Dear Chess friends,

We are very happy to welcome you to Norway Chess Open 2023!
Venue: Clarion Hotel Energy, Stavanger

This tournament will include one GM group which is available for players with an ELO of at least 1800 (in the official FIDE lists from February, March, April or May 2023) – plus, one ELO group which is available to all tournament players.  

Both groups will see a 10 rounds Swiss tournament. Starting with registration and round 1 on Saturday May 27th, finishing off with round 10 and prize giving ceremony on Saturday June 3rd.

Our tournament following this will include ten rounds in eight days. Players finding this schedule too hard are welcome to request a walk-over draw for one or two games within the first eight rounds. Following this our concept is very flexible; players can choose to play ten rounds in eight days, nine rounds in eight days, nine rounds in seven days, eight rounds in eight days or eight rounds in seven days!

Note however, that participants in the GM group must play at least nine rounds if they want to make title norms possible. Participants in the GM group playing all ten rounds on the other hand will get a double title norm chance, as a norm then can be made within rounds 1–9 and/or 1–10 (or, in case of a first round win, also for rounds 2–10).    

Time limits are the FIDE standard with 90 minutes for 40 moves and then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds increment from move 1.
A player still not present in the playing venue after 60 minutes will forfeit the game (unless the arbiters due to extraordinary and known circumstances decides otherwise).

Tournament schedule according to our no-more-secret-plans will be:

Moneyprizes in the GM group are 3000–2000–1000–500–400–300–200 Euros. All top prizes are shared in case of equal points. Best woman prizes are 250 Euros for the female player with most points (shared in case of equal points) and 250 Euros for the female player with best ELO performance. Both prizes can be won by the same player, and the ELO prize can only be won by participants playing nine or ten games. Best veteran prizes are 150 Euros for the veteran player with most points (shared in case of equal points) and 150 Euros for the veteran player with best ELO performance. Both prizes can be won by the same player, and the ELO prize can only be won by participants playing eight, nine or ten games. To compete for the best veteran prizes, a player must be born in 1963 or an earlier year.

Moneyprizes in the Open Group are 400–250–150 Euros. Best woman prize 100 Euros and best veteran prize 100 Euros. All prizes in the Open group are shared in case of equal points. To compete for the best veteran prizes, a player must be born in 1963 or an earlier year.   

Entry fees in the GM group are free for players with a GM, IM, WGM or WIM title, and also for other players with an ELO of at least 2400 in the official list of May 2023. Other players with an ELO of 2300–2399 will pay 100 Euros, while players with an ELO of 2150-2299 pay 150 Euros and players with an ELO below 2150 pay 200 Euros.

Entry fees in the Open Group are 80 Euros for players with an ELO of at least 1800 and 120 Euros for all other players. All participants in the Norway Chess Open will get a free ticket to follow the games of the Norway Chess Super Group.

Participants are required to register for the tournament via Turneringsservice (link coming up very soon) at latest May 15 at 23.00. Later registrations will be accepted only if we still have sufficient space in the playing venue.  Entry fees can be paid during the registration Saturday May 27, before the pairings of round 1.

Playing venue is Clarion Hotel Energy – address: Ishockeyveien 2, 4021 Stavanger.
The playing hotel offers participants and their accompanying persons a strongly discounted price for hotel rooms with breakfast buffet in between May 26 and June 4. Cost each night:
Single room – 720 NOK
Double room –  910 NOK
Triple room – 1160 NOK.
(1 Euro is currently about 10,7 NOK, and so the current prices each night are about 67 Euros for a single room, 85 Euros for a double room and 108 Euros for a triple room.)
To book your room with a discount, please go to the hotel website and use code sjakk23. The discount is valid for room between May 25 – June 4th. We recommend players to reserve hotel rooms as soon as possible and not later than May 1st, as room shortage might be a problem the last weeks before the tournament. 

Norway Chess Open 2023 takes place as a constructive cooperation between Norway Chess and the local chess clubs in Stavanger, Sandnes and Jæren. As chief organizer and chief arbiter we have been lucky to get in IA IO, Hans Olav Lahlum, the very well known organizer and arbiter from numerous successful title tournaments at Gausdal, Oslo and Fagernes, during the last 25 years.

Questions related to Norway Chess Open, not answered by this text, can be sent directly to Hans Olav at email [email protected]  

Finally, a few words about possibilities for title holder conditions. Norway Chess Open again in 2023 spends most of our incomes on money prizes. To increase chances for title norms and to make the tournament even more attractive, the organizer will cover hotel, food and some travel support for a few selected GMs rated above 2550. We will also cover notable parts of the hotel bill for a limited number of IMs rated above 2350 and a limited number of WGMs rated above 2300. Players wanting to apply for such conditions should contact the chief organizer directly by email [email protected] as soon as possible and no later than March 15.

Your participation at the Norway Chess Open will give you free entrance to the Norway Chess tournament! 

REGISTER HERE ♟️

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, winner of Norway Chess Open 2022