Heading North

LOOKS like Tim Wall's Northumbria congress will be my first over-the-board chess on home soil since a London League game in March 2020.

It is being held in August from Thursday 26 to Monday 30 at the Marriott Hotel, Gateshead.

I have entered the challengers, which is U2000. Depending on whether you put your trust in Fide or the ECF, I am either roughly in the middle of the pack (Fide rating 1814) or one of the favourites (ECF rating 1998).

There are five other sections: two round-robin invitationals, a masters (open), a major (U1750) and a minor (U1500).

The time control is all moves in 90 minutes, with a 30-second increment.

Round one on the Thursday is at 6.30pm, with two rounds on each of the other four days at 10am and 3pm.

The list of entries, and more details of the tournaments, can be found at https://northumbriamasters.com/entries/