FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship 2026, Asian Continental stage

New competition format for the 2026 World Schools Team Championship

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The World Schools Team Championship (WSTC) will adopt a new tournament structure for its 2026 edition, featuring four continental qualifying stages followed by a four-team Grand Final in December.

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The 2026 cycle will consist of four continental stages: Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe, all held throughout 2026.

Each continental championship will produce one champion school team that will directly qualify for the Grand Final, which will take place in December 2026 as a four-team tournament.

The WSTC 2026 will kick off with the Asian Continental stage in Almaty, Kazakhstan in early April.

Only teams representing a single general educational institution (such as a school) may take part in the event. Each team must include at least one boy and at least one girl, with possible exceptions for single-gender schools.

Eligible players must have been born between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2018 (inclusive).

Asian Schools Teams Chess Championship 2026

6 Apr 2026 start-date 11 Apr 2026

Type of event Over-the-Board Tournament

Time control Standard

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Registration

Regulation

Official email: worldschoolteam@fide.com

Official website (coming soon): https://worldschoolteam2026.fide.com/

fide.com

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities set for October 2025 in Astana

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FIDE is proud to announce that the 2nd Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities will take place from October 19 to 26, 2025, in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Organized by FIDE and hosted by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, this major international event underscores FIDE’s ongoing commitment to inclusion and accessibility in the global chess community.

The Olympiad will bring together up to 34 teams from across the world, composed of players with visual, hearing, and physical impairments. Each team will consist of four players (with at least one from each gender), one captain/reserve, and one accompanying person. The competition will be held at the Paralympic Training Centre in Astana, a venue specially adapted to accommodate the needs of all participants.

The competition will follow a 6-round Swiss system, with games played under classical time control. In addition to team medals and trophies, individual board prizes and special awards—including recognitions for youngest and oldest players in various categories—will be presented.

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities Regulations (PDF)

For registration and queries, federations are encouraged to contact: dis@fide.com

fide.com

Official website: dis-olympiad2025.fide.com

FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships 2025 Open U8

FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships 2025 Girls U8

FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships 2025 Open U10

FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships 2025 Girls U10

FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships 2025 Open U12

FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships 2025 Girls U12

FIDE World Cadet Championships 2025: Registration now open

GUEST HANDBOOK (download)

FIDE, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and the Department of Sports of the City of Almaty with support of the Ministry of Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan invite all FIDE member Federations and eligible players to participate in the FIDE World Cadet Chess Championships U8, U10, U12.

Photo tournaments

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The competitions will take place from September 18 (arrival) to October 01, 2025 (departure) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The venue of the event is Sports Cultural Complex — “Baluan Sholaq Arena” (44 Abay ave., Almaty)

National Federations can register one official player in each category: under 8, 10, and 12 (Open and Girls). The total of six official players and one head of delegation with a valid FIDE ID from the National Federation are invited by the Organizers. All players must not have reached the age of 8, 10 or 12 in their respective categories before January 1, 2025.

Personal rights also are granted to the top 3 players in each category of the last World Cadet Championships (2024), the Continental Cadet Champions of 2024 (1st ranked) and the players placed 1-3 in the 2025 FIDE World Cup for youngsters.

National federation may register additional players and accompanying persons and being responsible for all related costs.

The registration deadline is July 13, 2025.

As part of the event, the World Cadet Chess Solving Championship will be held on September 25, across the same six age and gender categories as the over-the-board competitions.

Click the link to download the Registration form

Invitation letter, regulations, visa information (PDF)

Local players may participate in accordance with the internal regulations approved by the Kazakhstan
Chess Federation.

E-mail: worldcadet@fide.com

FIDE World Cadet Chess Championships 2025 official website (coming soon): worldcadets2025.fide.com

fide.com

worldcadets2025.kazchess.kz

Отборочный турнир к чемпионату мира 2025 года среди школьных команд U12

Отборочный турнир к чемпионату мира 2025 года среди школьных команд U18

Отборочный командный турнир среди школьных команд Казахстана за право участия в FIDE World Schools Team Championship

С 18 по 20 июня 2025 года в Алматы пройдет отборочный командный турнир, где лучшие школьные команды Казахстана сразятся за право участия в качестве официальных представителей страны на FIDE World Schools Team Championship

Основное место: Александрия, Вирджиния, США
2–7 августа 2025 года

Отборочные: Республиканская физико-математическая школа, г. Алматы
Адрес: ул. Бухар-Жырау, 36

РЕГЛАМЕНТ

Общий призовой фонд — 800 000 тенге

1 место — Путевка на Чемпионат FIDE World Schools Team Championship
2 место — 250 000 тенге
3 место — 150 000 тенге

Формат турнира:

– Командный: 3 юноши + 1 девушка + капитан (обязателен)

Кто участвует:

Школьные команды юношей и девушек в категориях не старше 2013 и 2007 гг.р.

