We are delighted to announce that the following trophies will be awarded at the 2026 East Devon Chess Congress, in partnership with the Devon County Chess Association (DCCA):

– Highest-placed Devon player in the Open: The Winter-Wood Championship Cup

– Highest-placed Devon player in the U-1900 Major: The Festival of Britain Trophy

– Highest-placed Devon player in the U-1650 Minor: The E J Winter-Wood Trophy

(In the event of a tie on points, the trophy will be shared by the players concerned.)

In addition, the Ladies Championship Challenge Cup will be awarded to the female Devon player achieving the highest TPR in any section of the 2026 East Devon Chess Congress, provided that they have scored at least 1 point in played games.

Definition of a ‘Devon player’

In the above, a “Devon player” is someone who satisfies ALL FOUR of the following criteria:

(1) The player is currently resident within Devon.
(2) The player is a genuine current member of a DCCA-affiliated chess club (2025/26 season).
(3) The player has an official (not partial) rating in the February 2026 ‘Revised’ ECF standard-play rating list.
(4) The player has played at least three ECF-rated over-the-board standard-play games between January 2024 and January 2026 in any of the following settings: (a) within their club (e.g. internal club championship); (b) for their club (e.g. DCCA inter-club events, local league, 4NCL); (c) within an official DCCA individual competition; (d) for an official Devon county team. (Games from different settings can be combined – for instance, two games for the club and one game for the county team would be sufficient.)

Please note clearly on your entry form whether or not you qualify as a “Devon player”, or whether you are unsure.

In the event of a dispute, the decision of the Committee and arbiters will be final.

The precise wording of these rules may be adjusted at any time before the event at the discretion of the Committee and/or arbiters – any such changes will be detailed clearly on this webpage, along with an update to the version number shown below. The original version of this page (“Version 1”) was released on 6 January 2026.

The current version of the page is: Version 1 (6 January 2026)