TOURNAMENT RULES 2026

 

Organization 

Federació Catalana d’Escacs and the Secretariat d’Entitats de Sants Hostafrancs i la Bordeta, with the support of the Barcelona City Council. 

The tournament will be valid for the XXII Catalan Circuit (A superior category) both in the general and the rating sections standings. All groups will be valid for Internat

 

Participants 

All players with a valid FIDE license will be able to participate.  

 

Playing hall

The tournament will be held in 79 Sants St, Barcelona (Auditori del Centre Cívic de les Cotxeres de Sants) and other nearby rooms.  

The playing hall is adapted for people with physical disabilities according to the regional regulations.

It is air-conditioned. 

 

Dates

The tournament will be held from 21st August to 30th August 2026, both included. 

 

Tournament groups

There are three groups (“A”, “B” and “C”)

• Group A: Open to all players, regardless of their rating.

• Group B: For players up-to-1949 FIDE rating. 

• Group C: For players up-to-1649 FIDE rating. 

Players eligible for more than one group may freely choose which group to play in.

In all groups, players will be ranked first, according to their FIDE rating, then by their FCE rating, after by their FEDA rating and finally by alphabetical order. Other local or national ratings will be recognized by organizing committee.

Players who haven’t stated their preference signing up to the tournament will be assigned to the most suitable group at the discretion of the organizing committee.

The event will be a 10-round tournament using the FIDE System (Dutch).

 

Time control

The time control will be: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 extra minutes, with a 30 second increment per move starting from move one. 

 

Initial ranking 

In all groups, players will be ranked firstly, according to their FIDE rating, then by their FCE rating, and finally by alphabetical order. Other local or national ratings will be recognized by organizing committee. It will be published on the FCE website, on the tournament website and in the playing hall. 

 

Timetable

Rounds will be played at 16:30h, except for the last round – 30th August at 9:30h. The closing ceremony will start 30th August at 19:30h. 

The doors to the main playing hall (Auditori del Centre Cívic de les Cotxeres de Sants) will open to the players one hour before the beginning of the round to perform the anti-cheating checks. 

 

Entries 

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GRUP A	PREU
Inscripció	65 €
Jugadors amb llicència de la FCE en vigor	60 €
Menors de 16 anys, persones amb discapacitats i majors de 65	55 €
Esportistes amb + de 2400 d’Elo FIDE amb invitació	GRATUÏT

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GRUP B	PREU
Inscripció	55 €
Jugadors amb llicència de la FCE en vigor	50 €
Menors de 16 anys, persones amb discapacitat i majors de 65	45 €

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GRUP C	PREU
Inscripció	55 €
Jugadors amb llicència de la FCE en vigor	50 €
Menors de 16 anys, persones amb discapacitat i majors de 65	45 €

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€5 discount for registrations made before July 21st. 

The registration process must be completed through the REGISTRATION FORM 

Both, the registration process and the payment, must be completed before 2026-08-20 14:00, using the online form. Registrations will not be final until they are processed by the bank.  

The organization reserves the right to void a registration. 

The capacity of the venue is limited. Participants will be accepted strictly by order of arrival of the registration form. 

 

 

Forfeits 

Any player who arrives at the chessboard more than one (1) hour after the start of the session shall lose the game by forfeit. 

 

Byes 

A player cannot request more than two byes, except the last round, when a bye will be equivalent to forfeit the tournament. Byes for a given round cannot be requested after the previous round has finished. No half-points byes will be awarded. 

 

Rating evaluation 

The tournament will be valid for Catalan (FCE) and International (FIDE) rating

 

Absences 

Any player who fails to appear for a round without justified cause shall be eliminated from the tournament. Players who, for any reason, are unable to attend a round must inform the arbiters during the previous round.
 

A player who is eliminated or withdraws from the tournament shall lose all rights. 

 

Tie-break systems

Once the last round is finished, the provisional standings will be published with the application of the General Tie-breaks. In the event of a tie in the top eight (8) positions in the provisional general standings of Group A, then Match-play tie-breaks will follow. 

In the event of a tie in the first place of group B and C, tiebreakers will also have to be made using the same system. 

