FIDE Masters - a 9-round tournament with excellent norm opportunities
**PLEASE NOTE: due to engineering works, replacement bus services are operating on the Piccadilly Line on Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December. If you are travelling to Holloway Road and Arsenal tube stations, please allow extra time for your journey on these days.**
As of 12th November 2024, there are no places left in this tournament. We expect a few places to become available before the start of the tournament - if you would like to be added to the waiting list please email: info@chessinschools.co.uk
The FIDE Masters is a 9-round Swiss tournament for players rated 2000 and over. Players with ratings below 2000 are welcome to join us for the FIDE U-2000 tournament. The FIDE Masters is suitable for players seeking title norms. The organisers will invite a minimum of 10 grandmasters to participate in the FIDE Masters. Below you will find all the information necessary to event the event - and the entry form itself is at the bottom of this page.
Entrants to the FIDE Masters tournament are able to spectate on the main event of the 2024 XTX Markets London Chess Classic or listen to the live grandmaster commentary, provided their game for the day has finished, at no extra charge.
Titled (IM/GM) entrants as of 12th November 2024
GM Jose Gonzalez Garcia, GM Oleg Korneev, GM Martin Petrov, GM Alexandr Fier, GM Justin Tan, GM Zhang Pengxiang, GM Marian Petrov, GM Imre Hera, GM Tamas Fodor, GM Ameet Ghasi, GM Peter Wells.
IM Marcus Harvey, IM Matthew Wadsworth, IM Marsel Efroimski, IM Peter Roberson, IM Jonah Willow, IM Yangfan Zhou, IM Richard Pert, IM Aaravamudhan Balaji, IM Bjorn Thorfinnsson, IM Richard Bates, IM Jack Rudd, IM Neil Bradbury, IM Nicolai Kistrup.
A full list of players will be published in due course. As of 12th November 2024, there are no places left in this tournament.
Below is a summary of some of the key rules of the tournament. For full details, please see the LCC Regulations.
Who can enter?
To enter for the FIDE Masters, you must have a FIDE rating of over 2000 (October or November 2024 rating lists). There are some membership requirements that can be found here: LCC Regulations.
Schedule
Round 1: Friday 29th November @ 4pm
Round 2: Saturday 30th November @ 10am
Round 3: Saturday 30th November @ 4pm
Round 4: Sunday 1st December @ 4pm
Round 5: Monday 2nd December @ 4pm
Round 6: Tuesday 3rd December @ 4pm
Rest Day: Wednesday 4th December
Round 7: Thursday 5th December @ 4pm
Round 8: Friday 6th December @ 4pm
Round 9: Saturday 7th December @ 10am
Time Control
90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes until the end of the game, with 30-second increment for each move starting from move one.
Prize fund - £33,500
1st - £10,000
2nd - £5,000
3rd - £3,000
4th - £2,000
5th-8th - £1,000
Top women - £2,500, £1,000
Top player aged U21 - £1,000, £500
Rating prizes:
2300-2399: £1,000, £500
2200-2299: £1,000, £500
2000-2199: £1,000, £500
Entry fee
£100 if entering before 22nd November 2024, £150 entry fee thereafter.
Free entry* for all GMs, IMs,
Free enry* for all female players (British citizens only)
Free entry* for U25 (must be born on or after 1/12/1999) (British citizens only)
Free entry* for all active CSC tutors.
* Players who qualify for free entry in this way must also be Gold members of the English Chess Federation.
Byes
For information on the taking of byes, please see the LCC Regulations.
Pairings
Pairings for each round will be published by midnight on the day of play, with pairings for round 3 published as soon as possible after the conclusion of round 2.
Fair play policy
Please see the London Chess Classic Festival Fair Play Policy.
Parental responsibility
Parents or guardians are responsible for their children during the tournament. The organisers and helpers are not able to act “in loco parentis” and are not able to take responsibility for any child’s actions, or for the actions of anyone that may affect your child.
Liability
The organisers accept no responsibility for any loss, theft or accident during the tournament.
Right to refuse entry
The Chief Organiser reserves the right to refuse entry without being required to state a reason, and to transfer players between tournaments at any time.
