European Youth Rapid and Blitz Championships

The European Youth Rapid and Blitz Championships shall include the following separate competitions:

– the European Youth Rapid Open -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18 Championships

– the European Youth Rapid Girls -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18 Championships

– the European Youth Blitz Open -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18 Championships

– the European Youth Blitz Girls -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18 Championships

– the European Youth Team Rapid Open -10, -14 and -18 Championships

– the European Youth Team Rapid Girls -10, -14 and -18 Championships

N.1. Participation

N.1.1 Entitled to participate are chess players from the ECU Chess Federations who shall not have reached the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 years, respectively, by January 1st of the year in which the tournament will commence.

N.1.2 Each federation shall be entitled to register any number of participants it deems necessary provided the following conditions are met:

(a)   payment to ECU of the approved fee (see Annex 2) per player in advance;

(b)   payment of the full board and lodge of the additional player(s) to the organising chess federation;

N.1.3 Each federation shall be entitled to register up to three teams in each category of the teams championships, under the same conditions described in the article N.1.2. In the open championships each team shall consists of four players, in the girls’ championships each team shall consist of two players. Each team may appoint also one reserve, however, during the event the reserves can only be included in the lineup of each team during the lunch interval. Each lineup can be changed only once.

N.2. Tournament Regulations

N.2.1 The Championship shall be played according to the specific rules for this rate of play as laid down by the FIDE Rules Committee.

N.2.2 Number of days:

N.2.2.1 The European Youth Rapid Championships shall be played in two days. The European Youth Blitz Championships shall be played in one or two days.

N.2.2.2 The European Youth Team Rapid Championships shall be played in one day.

N.2.3  Number of rounds:

N.2.3.1 The European Youth Rapid Championships shall take the form of a Swiss system tournament of at least 9 rounds. Each round consists of one game.

N.2.3.2 The European Youth Blitz Championships shall take the form of a Swiss system tournament of at least 13 rounds.

N.2.3.3 The European Youth Team Rapid Championships shall take the form of a Swiss system tournament of 7 rounds

N.2.3.4 No postponement of games is allowed.

N.2.4 Schedule:

N.2.4.1. For the European Youth Rapid Championships and European Youth Blitz Championships, the rounds shall be conducted according to a playing schedule which must distributed to the players before the start of the championship. Only in exceptional cases may the Chief Arbiter, in consultation with the Tournament Director, make alterations to the playing schedule.

N.2.4.2 The distribution of the The European Youth Team Rapid Championships in the event shall be agreed between the Organiser and the ECU and included in the invitation. The schedule shall be arranged in order that the playing sessions of the official events will not start before 10:00 am or finish after 8:30 pm.

N.2.4.3 The opening ceremony will be organised on the first day of the championship.

N.2.4.4 The number of rounds of the Rapid individual event shall be equally distributed over the two days, taking into account that the number of rounds on the second day shall not be higher than the number of rounds on the first day.

N.2.4.5 Closing ceremony will be organized in the same day with the last round of each Championship

N.2.5 Rate of play:

N.2.5.1 In the Rapid Championships: 15 minutes + 10 seconds before each move per player per game.

N.2.5.2 In the Blitz Championships: 3 minutes + 2 seconds before each move per player per game.

N.2.5.3 In the Rapid Team Championships: 15 minutes + 10 seconds before each move per player per game.

N.3. Titles and Prizes

N.3.1 The winner in the respective championships will receive the following title:

–      European Youth Rapid Champion -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18

–      European Youth Girls Rapid Champion -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18

–      European Youth Blitz Champion -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18

–      European Youth Girls Blitz Champion -8, -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18

–  Team European Youth Rapid Champion -10, -14 and -18

–  Team European Youth Rapid Girls Champion -10, -14 and -18

N.3.2 The organiser shall award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the players or teams taking the first three places in each Championship. In case of a tie the medals shall be awarded according to tie-breaking procedure. In the teams’ championships the organiser may also award individual medals.