 

Match-play tie-breaks:

The players tied on the top 8 will play a knock-out playoff consisting of: 

• Two (2) blitz games: 5 minutes + 3 seconds per move (5’ + 3”), alternating colours

If the tie persists:

• Armaggedon: New drawing of colours and one (1) blitz game with 6 minutes for the player with the white pieces and 5 for the player with the black. After the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds for each move from move 61. If drawn, the player with the black pieces shall be declared the winner. 

 

Disabled players may choose between taking part in the Match-play Tie-breaks or settling for the prize they would receive according to the provisional standings.  

Match-play games will start at 17:00h on Sunday 30th August. 

 

General Tie-breaks: 

For the age categories and rating section prizes, as well as the Match-play ranking, the following tie-break systems will be used: 

• Median Buchholz 1 (BH-M1) 

• Buchholz (BH) 

• Greater number of games won (WON) 

• Greater number of games played with the black pieces (BPG) 

• Average rating of opponents discarding the top and bottom (ARO-M1) 

 

Teams Tie-breaks: 

If two clubs end in a tie when adding the rankings of their four best players, the tie-breaker system will be as follows: 

• Adding the points (not the rankings) of all players in each team. The team with higher scores wins. 

• If the tie remains, the club that has the player who has higher scores wins. 

• If the tiebreak continues, the club with the second player with the higher scores wins. Afterwards the third one and finally the fourth. 

• If the tie persists, the same system of tie-breaking will be used in the previous round, and so on. 

In case of a tie between three or more clubs, the tie would be broken between two clubs first. The winner will compete with the rest until only one club is left. 

 

Organization 

The organization of the tournament will be joint, formed by Mr. Àlex Sulleva Baiget and Mr. David Ayza León. 

 

Appeals Commitee

This Committee will consist of the Tournament Director, or its delegate, and titled players of legal age, in addition to two reserve players.  

Appeals against the Chief Arbiter’s decisions shall be submitted in writing to the Appeals Committee no later than 30 minutes after the end of the incident. The Appeals Committee’s decisions will be final and unappealable. 

 

 COMPLAINT FORM will be available to all players.

 

Prizes 

Cash prizes. The total prize pool is more than 20,000€. They will be awarded based on the final standing. 

Cash prizes are not cumulative. No player will receive more than one prize, unless it is an age category prize, which will be compatible with a general or rating section prize. Players are only eligible for the age category prize corresponding to their year of birth. 

Players will be assigned to rating sections following the regulations of the Catalan Circuit regarding rating sections. 

FIDE ratings will be used for the final standings. If a player doesn’t have one, Catalan rating shall be used, or FEDA ratings for players of other national territorial federations without a FIDE rating. Non-FCE players without a valid FIDE rating or without FEDA rating will not score for the rating sections. 

 

Players can only win the prizes established for the group they have decided to play in. 

 

Participants who forfeit the last round will lose all their rights. 

 

Llistat de premis Group A 

Class	General	Class	Tram -2400	Tram -2250	Tram -2100
1	5.000€	1	500€	300€	200€
2	3.000€	2	400€	250€	150€
3	2.000€	3	300€	200€	100€
4	1.200€
5	800€
6	600€
7	400€
8	300€
9	280€
10	260€
11	240€
12	220€
13	200€
14	190€
15	170€
16	150€
17	130€
18	120€
19	110€
20	100€

 

Llistat de premis Group B 

Class	General	Class	Tram -1800
1	600€	1	300€
2	400€	2	150€
3	300€	3	100€
4	200€

 

Llistat de premis Group C 

Class	General
1	400€
2	300€
3	200€
4	100€

Prizes are subject to tax withholding according to Spanish law in force.  

Cash prizes will be paid by bank transfer and are subject to the corresponding tax withholding reflected in the Personal Income Tax law. To make the payment, you will need to provide a copy of the DNI/NIE or passport, and the bank account number where the deposit will be made. In the case of minors, a copy of the ID card of their legal representative and their signature will be required. 

 

PRIZES FOR WOMEN PLAYERS 

GRUP A 

Class	General
1	400€
2	300€
3	200€
4	100€

 
Prizes are subject to tax withholding according to Spanish law in force.  

GRUP B 

• Trophy for the best woman 

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GRUP C 

• Trophy for the best woman

 

PRIZES FOR AGE CATEGORIES 

GRUP A 

• Trophy for 1st under-14 player (born in 2012 and later) 

• Trophy for 1st under-16 player (born in 2010-2011) 

• Trophy for 1st senior player (over 60: born in 1966 or earlier). GMs and IMs are excluded. 

