Midwest Open 2026 Chess Tournament:

 

Date:             April 18-19, 2026

Location:      Omaha Marriot Regency Hotel,

10220 Regency Cir Omaha, NE 68114, rooms Benson, Blackstone, Florence & Dundee

Entry Fee:    $60 by 4/10 for the Open, $70 by 4/17, $80 on site.

                           $20 by 4/10 for the RBO, $25 by 4/17, $30 on site.

Pre-Registration and Pre-Payment:

KingRegistration Link:

 https://www.kingregistration.com/event/MWO2026

Please email uno2700@gmail.com if you have any tournament questions.

General Information:

The Open is a 5 round Swiss with a time control of 90 minutes + 30 second increment and will be dual USCF and FIDE rate, directed by Ben Bratz. The Open Section is a POY (Player of the Year) event.

The RBO is also a 5 round Swiss played on Saturday, April 26th. The time control is 30 minutes delay 5 seconds and is USCF rated. Players in the RBO must be rated under 1200.

Additional Information:

• Onsite changes to the RBO’s round times take priority over the times listed in this flyer.
• This is a Nebraska Player of the Year Event (POY). This means that the top Nebraska finisher will be nominated to the Nebraska Closed Championship (Closed). Additionally, the plus scores will be accumulated amongst Nebraska residents from this tournament and other POY tournaments to determine other nominees to the Closed.
• Byes
  • One ½ point bye per player. A last round bye must be requested prior to the start of the 3^rd Byes for all other rounds must be requested 1 hour prior to the start of the round.
• Electronic devises
  • FIDE rule 11.3 enforced with regards to electronic devices. No electronic scoresheets are allowed.
• Spectator Rules
  • No spectators are allowed in the playing hall 10 minutes after the start of the round.
  • Players are allowed to spectate after their game is over.
  • Spectator rules are subject to change.
• Boards/Sets/Clocks
  • No boards, chess pieces, or clocks will be provided. Please bring your own equipment.
• Notation paper with carbonless copy will be provided to both the Open and RBO by the organizer.

Round Times:

• Open
  • Saturday, April 26
    • Registration 8-9:15
    • R1: 9:30
    • R2: 2:00
    • R3: 7:00
  • Sunday, April 27
    • R4: 9:30
    • R5: 2:00
  • RBO – (Rated Beginner’s Open)
    • Registration 8-9:15
    • R1: 9:30
    • R2: 10:45
    • Lunch Break
    • R3: 1:00
    • R4: 2:15
    • R5: 3:30

Prizes:

Section(s)	Guaranteed Prizes
Open
1st	$400
2nd	$300
3rd	$200
U1800	$200
U1600	$150
U1400	$150
Total	$1,400

 

Trophies for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd will be provided to the top 3 finishers of the RBO. An U800 trophy and an U400 trophy will be provided for the top finishers rated U800 and U400, respectively.

The tie-breaks for both the RBO and Open sections, will be decided in the following order. Tie-breaks may be used for trophies and for the POY nominee for the Closed.

1. Common Game
2. Solkoff
3. Modified Median
4. Cumulative

 

 

 

Contact Information:

• Steven Cusumano – organizer
  • scusumano90@gmail.com
  • 402-301-6365
• Ben Bratz – tournament director
  • bratzchess@gmail.com

Link for the Discount Rate at Omaha Marriot Regency:

https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1653066186053&key=CORP&app=resvlink

 

 

Social Media:

Please consider joining the following Nebraska Chess groups. Those who join the Lichess group will have access to games which have been recorded by the Nebraska game archivist. The games will be under Lichess studies. https://lichess.org/study

 

• Nebraska Chess Community on Facebook
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/1154213844943829
• Nebraska Players club on chess.com
  • https://www.chess.com/club/nebraska-players
• Nebraska Players club on lichess.org
  • https://lichess.org/team/nebraska-players

Also, be sure to visit the official Nebraska Chess website for the latest updates on upcoming tournaments.

http://nebraskachess.com/