Register Now For The European Online Chess Championship

The European Chess Union is hosting the first European Online Chess Championship May 16-31 on Chess.com. The tournament will be played over five rating groups.

The European Individual Championship and the European Individual Women's Championship are among the tournaments that were postponed due to the coronavirus. They are now scheduled for December and November respectively.

Following a growing trend to create more chess events online, the European Chess Union and Chess.com are partnering for the first European Online Chess Championship next month. Any member of a European national chess federation with a valid FIDE ID can register now by paying a small entry fee of five euros. GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs may register for free.

The time control for all games is 10 minutes plus a two-second increment. There will be five separate clubs organized by Elo categories that will host their own event. Unrated players will be playing in the A group.

A. 1000 - 1400

B. 1401 - 1700

C. 1701 - 2000

D. 2001 - 2300

E. 2300+

Groups A, B, C, and D all play a two-stage Swiss tournament over two days. The first day entails a qualification tournament comprised of seven rounds. The second day, with 250 players, will be comprised of an eight-round tournament. The top 100 finishers in each rating group after the second day will qualify for the next stage, and will gain entry to the next-highest rating group's club to participate in that event.

Group E follows a Grand Prix system, whereby 12 players qualify for the knockout stage. Qualification is based on the players who score the most combined points across two eight-round Swiss events. These 12 players are joined by four other players invited by the ECU, and this group of 16 will play in the knockout stage for the top prizes.

Tiebreaks groups A, B, C, and D:

1. Sonneborn–Berger of day 2 – final stage
2. Best overall score from both days
3. Sonneborn–Berger of day 1 – qualification stage

Tiebreaks group E:

1. Best overall score from both days
2. Sonneborn–Berger of day 1 + day 2

Schedule

You can enter by filling out the following form. Once you have completed registration, you will be redirected to join the ECU central club:

The entry fee is 5 euros (non-refundable) and can be paid with credit or debit cards. Group payments (for 10 or 20 players) are available for federations or clubs through the European Chess Union bank account or ECU's PayPal account, to be found on the right-hand side of the ECU's homepage. Further details on payment can be found in the regulations (here in PDF). Questions regarding this event may be directed to the European Chess Union's organizing committee (here).

Registration for each rating category will close two days before the start of the respective qualification group at 17:00 CEST. After the registration, all participants will redirected upon registration to become a member of the ECU Online Central Club on Chess.com, and at a later date will be invited to join the respective club for their rating group tournament.

Each player advancing to the 16-player knockout stage will be required to play with camera and audio on a video Zoom call, with their face and playing area in full view with adequate lighting. Participants in all groups must agree to abide by all rules and site policies stated at Chess.com/legal.

Prizes

Rating Category 1000 - 1400

• 1st player + 1st woman qualify for the European Amateur Championship 2021
• 1st - 6th + 1st- 3rd players U1200 + 1st-3rd women: 1-year Diamond membership Chess.com
• 1st - 20th + 4th-8th U1200 (25 players): simultaneous exhibition with a GM
• 1st U10 and 1st GU10 qualify for the European Youth Championship 2020
• 100 qualifiers to next rating level

Rating Category 1401 - 1700

• 1st player + 1st woman qualify for the European Amateur Championship 2021
• 1st - 6th + 1st- 3rd players U1550 + 1st-3rd women: 1-year Diamond membership Chess.com
• 1st - 20th + 4th-8th U1550 (25 players) simultaneous exhibition with GM
• 1st U12 and 1st GU12 Qualification for European Youth Championship 2020
• 100 Qualifiers to next Rating Level

Rating Category 1701 - 2000

• 1st Player + 1st Woman Qualification for European Amateur Championship 2021
• 1st - 6th + 1st- 3rd players U1850 + 1st-3rd Women Diamond Membership/Chess.com
• 1st - 20th + 4th-8th U1850 (25 players): simultaneous exhibition with a GM
• 1st U14 and 1st GU14 qualify for the European Youth Championship 2020
• 100 qualifiers to next rating level

Rating Category 2001 - 2300

• 1st player + 1st woman qualify for the European Amateur Championship 2021
• 1st - 6th + 1st- 3rd players U2150 + 1st-3rd women: 1-year Diamond membership Chess.com
• 1st - 20th + 4th-8th U2150 (25 players): simultaneous exhibition with GM
• 1st U16 and 1st GU16 qualify for the European Youth Championship 2020
• 1st 50+ player & 1st 50+ woman qualify for the European Seniors 2021
• 100 qualifiers to next rating level

Rating Category 2300+

• 1st 1200 euros + qualification for the European Championship 2020
• 2nd 800 euros + qualification for the European Championship 2020
• 3rd 700 euros + qualification for the European Championship 2020
• 4th 600 euros
• 5th - 8th 400 euros each
• 8-16 - 300 euros each
• 1st woman 700 euros + qualification for the European Women Championship 2020
• 2nd woman 500 euros
• 3rd woman 300 euros
• 1st 50+ player & 1st 50+ woman qualify for the European Seniors 2021
• 1st U18 and 1st GU18 qualify for the European Youth Championship 2020

You can find the full regulations here in PDF.