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3rd North Wales FIDE Open

Friday 22nd Jun - Sunday 24th Jun 2018 - Venue Cymru, Llandudno.

Entries

Entry Form

Entries accepted via email with bank transfer – see entry form for details.

List of Entries last updated 21st June 2018

Tournament results will be available on chess-results.com

Date Change

Announcement 20/01/2018:

The date of the 2018 congress has been brought forward a week earlier than originally announced and will now take place Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th June.

The change is necessary because Llandudno will be hosting Armed Forces Day 2018 on the usual weekend. This major national event is expected to attract around 200,000 visitors, which would make accommodation both hard to find and unusually expensive, and travel a bit problematic, and our venue will be closed that day.

Tournament Details

The North Wales FIDE Congress (incorporating the Colwyn Bay Congress) will once again be held at the lovely Venue Cymru right on the promenade in Llandudno and with lovely views across the bay. This is the venue which also hosted the British Chess Championships 2017. Useful details on getting there, parking etc. can be found on their website venuecymru.co.uk

Venue Cymru

There is a £1,625 guaranteed prize fund with grateful thanks once again to our sponsors wholesale.chess.co.uk

There will be three sections:
  • FIDE-rated* Open
  • FIDE-rated Major (U1900 / 160)
  • ECF/WCU graded Minor (U120 / 1600)

* The Open and Major will be ECF graded (and, for Welsh players, WCU graded too) as well as FIDE-rated.

In each section there will be the following guaranteed prizes:

  • 1st: £250
  • 2nd: £150
  • 3rd: £75
  • Grading Prize: £50

There will also be a special junior prize of £50 for the highest score by an U18 in any section.

Entry fees including member discounts* are Open/Major £28 and Minor £26. Further £5 discount for juniors (U18 as at 1/1/2018)

Late entry fee applies for entries received after 15 June 2018.

*see entry form for full details of fees and discounts

Accommodation

There are numerous hotels, B&Bs and self-catering apartments in Llandudno. The town was purpose-built as a seaside resort in Victorian times, so is very well served with holiday accommodation!

We don't have any particular recommendations. You could contact the tourist information (contact details on the website) and let them know the sort of thing you are looking for (type and price range) and that you are attending an event at Venue Cymru visitllandudno.org.uk .

Alternatively try www.booking.com or www.airbnb.co.uk .

This is peak season, so do book early for the best possible choice.

If you don’t mind being a little further out then you could also try the nearby towns of Colwyn Bay or Conwy, both of which are a 10-15 min drive away or a short hop on the train.

For those planning to extend their stay longer than the chess weekend to enjoy some holiday time in North Wales, do bear in mind that while Armed Forces Day itself is on Saturday 30th June, celebrations begin the week before (Monday 25th), so you may wish to book early or avoid that particular week.

Arrival/Parking/Entrance

Venue Cymru is easy to find, being a distinctive large white modern building, right on the promenade in Llandudno. The full address is The Promenade, Llandudno, LL30 1BB. The venue is about a 10 minute walk from the train station. Head down Vaughan Street towards the sea, then turn right along the promenade.We will be playing in the conference centre part of the building rather than the theatre end, and you should enter the building via the conference entrance. Facing the building with the sea behind you, the conference centre is at the left (east) end of the building. There is a car park (pay-and -display) and a mixture of paid and free parking on the promenade. The car park is around the back of the venue. The free parking on the promenade is on the Colwyn Bay (east) side of the roundabout by the venue and this may be the best place to park.

There are also cycle racks in the car park, by the booking office entrance.

Please do not park in the retail park (Mostyn Champneys). This has restricted stay (2 or 3 hours) which is enforced with cameras and number plate recognition. This applies after 6pm also, so don’t be fooled into thinking it is OK after the shops have closed (speaking from bitter experience!).

We have three rooms for the day: the St David’s Room and another smaller room next-door as the playing halls, and the Crafnant room (the room with the view!) as an analysis area and for the bookstall. All rooms are on the same level, upstairs.

Access Information: There are 18 designated disabled spaces in the rear car park, free to use for blue badge holders. There is level access to the building, lifts to all floors, and accessible toilets on every floor.

Refreshments

Water will be freely available in the playing halls, and there will also be tea and coffee nearby on a help yourself honesty-box basis for during play.

There is a café at the theatre end of the building which will be open all day, and there is also a hot drink vending machine and water cooler in the conference area. It is also just a short walk along the promenade into the centre of Llandudno should you wish to have lunch in one of the many eating establishments local instead.

Please do not bring your own food and drinks into the building, as this could jeopardise our chances of getting this lovely venue again. If you do bring packed lunches or buy food from other cafes or the supermarket, please eat these outside. There are sheltered seating areas on the promenade; hopefully we’ll have lovely sunny weather and a picnic on the beach or promenade will be in order.