Around 100 players are expected to take part in the biggest event in Shropshire’s chess calendar, which this year will be historic as it will be the last ever held at the Madeley Court Centre venue.

This weekend’s 11th Wrekin Chess Congress has a prize fund of £1,000 and is a five-round tournament held over the two days.

The Court Centre has been a popular venue for the Wrekin Congress, and the Shropshire Congress which preceded it, but is scheduled to close in the autumn and will quite possibly have been demolished by the time the next congress is due in January 2012.

Currently there are around 70 firm entries competing in three sections – the Premier, the Major, and the Minor, each with a first prize of £200.

“This time last year we had had 80, and ended up with about 110, but of course there were a lot of cancellations last year because of the snow,” said organiser Richard Thompson.

“At the moment the projection is for about 100 entries.”

Shropshire hopes in the Premier, the top section for the strongest players, will lie with Nigel Ferrington, from the Shrewsbury-based Telepost club.

Ferrington is currently the highest graded entrant, with a grading of 198. But as the grading “cap” is 210 it is possible that somebody higher graded may yet enter.

He faces stiff opposition from “away”, such as Don Mason of Shirley (graded 196), and Coventry’s Mark Page (195).

University studies have kept Newport’s Gavyn Cooper (191) away from the Shropshire league scene but thanks to the university break he will be another Salopian battling for glory in the Premier.

Maximum grade in the Major is 160, so by definition Wiatt Ropp, of Stratford-on-Avon, must be favourite as his grading is 160.

No Shropshire entry so far is graded over 150 and in fact the section, which encompasses club players of medium strength, is mysteriously under-represented in terms of home players.

The Minor is for players graded up to 125, which means it is the battleground for B and C team players, as well as novices and, quite often, those who have been away for chess for so long that they no longer have a grade. Shrewsbury’s Ivor Salter and Oswestry’s Graham Ives, both graded 124, must be in with a good shout.

Thompson said: “There’s still plenty of time to enter, and I would prefer people to do so beforehand rather than on the morning of the tournament.

“The entry form is available as a download on the website (www.shropshire chess.org), or if people want to email me (richa rdg.thompson@btinternet.com) with their details, I’m quite happy to accept those entries.”

The congress is on January 8 and 9, with action starting at 10am each day, with a 45 minute lunch break. There are five rounds, with competitors being paired in each round against an opponent on equal points.