Регистрация открыта до 13 июня, 12:00 (по времени Астаны).

Регистрируйтесь по ссылке — https://reg.kazchess.kz/1

kazchess.kz

2024 World Rapid Team Championship

2024 World Blitz Team Championship

2024 World Blitz Team Championship — Pool A

2024 World Blitz Team Championship — Pool B

2024 World Blitz Team Championship — Pool C

2024 World Blitz Team Championship — Pool D

2024 World Blitz Team Championship — Pool E

FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships 2024
Astana, 1 – 6 August

Blitz 1-10 (Pools Stage)

Blitz 11+ (Pools Stage)

Rapid: Swiss, 12 rounds. August 2-4.

LIVE. Rapid Matches 1-10

LIVE. Rapid Matches 11+

The time control: 15 minutes for the first with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Day 1 | FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships

Commentators: GM Peter Leko, GM Irina Krush and GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Blitz: Round robin tournament in the Pools stage, no more than 7 rounds.

Knockout tournament for 16 best teams in the Play-off stage. August 5.

The time control: 3 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 2 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Regulations

worldrapidblitzteams.fide.com

Blitz

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — U08

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — U10

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — U12

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — U14

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — U16

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — U18

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — G08

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — G10

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — G12

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — G14

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — G16

Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championships 2024 — G18

Сlassic

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — U08

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — U10

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — U12

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — U14

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — U16

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — U18

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — G08

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — G10

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — G12

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — G14

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — G16

Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024 — G18

The Kazakhstan Chess Federation on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) and FIDE has the honor to invite all Asian National Chess Federations

to participate in the 26th Asian Youth Chess Championships which will be held from 9th (arrival) to 21st (departure) June 2024 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Download Asian Youth Chess Championship Regulations 2024 Almaty

asianchess.com

Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship 2023

Asian Continental Women Blitz Chess Championship 2023

ASIAN CONTINENTAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP (OPEN) 3-12 JUNE 2023 ALMATY

ASIAN CONTINENTAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP (WOMEN) 3-12 JUNE 2023 ALMATY

Все фотографии турнира можно скачать по ссылке: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qm3dol3coeqee3bdf8fsd/h?dl=0&rlkey=yzy14br242vad66mbgme19218

При использовании фотографий просьба указывать источник – Казахстанскую федерацию шахмат. Пример: «Фото: Казахстанская федерация шахмат».

Asian Continental Chess Championships (Open and Women’s Championships)

3rd June – 12th June 2023, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Онлайн трансляция на Личесс

Open

Women

Asian Continental Championship Women 2023

Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship 2023

To All FIDE Affiliated Chess Federations in Asia Zones 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 & 3.7

All Kazakhstan Chess Federation on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE invites your Federation to participate in the Asian Continental Chess Championships (Open and Women’s) from 3rd June (arrival) to 12th June (departure) 2023 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Playing venue is Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, Address: Abay Ave 44 Abai Ave., corner Baitursynuly St., Almaty.

The Championship will be played in accordance with the following rules and regulations:

Each Federation from FIDE Zones 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7 can include one official player in the Open and one official player in the Women’s Championships.

In addition, each Federation may add extra players rated 2300 and above for the Open, and 2000 and above for Women based on the 1st May 2023 FIDE Rating List. Extra players will be responsible for the payment of their board and lodging through the Organizing Committee. Exceptions for the rating floor may be made by the Continental President at the request of national federations.

The tournament shall be conducted as a Swiss System competition of 9 rounds and will be played according to FIDE regulations.

The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The games shall be played with DGT clocks. Pairings will be made by the Swiss Manager Program. Players from the same federation with a more than 50% score shall not be paired together in the last round.

REGULATIONS

Registration form

Континентальный чемпионат Азии по шахматам
(Открытый чемпионат и чемпионат среди женщин)
3 июня – 12 июня 2023 года, Алматы, Казахстан

Регламент на русском (скачать)

kazchess.kz

Official website

2022 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship Rapid Open

2022 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship Rapid Women

2022 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship Blitz Open

2022 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship Blitz Women

Almaty to host FIDE Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022 in late December

World Rapid Open Championship 2022

World Blitz Open Championship 2022

World Blitz Women Championship 2022

World Rapid Women Championship 2022

FIDE is happy to confirm the dates and the venue for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022.

The prestigious event will take place between December 25 (arrival and opening) and December 30 (last playing day and closing) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Official website: worldrapidandblitz2022.fide.com

FIDE is pleased to announce the agreement with Freedom Finance, that becomes a General Sponsor of the event.

More details, including information about hotels, visas etc. will be published by November 15.