 

GRUP B 

• Trophy for 1st under-14 player (born in 2012 and later)

• Trophy for 1st under-16 player (born in 2010-2011) 

• Trophy for 1st senior player (over 60: born in 1966 or earlier) 

 

GRUP C 

• Trophy for 1st under-10 player (born in 2016 and later)

• Trophy for 1st under-12 player (born in 2014-2015) 

• Trophy for 1st senior player (over 60: born in 1966 or earlier)

 

 Other prices and trophies (individual) 

• Trophy for the top-3 players on each group

• Trophy for the 1st player on each rating section in group A and B.

 

Other prices and trophies (teams championship)

• Trophy for the top-2 clubs.

Only clubs with 4 or more players participating the tournament, regardless the groups/s where they play, are allowed to compete for this price. The Team Score will be obtained by summing up the classification of the best 4 players of each team.  

The team score is the weighted sum of the places in the final standings of any group of the four best scores of players belonging to the same club. The team with the lowest sum is the winner. 

 

• GROUP A: scores the classification directly. For instance, the 5th classified player sums 5 points. 

 

• GROUP B and C: the classification scores are multiplied by two. For example, the 5th classified player in group B or C will add 10 points to its team (5 x 2)

 

The two clubs with the lowest total score will receive the trophies.

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Mobile Phones

According to the FIDE Laws of Chess during play, a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone and/or other electronic means of communication in the main playing venue (Auditori del Centre Cívic de les Cotxeres de Sants). The organization will provide a locker service to store the electronic devices at the entry of the main playing hall. If it is evident that a player brought or uses such a device while he/she is playing, he/she shall lose the game. 

At the other playing venues, a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone and/or other electronic means of communication connected. If it is evident that a player brought or uses such a device connected while he/she is playing, he/she shall lose the game. If an electronic device produces any sound, the arbiter may apply a penalty to the owner in a range from a warning to a loss of the game, according to the circumstances (e.g. recidivism). 

 

Anti-cheating 

The use of notes, sources of information, advice, mobile phones, media and/or analysis by the players is strictly forbidden during the game round. Using another chess set is also forbidden. The organizer will communicate these facts to FIDE.   

A FIDE complaint form will be available for the players.  

According to the FIDE Anti-Cheating Guidelines, tournaments that offer title norms will require increased levels of protection. In compliance with the guidelines this tournament will be screened by the FIDE Internet-based Game Screening Tool; specifically, we will send: (a) all Internet broadcasted games, (b) all other games published online by the organization, (c) all norm-related tournament games and (d) a percentage of games randomly selected from all four groups.  

 

Ethics 

Players must behave in a manner consistent with the dignity of the game of chess, both inside and outside the venue. 

 

Publicity 

The Catalan Chess Federation (FCE) wants to advertise the event, both in the press and on social networks. Therefore, they will publish photos and video images, as well as the necessary data for classifications and pairings.  

By signing up to the event, players authorize the Federation to publish images of the tournament in which they may appear in for advertising purposes.   

By registering, players also authorize partner companies collaborating with the event to publish photographs, videos and minimal identification data. 

 

Final regulations 

Any situation not covered by the present regulations will be governed by the FIDE rating regulations, FIDE Tournament rules and the General Regulations of the Catalan Chess Federation (FCE).  

 

The hygienic measures described in the Catalan Chess Federation and Cotxeres de Sants Health protocols must be always observed.  

 

In case of discrepancy between translations, the Catalan version of the current rules will take precedence. 

 

Participation in the tournament implies full acceptance of these rules. 

 

 

 

ANNEX: Tie-breaks System definitions

 

Buchholz Total (BH): Sum of the scores of each of the opponents of a player. 

 

Median Buchholz 1 (BH-M1):

Sum of the scores of each of the opponents of a player, discarding the highest and the lowest scores of the opponents. 

 

The greater number of won(WON): Sum of the won games (unplayed games shall not be counted) 

 

The greater number of games with black (BPG):The greater number of games played with the black pieces (unplayed games shall be counted as played with the white pieces).

 

Average Rating of Opponents discarding the top and bottom (ARO-M1): is the sum of the ratings of the opponents of a player (FIDE ELO), divided by the number of games played, discarding the best rated and the least rated players. If an opponent does not have a rating, the rating of the least rated player in its group will be used.