Castling

AM making final preparations for flying to Austria to take part in a congress in Graz, the country's second-biggest city.

Image by Chris Zwettler at Pixabay

Graz, which has a population of almost 350,000, most likely gets its name from the Slavic word gradec, meaning small castle.

The congress starts tomorrow and is the 29th edition, although it will be the first time I have played.

First up is a blitz tournament with 50 entries from eight countries, although it will not include me, not least because that is the day I will be traveling.

A five-round weekend tournament with 40 entries from six countries runs from Saturday through Monday.

But the three main tournaments, each of nine rounds, run from Saturday through the following Friday, including double-round days on Sunday and Tuesday.

The time control is a relatively fast one, for Fide-rated tournaments, of 90 minutes with a 30-second increment.

The A tournament, which has 195 entries from 34 countries, is for players rated over 2000.

The B tournament, which has 90 entries, including myself, from 16 countries, is for players rated under 2000 (I cannot find information about players rated exactly 2000).

The C tournament, which has 51 entries from seven countries, is for players rated under 1700 and is not Fide-rated, but otherwise seems to be organised on the same lines as tournaments A and B.

There will be a social programme, and anyone thinking of pencilling Graz in for next year can find out more about the city at what seems a fairly comprehensive Wikipedia write-up.

PS Eurowings have messed me up by cancelling, with less than 48 hours' notice, my flights from Heathrow to Stuttgart and on to Graz.