The Northumbria Masters is pleased to announce brand new sponsorship for this year’s Congress, which takes place 24-28 August in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Chess enthusiast and creative writer Mark Jordan, a former Publicity Manager for the English Chess Federation, has offered an innovative form of sponsorship: a total prize fund of £600 for a player or players who score a Grandmaster, International Master, Women’s Grandmaster or Women’s International Master title norm in the GM Schiller tournament, IM Schiller tournament or the Masters Swiss at the Northumbria Masters Congress.

Prize Fund Will Be Shared Between Players Scoring GM, IM, WGM & WIM Norms

If more than one player makes a GM, IM, WGM or WIM norm, they share the £600 equally; if just one player makes a GM, IM, WGM or WIM norm, they get the whole £600 as a prize.

In addition, Mark is also funding accommodation for two visiting GMs, a form of sponsorship that helps not only titled players meet their expenses, but offers opportunities to other players seeking to play against GMs for title norms.

Mark Jordan said: “I am just happy to support English chess in this small way. If it encourages players to go for titles, and to raise the public profile of chess, that’s fantastic.”

Northumbria Masters Congress Director Tim Wall said: “We are extremely grateful to Mark for putting his hand in his pocket and offering this great incentive for would-be titled players. We hope this funding will attract more players to enter the Congress and help to secure its future for the years ahead.”

“Together with the hard work by ECF International Director Malcolm Pein over the years to secure funding from the UK government for chess, sponsorship such as Mark’s is a great example of a chess enthusiast supporting the game.”

To enter the Northumbria Masters Congress online, go to: https://northumbriamasters.com

Email: info@northumbriamasters.com

Tel/WhatsApp: +44 750 372 2366

Notes for Editors:

The Northumbria Masters, now holding its 6th major congress, is the premier international chess event in the North of England, and has produced several title norms for aspiring chess professionals.

The Congress is profoundly grateful for the support it receives from the English Chess Federation, The Chess Trust, The John Robinson Youth Chess Trust, Friends of Chess, Northumberland Chess Association and Northumbria Junior Chess Association, plus other private donors.

A number of junior bursaries are available for participants in tournaments and coaching at the Northumbria Masters Congress, thanks to generous support from the John Robinson Youth Chess Trust.

Entries are welcome for the North East Zonal of the 2023 EJCOA National Youth Championships.

The entry form for the 2023 Northumbria Masters will be published soon.

There are some exciting new features to the Northumbria Masters Congress this year that we hope you will like.

Unfortunately, the following tournaments have been cancelled: the 2022-23 Forest Hall Rapidplay Grand Prix tournaments and the 5th EJCOA International (16-20 December, 2022).

Applications are welcome for the 4th EJCOA International, to be held 24-28 October 2022 at Forest Hall Social Club, Errington Terrace, Palmersville, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 9DQ.

Thanks to the generous financial support of various sponsors, including The Chess Trust, The English Federation, The Friends of Chess, Northumberland Chess Association, Northumbria Junior Chess Association and an anonymous donor, the 2022 Northumbria Masters Congress took place successfully from 26-30 August at St. Mary’s Catholic School, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7PE.

This sponsorship was highly instrumental in our event going ahead and in securing its future.

A total of 177 competitors took part in six tournaments (Masters Open, GM norm all-play-all, IM norm all-play-all, Challengers, Combined Major & Minor, and Junior Rapidplay). Altogether, 18 different national chess federations were represented.

Two International Master norms were achieved, by Daniel Fischer (Switzerland) and Bao Nghia Dong (Vietnam). In addition, three FIDE Arbiter norms were submitted, for John Shaw and Satish Gaekwad (both England) and Paul McKeown (Ireland).

Tournament winners

The Masters Open, with a total of 67 players, was won jointly by IMs Brandon Clarke and Marcus Harvey (both England) on 7.5/9.

The GM norm all-play-all was won by IM Matthew Wadsworth (England) on 6.5./9.

The IM norm all-play-all was won jointly by Fischer and Dong on 6.5/9.

