Location: University of Warwick, Westwood Teaching Centre, Kirby Corner Rd, Coventry CV4 8EJ
The ChessPick University of Warwick 8th Rapidplay is an official ECF and FIDE rated chess tournament located at the University of Warwick, taking place on Saturday 6th of December 2025. It is open to all - students and members of the public alike. The tournament follows the Swiss system and has a total of 7 rounds with a time control of 15+5 for each game, i.e. 15 minutes each with a 5 second bonus added to your clock every time you make a move. FIDE Rules of Chess apply. Previously, the University of Warwick 5th Rapidplay won the prestigious ECF Congress of the Year 2023. There will be an analysis room with chess sets provided. Food and drinks can be purchased from the nearby Cannon Park, which has a Tesco Superstore and an assortment of other retailers. Up to 2 half point byes may be requested before the tournament (except in the final round).
Contact us at warwickunichess@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Entry
Entry fee is £16 for regular entrants and £10 for Warwick Chess Society members. GMs, WGMs, IMs, WIMs, FMs, and WFMs will be exempt from paying the entry fee. Entries close on the 5th of December 2025. Please contact us via email (warwickunichess@gmail.com) if you have one of the titles listed above, or if you are unable to buy a ticket.
We have 3 sections: Minor (U1500), Major (U1850), and the Open.
You must be an English Chess Federation member (GOLD) or above to enter, otherwise you will have to pay a £15 surcharge before you can play. This can be bought on the ECF website: Membership rates & joining details – English Chess Federation.
University students who have not been members of the ECF, can get free gold membership for one year.
You can find your membership status and FIDE ID number here: ECF Rating System.
If you do not have a FIDE ID, submit the form without it. Your ID will be created when the tournament results are submitted to FIDE. Be aware that in this case you will be automatically registered as English on your FIDE profile. This will likely require a fee if you wish to change it in the future.
To enter, please purchase a ticket through this page and complete the entry form. If you have any technical issues with the ticketing system please contact us. Unfortunately, we cannot accept entries on the day. If you do not get added to the entries form within 3 days please contact us.
Timetable
Round 1 - 10:40am
Round 2 - 12:00pm
Round 3 - 1:00pm
Round 4 - 2:00pm
Round 5 - 3:00pm
Round 6 - 4:00pm
Round 7 - 5:00pm
Prizegiving - 6:30pm
Prizes
The prizes are as follows.
Everyone born from 2007 onwards is eligible for the under 18 prize. To qualify for the Warwick prize, a player must be a current student at the University of Warwick that will graduate in 2026 or later.
There will be no tiebreak system for cash prizes. Prize money from ties will be split equally. However, FIDE tiebreakers will be used in case of a tie for the U18 and Warwick prizes, in the order: Buchholz, Sonneborn-Berger, and Direct encounter.
Prizes are not cumulative, if a player wins multiple prizes, they will be awarded in the following order: ranking, U18, and Warwick.
Players receiving prize money will be invited to leave bank details with the arbiter at the end of the prizegiving.
Warwick Chess will be in touch to confirm prize money and bank transfer.
The £30 vouchers for ChessPick will be added manually when the winners sign up to the platform.
Partner
Preparing for the tournament? We've partnered with ChessPick to offer easy access to world-class 1-to-1 coaching. Start here: https://www.chesspick.com/?ref=chess.
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