).
Players must have qualified via a Megafinal. The only exception to this is for those players eligible for a “Fast Track” entry.
“Fast Track”
Players who meet the strict grading requirements may enter a Gigafinal via the “fast track” route. The requirements are based on ECF ratings (players may use the higher of the rapidplay or standard) and are age group related.
A list of age categories and corresponding fast track grading requirements can be found here Age Categories 2021 | Delancey UK Schools’ Chess Challenge
Fast track entry will be subject to verification by the UKCC team. Applications to be made by email to admin@ukchess.co.uk
Tournament details
Gigafinal Weekend 1 (3rd and 4th July)
Gigafinal Weekend 2 (17th and 18th July)
7 round Swiss
Time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move
To qualify for the Terafinal players must achieve the following:
Under 8s – Score 5.5 (OR finish in the top 3 under 7s)
Under 10s – Score 5.5 (OR finish in the top 3 under 9s)
Under 12s – Score 5.5 (OR finish in the top 3 under 11s)
Under 14s – Score 5 (OR finish in the top 3 girls or the top 3 boys)
Under 18s – Score 4.5 (OR finish in the top 3 girls or the top 3 boys)
Ties will be split using the UKCC tiebreak rules (see end of document).
Terafinal – Preliminary (online)
General
Players must have qualified for the Terafinal via a Gigafinal. The Terafinal Preliminaries take place over two days on the weekend of 4th and 5th September. Age group sessions and times can be found on the key dates page.
All players are required to be in the zoom meeting with cameras and mics on.
Tournament Details
7 round Swiss
Time control for all games is 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move
5 sections – mixed gender
The final standings will determine who qualifies for the Terafinal – Grand Final. Ties will be split using the UKCC tiebreak rules (see end of document). The number of players qualifying in each age group section will be as follows:
Top 3 boys, top 3 girls and then the next highest 4 players (10 total).
An additional 2 spaces per section will be granted at the ‘over the board’ Challenger’s Event on the 18th and 19th September.
Following discussions with various stakeholders there will no longer be 4 wildcard places. Therefore the total number of qualifiers for the Terafinal Grand Final will be 60 players (12 in each section).
Challengers Event
General
The Challengers will take place over the board over the weekend of 18th and 19th September at Daventry Court Hotel, Sedgemoor Way, Daventry, NN11 0SG.
There is a limit on the number of places available and so places will be offered in batches with players competing in the Terafinal Preliminary receiving first priority. Note that players qualifying directly to the Grand Final from the online preliminary are not permitted to compete in the Challengers.
Tournament Details
9 round swiss (all players must play on both days)
Time control – 25 minutes plus 10 seconds a move
5 sections – mixed gender
2 Terafinal – Grand Final places will be available to win in each age section.
Terafinal – Grand Final
General
The Terafinal – Grand Final will take place over the board over the weekend of 9th and 10th October at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxford, OX20 1PP.
Players must have qualified via one of two approved routes: i) Terafinal Preliminary or ii) Challengers Event
Tournament Details
Time control for all games is 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move.
11 round all play all (full pairings announced in advance)
5 Sections – mixed gender
Prizes
There will be a minimum cash prize fund of £1,000 and a maximum of £3,500 dependent on entries. Trophies and medals will also be distributed during the Megafinals and Gigafinals.
Tiebreak Rules
For online events swiss tiebreakers will be determined by the prevailing lichess algorithm that is in place during the tournament. At the time of publication this was a variation of “sum of opponent’s scores” with a secondary tiebreak being rating performance.
For over the board events the following tiebreak system will be used:
1) Direct Encounter
2) Median-Buchholz
3) Buchholz Cut 1
4) Buchholz
5) Drawing of Lots
If at any point the number of players involved in the tie is reduced by applying one of the above tie-breaks from 1 to 4, then the remaining tied players should be split by the same procedure, starting back at 1. Direct Encounter.
New For 2021 – Team Championship Rules
As well as an individual championships we are also running two separate team championships:
i) A Schools’ Championship (for any UK based school – primary, secondary or other).
ii) A Clubs/junior associations’ Championship (for any UK based chess club or other chess organisation such as a junior association).
A player can represent one team – a school or a club. This is determined by their entry form application. A player may notify us of an error in their affiliation up to the 16th July.
A team’s score is calculated as the total sum of their player’s megafinal and gigafinal scores. If a player has played in more than one megafinal then only their highest megafinal score will be used. If a player has played in more than one gigafinal then only their highest gigafinal score will be used. If a player is eligible and applied for “Fast Track” then their megafinal score will count as ‘6’.
For example – a player scoring
Megafinal 1: 5
Gigafinal 1: 4
Gigafinal 2: 5.5
will score a total of 10.5 for their team. 5 for the megafinal and 5.5 for the gigafinal.
As well as national leaderboards there will be regional leaderboards showing the top 10 schools / clubs from each of the following regions of the UK (London, South East, East of England, West Midlands, North West, South West, East Midlands, North East, Yorkshire & The Humber, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).
Version History
28th June 2021
Changes made to qualification criteria for the Terafinal Preliminary and also the Terafinal Grand Final.
29th August 2021
Changes made to Challengers and Terafinal – Grand Final rules