About This Tournament
2026 VIRGINIA SENIOR & ADULTS OPEN
AND ADULTS-ONLY BLITZ!!
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson 10358 Patriot Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA
Friday - Sunday, May 29 – 31, 2026
Organized by the Virginia Chess Federation
WHAT: The 2026 Virginia Senior and Adults Open Chess Championship, with Saturday night Adults-only Blitz.
WHEN: Friday through Sunday, May 29th – 31st, 2026. Round 1 is at 7 PM on Friday, May 29th.
WHERE: Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, 10358 Patriot Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA. Hotel rate is $99 per night, plus taxes if reserved by Wednesday, May 27th, 2026. Follow the hotel reservation instructions on the Virginia Chess Federation home page, www.vachess.org.
MAIN TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The main event consists of two sections of play using the Swiss System for pairings: - Senior Section: Rated by FIDE and US Chess, observing FIDE Rules. Top Virginia player in this section is eligible to represent Virginia at the 2026 John T. Irwin National Tournament of State Senior Champions to be held in Grand Rapids, MI, during the annual U.S. Open Chess Championships. Players must be at least 50 years old as of August 1, 2026. We use this date because that is the start date of the Irwin Invitational Tournament.
Under 50 Section: US Chess rated, US Chess rules. For players who are 21 to 49 years old as of August 1, 2026. - 5 rounds, Swiss System. This is not an elimination event! - The Time Control for all 5 rounds is Game-90 with 30 seconds of increment for each move. This time control requires all players to take chess notation for the entire game. - There is a 1-hour “no show/forfeit” rule in effect. A player who is more than 60 minutes late for the announced start time of any round shall be forfeited for that round.
ADULTS-ONLY BLITZ: Four (4) Double-rounds at a time control of Game 5, Delay 2. Play is in two Sections: Open and Under 1500. All games will be US Chess rated.
PLAYER ELIGIBILITY:
Residency Requirements: NONE. There are no Virginia residency requirements. This tournament is open to all players who are at least 21 years old as of August 1, 2026; no exceptions.
All players must be current members of the US Chess Federation. Virginia-based players must be current members of the Virginia Chess Federation (VCF). You can join US Chess and/or Virginia Chess at www.vachess.org by selecting the appropriate membership option on our Home Page. OPTIONAL BYE REQUESTS:
BYES: One half-point Bye is allowed for any round in the Main Tournament (no Bye requests for Blitz). Must be declared by speaking directly with the Chief Arbiter/TD before onsite registration closes at 6:15 pm on Friday May 29th. Byes requests and changes for Rounds 2 through 5 must be declared at least ONE HOUR before the start of Round 2. Changes after this deadline will be listed as zero-point byes.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Both sections follow the same schedule and time controls.
Friday, May 29th: Round 1 at 7 PM. Pairings will be posted at 6:30 PM.
Saturday, May 30th: Round 2 at 11 AM, Round 3 at 4 PM. Senior and Adult Blitz will be played on Saturday evening at 9 PM (US Chess rated, Game 5, delay 2, enter online or onsite and see the separate TLA for the Blitz event).
Sunday, May 31st: Round 4 at 11 AM, Round 5 at 4 PM
Pairings for Rounds 2-5 will be posted ONE HOUR before the start of the next round. “Tentative Pairings” for the Saturday morning and Sunday morning rounds (Rounds 2 and 4) will be posted the evening prior, but these tentative pairings will be subject to change.
PRIZES: GUARANTEED $4,500 prize fund based on 80 paid players. 1st to 3rd place prize amounts are guaranteed in both sections.
Senior Section: + 1st to 3rd Places: $650, $450, $300. Plaque to the Champion and the Top Virginia player. + Top Under 2200: $200 + Plaque + Top Under 1800: $165 + Plaque + Top Under 1400 / Unrated: $145 + Plaque + Top Super Senior (Age 65+): $130 + Plaque
Under 50 Section: + 1st to 3rd Places: $650, $450, $300. Plaque for 1st Place. + Top Under 2000: $200 + Trophy + Top Under 1700: $165 + Trophy + Top Under 1400: $145 + Trophy + Top Under 1000: $130 + Trophy + Top Unrated: $100 + Trophy
Both Sections: + $75 for the Top Upsets in Rounds 1-2 and also in Rounds 3-5.
An unrated player winning a place prize is limited to $300.
REGISTRATION AND ENTRY FEES:
ONLINE Entry:
$75 online or US mail by Sunday May 17th.
$95 from Monday May 18th through Sunday May 24th. Note that Saturday, May 23rd is the last day to use the US Mail entry option.
$105 starting Monday May 25th and at the tournament site. Cash, checks, credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay accepted onsite.
ONSITE Entry: Friday, May 29th from 3-6:15 PM. Registration also will be open on Saturday from 8-10 AM for players who want to enter the tournament for Round 2.
Optional Adults-only Blitz: $25 in advance ONLINE, $30 onsite at the tournament. We will pay 90% of the Blitz entry fees we receive by section. (For example, if we have 15 entries in the Blitz Open Section, the minimum prize pool will have $338 in cash awards for that section.)
Entry by US Mail: Send to Mike Hoffpauir, ATTN: VA Sr./U50 Open, 405 Hounds Chase, Yorktown, VA 23693.
Print and send us the “mail-in entry form” accessible through the VA Chess Federation (www.vachess.org) or include the following information with your mail-in entry: Section, US Chess ID, Bye Requests, mailing address, email address, and phone number.
Also be sure to let us know whether you are playing Blitz and provide your Blitz Section! Make your check payable to “VCF” or “VA Chess Federation.”
Your Entry needs to be post-marked by Saturday, May 23rd and includes a check written for the proper amount of your entry fees. + Do not send any US Mail entries after May 23rd.
NOTE: We will retain $10 from entries who withdraw before the start of Round 1.
RE-ENTRY: $35. A player who had a disappointing Round 1 can “re-enter” the tournament for Round 2 and receive a Half-point Bye to replace their Round 1 score. The Round 1 game counts for rating points, but the Round 1 loss is replaced with a Half-point Bye. Re-entry also means that any other half-point bye the player requested for a later round will become 0-point byes unless that player decides to play in that round at the time of re-entering the tournament.
PAIRINGS: - The Chief Arbiter/TD will use ratings from the US Chess May 2026 Rating Supplement for pairings and prize awards. The May ’26 Rating Supplement is published by US Chess on or about April 19, 2026. Pairings will be made using the higher of each player’s Over-the-Board (OTB) and Online Regular (slow) ratings from the May Rating Supplement unless the Online rating is “stale” compared to the OTB rating.
Players without a US Chess rating but who have a rating in another system recognized by US Chess (e.g., FIDE, Canada, many foreign countries) will be paired according to the Chief Arbiter/TD’s conversion of their foreign rating. The Chief Arbiter/TD is the final authority for ratings used for each player.
“Unrated” players are not unrated if they acquire a US Chess or FIDE rating by Thursday, May 28th.
TOURNAMENT EQUIPMENT:
Chessboards, pieces, and chess clocks will be provided for all games.
You may use your own.
Use of Electronic Scoresheets is not allowed in the Senior Section unless the player has the approval of the Chief Arbiter. -
Health protocols: Masks are optional, but we will have some on hand for anyone who desires to wear one. We also will have ample hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.
QUESTIONS? Mike Hoffpauir, VCF, mhoffpauir@aol.com, 757-846-4805 (text)
Address for the Playing Site: 10358 Patriot Highway, Fredericksburg, VA 22408