There is a large number of countries (over 100) that can benefit either from visa exemption to Kazakhstan, or a simplified procedure to obtain a single-entry electronic visa issued through the Visa and Migration Portal.

fide.com

The 2022 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships take place in Almaty (Kazakhstan) from December 25-30

Traditionally, this time of year, the chess world comes together to loosen up and decide who the best world players are when facing time pressure.

After ten years, the event is returning to Kazakhstan, the largest land-locked country in the world (with over 2.7 million kilometres square, it is five times the size of France!) and which – if you didn’t know – is the birthplace of the modern apple (not the company)! Unlike in 2012, this time, the host city will not be the capital Astana, but Almaty.

The event will be held at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in the city centre. Named after the acclaimed Kazakh composer, singer, poet, dombra player, dzhigit and wrestler Baluan Sholak (1864-1919), the venue seats up to 5,000 people and is home to Almaty’s women’s ice hockey team Aisulu Almaty.

The former capital of Kazakhstan, which is also its largest city with nearly two million residents, is situated in the country’s southeast, close to the border with Kyrgistan, and is not the warmest place to spend the winter. It is easy to understand why given that the last week of December is expected to have temperatures between -4 and -11 degrees!

However, Almaty is about to be hit by a “heatwave” as the world’s hottest chess players gather at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships to decide who is the best.

Reigning Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). Photo: David Llada

The best of the best

With the conditions for the event stipulating that players have to be rated at least 2550 in the open section, or 2250 in the women’s, or being reigning national champions in order to be eligible to play in Almaty, it’s no surprise that the list of players is made of the best of the best the chess world has to offer.

In the Open section, Nodirbek Abdusattorov is defending the crown from the 2021 Rapid and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will try and hold on to his world title in the Blitz. In the Women’s division, Alexandra Kosteniuk is defending the gold she won in 2021 Rapid, while Bibisara Assaubayeva is defending her title in the Blitz.

With nearly 300 players taking part from over 50 countries, split between the Open and the Women’s tournament, the chess world is ending 2022 on a high note with a huge spectacle.

In the Open event, the field is led by the reigning world champion in classical chess, Magnus Carlsen (who also won the rapid and blitz world championships in earlier editions). This is the last time Carlsen is taking part in the World Rapid and Blitz as a world champion in classical chess (as he decided not to defend his crown in 2023). He is joined by a score of medal winners and champions, including Nodirbek Abdusattorov (the 2021 winner of the Rapid), Hikaru Nakamura (winner of the silver and bronze medals in the previous world rapid and blitz championships), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (runner-up of the last year’s world blitz), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (current world blitz champion), Ian Nepomniachtchi (the second-time challenger for the title of world champion in classical chess and winner of medals in previous rapid and blitz world championships), to name a few.

Full list of participants for the Open Rapid
Full list of participants for the Open Blitz

Women’s World Blitz Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ). PHOTO: Anna Shtourman.

The women’s event is headlined by the defending world champion in rapid and the runner-up at the 2021 blitz Alexandra Kosteniuk. A former women’s world champion in classical chess, Kosteniuk just won gold in the European rapid and silver in the European blitz, so she will be looking for a double crown! She is followed by Kateryna Lagno (who also has gold medals from the world rapid and blitz events), as well as a plethora of strong world players such as Tan Zhongyi, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Nana Dzagnidze, Antoaneta Stefanova and others.

Bibisara Assaubayeva, a Kazakh native, will be the focus of much attention in the women’s competition. She had an outstanding performance in the 2021 edition, taking first place in the blitz and coming second in the rapid.

Full list of participants for the Women’s Rapid
Full list of participants for the Women’s Blitz

Both the Open and the Women’s will be played under the Swiss system format. Full details of the regulations for the events can be found here for the Open and here for the Women’s competitions.

The total prize fund is one million USD dollars, with 700,000 USD going to the open championships and 300,000 USD to the women’s championships. Prizes in USD Open Women Rapid 350,000 150,000 Blitz 350,000 150,000.

One million dollars in prizes

Prizes in USD Open Women
Rapid $350,000 $150,000
Blitz $350,000 $150,000

Basic schedule:

First of all, please note that Almaty’s time zone is GMT+6

December 25 — Opening Ceremony
December 26, 13:30 — Opening press conference
December 26-28 — Rapid competitions
December 29-30 — Blitz competitions and Closing Ceremony

You can find the detailed schedule on the official website.

Side events:

During the World Rapid and Blitz Championships there will be several additional chess events for the public held at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace:

December 27, 10.00-13.00
Women’s master class about “The role of women in chess”, followed by a simul with woman GM Dana Reizniece-Ozola

December 27, 10.00-13.00
Open blitz tournament for amateurs

December 29, 10.00-13.00
Blitz tournament for children

By Press Officer Milan Dinic

This is the official website where you can find up-to-date information about the event:

https://worldrapidandblitz.fide.com