The Challengers (Under 2000 FIDE) tournament, with a total of 41 players, was won jointly by Robert Sanders (England) and David Geaney-O’Brien (Ireland) on 7.5/9.

The Combined Major & Minor (Under 1750 ECF) tournament, with a total of 27 players), was won by Joel Tofield-Brown (England) with 6/7.

The Junior Rapidplay, with a total of 22 players, was won by Kenneth Hobson (England) with 4.5/5.

Juniors and female players

A total of 48 junior players (aged under 18 on 1/1/2022) took part in the Congress, including 39 England players.

A total of 15 female players took part in the Congress, including 13 England players.

(Details are available on pages 2 and 3 of the attached excel document.)

Support for amateur players

The total prize money won by amateur (i.e. non-GM, IM or WGM) players was £2,651.00.

Including:

Masters Open £800.50

Challengers £925.50

Combined Major & Minor £625.00

Junior Rapidplay £300.00

(Details are available on Page 4 of the attached excel document.)

Bursaries awarded

A number of bursaries were awarded by the Congress and the John Robinson Youth Chess Trust to young players to help with their entry to the Congress.

Junior entry discounts were in place for Masters Open (-£30), Challengers (-£20), Combined Major & Minor (-£10) tournaments.

Looking forward to 2023

Next year, it is planned that the Northumbria Masters Congress will take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (24-28 August, 2023) at the same venue (St Mary’s Catholic School, Newcastle) and with a similar range of tournaments.

Please watch this space for further announcements!

Tim Wall
Congress Director
Northumbria Masters Congress

Players and spectators at the Northumbria Masters Congress can find various shops and eating/drinking establishments within easy walking distance of the venue, St. Mary’s Catholic School, Benton Park Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7PE.

Lidl supermarket, 1 Benton Park Rd, South Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7LX
Directions: from St Mary’s Catholic School: Turn left from the school gates along Benton Park Road. Walk 200 metres, cross at the fraffic lights, then Lidl is on your right across the street.

Greggs bakery, Haddricks Mill Rd, South Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1QL
Directions: from St Mary’s Catholic School: Turn left from the school gates along Benton Park Road. Walk 500 metres, pass one small roundabout, then turn left at a second roundabout straight afterwards. On Haddricks Mill Road, Greggs is on your left after 100 metres.

The Victory pub, 43 Killingworth Rd, South Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1SY
Directions: from St Mary’s Catholic School: Turn left from the school gates along Benton Park Road. Walk 500 metres, turn right at the first small roundabout. The Victory pub is across the street.

The Brandling Villa pub, Haddricks Mill Rd, South Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1QL
Directions: from St Mary’s Catholic School: Turn left from the school gates along Benton Park Road. Walk 500 metres, pass one small roundabout, then across the second roundabout there is the Brandling Villa pub.

Pizzeria Italia, 391 Benton Park Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7EZ
Directions from St Mary’s Catholic School: Turn right from the school gates along Benton Park Road. Walk 0.7 miles and you will come to Four Lane Ends shops and crossroads. Pizzeria Italia is on your right.

There is important information for participants in the Major and Minor
tournaments at this year’s Northumbria Masters Congress.

These 2 tournaments will now take place over seven rounds, on three
and a half days (Friday 26 August to Monday 29 August), not
the nine rounds over four and a half days originally planned.

This is to help players avoid clashes with work or school
commitments on Tuesday 30th August.

The revised Round times for the Major and Minor tournaments are as follows:

Round 1 Fri 26 August, 6:30pm
Round 2 Sat 27 August, 10am
Round 3 Sat 27 August, 3pm
Round 4 Sun 28 August, 10am
Round 5 Sun 20 August, 3pm
Round 6 Mon 29 August, 10am
Round 7 Mon 29 August, 3pm
Prizegiving: Mon 29 August, 7:30pm

Please note: The other tournaments – the Masters Open, Challengers and
GM and IM title norm tournaments – will go ahead as originally planned,
over nine rounds from 26-30 August.

Full details are available from the organiser, Tim Wall, at
timpeterwall@gmail.com and on the Event Information page on this website: