Paul Keres Memorial Festival

Playing rules

1. Tournaments

  • Paul Keres Memorial Festival 2025 includes four different tournaments:
    • Classic Open A (FIDE rating 1800+)
    • Classic Open B (FIDE rating -1900)
    • Rapid
    • Blitz
  • Classic Open A and B have 9 rounds played in the Swiss system.
  • Blitz tournament has 11 rounds played in the Swiss system.
  • Rapid touranment has 7 rounds played in the Swiss system.

2. Time control

  • Classic Open: 90 minutes per game + 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.
  • Rapid: 15 minutes per game + 3 seconds per move.
  • Blitz: 3 minutes per game + 2 seconds per move.

3. Bye round

Players have the right to take a bye round during the first six rounds of the classical tournament. The player must inform the organizer before the previous round has finished (in case of taking a bye in the 1st round, the player must inform the organizer 24h before the start of the 1st round). In this case the player will be awarded 0.5 points for that round. Maximum one bye per player is allowed during the tournament.

4. Tiebreaks

  1. Median Bucholtz (-1 worst result)
  2. Median Bucholtz (-2 worst results)
  3. More wins with black

5. Sharing prizes

  • Classic Open monetary prizes will be divided according to the Hort system.
  • Rapid and blitz prizes are not shared.
  • Every participant can receive only one prize per tournament.
  • Classic Open (A+B), rapid and blitz prize funds are guaranteed in case of at least 100 participants.
  • Special prizes will be awarded in case there are at least 5 participants in the category.
  • The prizes will be taxed according to Estonian law.