Rilton Cup is a yearly event that takes place in Stockholm, Sweden from 27th Dec to 5th Jan. They have a long-term deal with the Scandic Continental Hotel in Stockholm Central.
I played the Rilton Cup 2022-23 edition last year and decided to play the 2023-24 edition also. In this newsletter, I am going to share with you detailed insights on whether should play the Rilton Cup or not.
Organization
The organization is very awesome. It’s a decently spacious hall in the Scandic Continental Hotel on the 3rd Floor. Every year the hall is the same. They have also provided unlimited coffee, tea, and water for the players.
They organize 2 main events which are the Rilton Cup (Above 2200 with the exception of women and young players) and Rilton Elo (Below 2200). Apart from this, they organize some GM sessions and a Rilton Blitz event on 1st January.
The top 20 tables are with DGT chess board and broadcasted online. All the other boards are wooden and nice.
Accommodation
Organizers have partnered with the Scandic Continental Hotel and that’s why players get rooms at discounted rates. They have 2 room options which are a Cabin room and a standard room.
I was staying in a Single Cabin Room and got a room for 750 SEK a day (67 Euro).
The hotel was very good and comfortable. The room was decently bigger than what I expected before. Here is a photo of my room.
Breakfast was extremely good and they had all the options.
Hotels have a mini market where you can buy essential things such as umbrellas on rentals, Sandwiches, Lip Balm, etc. They have a free coffee machine for people who are staying in their hotel.
For the Scandic Continental Hotel, I will rate 9.8/10
Schedule
From 27th Dec to 31st Dec daily single round. 1st January is a free day but they have organized a blitz event with the help of Outpost Chess.
From 2nd Jan to 5th Jan again single round a day.
The event consisted of a total of 9 rounds.
Playing Field
On the official website, organizers mentioned that they are not very interested in inviting many top players and hence the first seed was 2550 and 7 2500+ players participated.
The total number of players was 134 and almost 80% of players had some title.
Out of 134, 102 players were 2200+.
Advisory from Organizers – Terrorism in Sweden
On 1st day, when I arrived at the hotel and checked the website, I saw the note where the organizers mentioned this – Another reason for our decision is that the terror threat level in Sweden is currently 4 out of 5. (Screenshot Attached)
When me and my friend saw this we were discussing about it for 2-3 hours and it raised some tension in my mind.
I also saw many police vans and police roaming in our hotel reception. On New Year’s Eve, there were some increased precautions taken.
Extreme Weather
On the day of arrival, the weather was -2 Celsius and then it went down from -10 to -13. I also saw the news that many trains were canceled because of this.
Last year when I played Rilton Cup, I stayed in an apartment to save money. But later when we figured that the minimum metro ticket is around $5 for one way. Eventually, we didn’t save much.
Because of this, I stayed in the official hotel and didn’t go outside much. I did 3-5 dinners in a restaurant. Do check the photos.
Should you play in the Rilton Cup?
The event is extremely well organized and very good for players between 2100-2400 rating range. In the winter season, due to the cold, chess tourists don’t participate. That’s why almost all the players were active and serious.
The only concern is Safety because of the advisory of police regarding terrorism rating of ⅘.
Honestly, I feel safe in Stockholm but that’s the only valid concern to not play the event.
Here are some ratings according to me
Organization – 9.8/10
Food – 8.0/10 (8/10 because it’s too expensive)
Accommodation (Official Hotel) – 9.8/10
This is the first time where I reviewed any event. If you like this blog, please do share it with your friends and comment below if you want more such blogs.
Photos (Taken by Nikhil Dixit)
