Scarborough's 49th Congress

Scheduled for 23rd - 25th October 2026

Due to the success of 2025 despite our top sections suffering due to the Coventry International we're keeping the format the same - 6 sections with over £7000 in prize money and no increase in entry fees and there will still be the £5 discount for juniors and seniors.

ChessPick are now sponsoring our event and will be providing coaching credits to the best performing 3 players in each section.

The Club Championship is now a feature of our congress after the success of 2025 - so can you help make your club champions of 2026? Ilkley's 'The Chess Centre' are the current champions.

Last year we achieved a record entry level of 445 - this year our aim is to break the 500 level but note that the 2 rooms we have booked at the Spa Complex will max out just over 500 so please book early.

A note on ratings and section selection .. we have traditionally allowed the published July ratings to be used to determine which section you can enter even though the congress will use current October ratings during the event. The reasoning is that this gives people time to prepare for the congress with regards accommodation and encourages enter entries ... the downside is that we can then get disgruntled players who could end up playing people who are stronger than the section entered. If players have managed to improve their game between July and October then that is to be encouraged so this condition will remain in force and we would only consider moving players with a provisional rating.