The Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) has launched a new online Grand Prix Series.

The series, which will take the form of six rapid tournaments throughout the year, has been conceptualised in view of the pending lockdown and restrictions on physical gatherings in an attempt to contain the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

Instead of assembling in one location to play over-the-board games in a face-to-face setting, players will compete online on their computers from their homes.

The first event of the series is set for this weekend with the first four rounds of games carded for Saturday and the final three rounds on Sunday. Players will push off from 4 p.m. each day.

Rather than use the traditional time control where games typically last around three hours, the tournament will be played under a rapid format where each player will have ten minutes plus three-second increments for each move to complete their games which will last around 20 to 25 minutes.

One of the aims of the series is to expose players to this format, while taking into account that more international online rapid tournaments are likely to come on stream this year.

Last year, FIDE, the world governing body for chess, staged the inaugural Online Olympiad in August and the Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid Championships in December with both events attracting more than 1 000 participants from more than 100 countries.

The BCF will also use some of its Grand Prix events as qualifiers for international tournaments this year.

Under the format, players will earn Grand Prix points based on their performances in each event and the top finishers will receive prizes at the end of the series.

In addition to prizes for the first three places, there will also be prizes for four sub-categories – Best Female, Best Player rated between 1300 and 1599, Best Player rated between 1000 and 1299 and the Best unrated player.

This is not the first time the BCF will be staging an online event, having hosted the 2020 National Blitz Championship as an online tournament, while the 2020 National Rapid Championship was contested in a hybrid setting – players competing online on their computers in a face-to-face environment at the Chess Centre on Exmouth Gap, Brandons, St. Michael. Both tournaments were won by International Master Orlando Husbands on his way to completing a national treble for the second time. (BCF)