First Saturday () is a monthly chess event that has been held in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary since 1992. The primary purpose of the event is to give aspiring chess players opportunities to gain

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

norms.

Format

The event begins on the first Saturday of every month, except for January. Generally four separate

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...

s are held concurrently, usually with ten players in each group. They are divided into the Grandmaster tournament, the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...

tournament, the

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

-A tournament and the FIDE Master-B tournament. The Grandmaster tournament offers opportunities for players to gain Grandmaster and International Master norms. In order to do this, the tournament must meet certain conditions, as laid out in

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

's regulations. Some of the requirements are: * At least nine rounds are required. * At least five of the players must hold a FIDE title (excluding

Candidate Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

s), at least three of whom must be Grandmasters. * The average FIDE

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

of the participants must be at least 2380. * At least three different national chess federations must be represented. * A minimum time control is set, equivalent to about a four-hour playing session. In practice, the Grandmaster tournament typically consists of three Grandmasters, about four International Masters and about three players with a lesser FIDE title, or no title. Depending on the average rating of the tournament, about 6½–7½ points are typically required for a Grandmaster norm, and about 5–6 points are required for an International Master norm. If ten players cannot be found to fulfill the FIDE title norm requirements, a six-player double round robin may be organised instead. No prize money is awarded; the Grandmasters are paid to compete, subsidised by the entry fees of the norm seekers. The International Master tournament is organised along similar lines, with at least three paid International Masters competing to allow the other players the chance to gain International Master norms. The FIDE Master tournaments simply give the players an opportunity to improve their rating, and possibly gain the FIDE Master title if they can increase it to 2300 or more. Recently,

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and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

have been holding Third Saturday tournaments which are also designed to give competitors a chance to win a GM norm.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Recurring sporting events established in 1992 Chess competitions