Isle of Man Chess Club.

Defending Champion – Henrik Fabri.

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(Terms & Conditions)
8 Players – 7 Round, FIDE-Rated – Round Robin.
Venue: PromSpace, Loch Promenade, Douglas.
No entry fees.

Winner will be listed on club website & display board.

Qualification

16 highest grade entries will qualify for Manx Championship Playoffs (21st January 2026 FIDE ratings will be used).

Example – 16 entries will result in a playoff 1 v 16 / 2 v 15 / 3 v 14 / 4 v 13 / 5 v 12 / 6 v 11 / 7 v 10 / 9 v 8 Odd numbers have white.

In the event of a draw the winner will be decided by blitz games until we have a winner, with reversed colours, rate of play of 5 minutes plus an increment of 2 seconds a move.

The loser of the playoff & remaining entries will enter the Candidates or Challengers depending on number of entries in an all play all tournament.

17th highest entry and above will automatically go into the Candidates or Challengers.

Timetable

Refer to Calendar – Clocks 7.30pm.

Missing players will be defaulted after 30 minutes).

Ratings

The 27th January FIDE ratings will be used. Players without a FIDE rating will have an estimated
rating given for the purpose of the tournament.

Entry Requirements

Federation member. If you are not a federation member it will be presumed that you wish to appear in the FIDE Ratings Database under the Isle of Man Flag (subject to the international rating officers approval) and an application to this affect will be made on your behalf, subject to you providing your full name and date of birth, If, however, you are joining an alternative federation, please advise Brian Woodard. Please note that you must be a member of a federation before the start of the tournament otherwise you will not be able to take part.

Any player under the age of 18 must be accompanied by their parent / guardian for the duration of the tournament.

You must be available to play at the venue on the 27th January 2026 and 24th March 2026. Please do not enter if you are not available on those dates.

Entries

Entries will open 6th January 2026 and will close 21st January 2026.
Please enter via email only to brianwoodard@iomchess.com

Rate of Play

75 minutes, plus 30 seconds a move for the whole game.

Byes

No byes.

Re-arranged games

If necessary games can be re-arranged to be played on an alternative date / venue, but must be played before the commencement of the 7th round.

It is the responsibility of the player who wishes to change the date to organise the re-arranged game.

If this is not possible or your opponent doesn’t want to re-arrange then the opponent will receive a default win.

You must inform the controller before the round in question who wishes to re-arrange the game, when and where the game is to be played; followed up by the result.

Tie Break

In the event of two players tying for first place , the winner will be decided by a play-off on the same evening of the 7th round. The play-off will consist of two blitz games with a rate of play of 5 minutes plus an increment of 2 seconds a move, with colours to be determined by the toss of a coin.

If the blitz match finishes equal then the winner will be determined by Armageddon with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, plus an increment of 2 seconds a move. Black having draw odds. A toss of a coin will determine colours.

In the event of three or more players tying for first place, the top two will be determined by
tie-break, in the following order of priority, and will enter the play-off described above:

• The results between the players involved in the tie.
• Sum of progressive score.
• Sum of opponents’ scores (Buchholz).
• Sonneborn-Berger.
• Number of won games.

Organisers

• The Chief Organiser is Glenn Cross.
• The CO’s decision in all matters will be final.