Rapid tournaments 4

Rapid chess, with games of ten minutes to an hour per player, is the format of the region's youth events, which fit a whole tournament into one day. In Essen-Werden the local club runs both the Werdener Jugendopen in autumn and a Nikolaus tournament in early December, the latter with an open group for newcomers and a rated group for stronger players.

In Dortmund, the Brackeler Jugendarena of Schachfreunde Brackel brings several rating groups of under-twenties to a school hall in November, and the Dortmunder Schachverein 1875 holds a youth open at the Alte Schmiede in Huckarde in early summer, with children and juniors in several age categories. Many clubs also play rapid rounds on their club nights, as their entries show.