Memoriál Vratislava Hory, April 2-5, 2026, Staré Město, Czech Republic delivers a competitive long-weekend festival with two parallel classical opens and additional side events in the local Sokolovna hall. The organizers target ambitious club players and experienced tournament regulars who want a well-structured 7-round Swiss, clear rating thresholds, and consistent classical time controls.

The event combines a FIDE-rated Open A for higher-rated players with an Open B aimed at players below the stated rating limit, and it adds a Friday evening blitz tournament plus a Saturday evening GM simul for extra playing opportunities. The organizers publish a strong first-prize award in Open A and multiple special categories, which makes the prize race relevant across a wide rating range.

🗓️ Event Details

🏆 Prize Fund

Open A (cash prizes)

Open A (special categories, cash prizes)

Open B awards non-cash prizes for places 1–10, plus best senior and best woman. The organizers also give every participant a welcome prize at check-in.

Blitz Tournament (cash prizes)

⏱️ Time Control & Pairings

The organizers run Open A and Open B as 7-round Swiss tournaments with a time control of 75 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move. The arbiter applies a 30-minute default time for late arrival in both classical tournaments.

The organizers run the Blitz Tournament as a 9-round Swiss with a time control of 2 minutes plus a 3-second increment per move.

The organizers rank players by points, then Buchholz -1, then Buchholz, then Sonneborn-Berger, then the number of games with Black, and finally a draw of lots.

📂 Sections / Groups

📅 Schedule

📝 Registration

Register by email no later than March 29, 2026: hampl.chess@gmail.com. The organizers limit the overall capacity to 100 players and can close entries after reaching that limit.

Pay the entry fee in cash or via QR code at check-in, or pay in advance by bank transfer to account 242099752/0300 and include the player names in the payment note. The organizers add a CZK 200 surcharge for entries submitted after March 29, 2026.

Open A entry fees depend on FIDE rating: free (FIDE 2300+), CZK 500 (FIDE 2200–2299), CZK 700 (FIDE 1900–2199), and CZK 1,000 (FIDE under 1900). The organizers discount the entry fee by CZK 100 for players born 2007 or later, seniors born 1965 or earlier, and eligible disabled players, and they discount the entry fee by 50% for members of ŠK Staré Město and Slavia Kroměříž. The organizers do not combine discounts.

Players who enter Open A via an exception below FIDE 1700 pay an additional CZK 5 per rating point under 1700 based on the published rule example. Open B uses a flat CZK 500 entry fee, the Blitz Tournament uses a CZK 100 entry fee, and the GM Simul uses a CZK 50 entry fee.

👥 Organizer

ŠK Staré Město and ŠO Slavia Kroměříž jointly run Memoriál Vratislava Hory as a multi-event festival with two classical Swiss tournaments, a Friday evening blitz tournament, and a Saturday evening GM simul. The team appoints Radek Šudřich as tournament director and assigns Martin Hampl as chief arbiter with David Kovařík as assistant arbiter.

• Email: hampl.chess@gmail.com, info@sachysm.cz

• Phone: +420 607 042 404

• Website: https://www.sachysm.cz/, https://sachy.slavia-km.cz/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/%C5%A0achov%C3%BD-klub-Star%C3%A9-M%C4%9Bsto-627597417883098/, https://www.facebook.com/skhskromeriz/

🏨 Venue

Sokolovna Staré Město, Brněnská 1249, 686 03 Staré Město, Czech Republic

The Sokolovna in Staré Město operates as a community and cultural center that regularly hosts local club activities and tournament play. The organizers keep an on-site buffet open throughout the event and offer basic refreshments for players between rounds.

🛎️ Accommodation

The organizers do not arrange accommodation. You can contact Hotel Fabrika directly for availability: fabrika@hotel.cz.

Bring your best preparation to Staré Město and chase a decisive result across seven classical rounds, then finish the weekend with blitz and a GM simul in the same competitive atmosphere.