Students from 16 universities around the world will take part in a new chess tournament – the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship-2026. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The competition will be held from August 4 to 9 in Almaty, at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Eight university teams advanced to the final tournament through a multi-stage online qualification, while the rest received wild-card invitations from the organizers.

Among the participants from Australia, the UK, Greece, Indonesia, China, Russia, the USA, Chile, and South Africa, there are three teams from Kazakhstan. In addition to the hosts from KazNU, Kazakhstan will be represented by the teams of KNUS (Kazakh National University of Sports) and Alma-U (Almaty Management University).

At the draw, which will take place on August 4 at the opening of the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship-2026, the teams will be divided into four quartets. Round-robin matches will determine the top two teams from each group. Then the playoffs – quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place match, and final.

Matches are played on four boards. Each team must have at least one man and at least one woman.

Time control is 45 minutes plus 30 seconds per move, starting from the first move. Playoff matches consist of two games. In case of a final draw, teams play on four boards in a 'blitz' format (3 minutes plus 2 seconds) per move. If the blitz also ends in a draw, the winner is determined by the 'Armageddon' formula.

According to the regulations, tournament participants were born between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2008, and are currently studying at the universities they represent.

The total prize fund is €50,000. The champions will receive €25,000, the vice-champions – €15,000, and the third team will get €10,000.

The first World University Team Chess Championship is organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) together with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF), the Akimat of Almaty, and Freedom Holding Corp.

"The championship will bring together universities with remarkable academic traditions and a glorious chess history. Some participating institutions have chess clubs that have existed for over 150 years. In total, 79 teams from 49 countries took part in the qualifying stages, once again demonstrating the popularity of chess among students," noted Viswanathan Anand, the 15th World Chess Champion and Acting President of FIDE. "For most players, Almaty will be their first world championship. I hope they enjoy every moment of the tournament and return home proud of what they have achieved together as a team."

KCF President Timur Turlov called the upcoming tournament "a full-fledged rethinking of the student format in world chess." As is known, during the pandemic, the world championship among universities was already held. But in an online format and in rapid. Now the tournament will take place in classical chess and with a live culmination.

"It is very important that university chess lays the foundation for cooperation that goes far beyond sports. Behind the boards are leaders who in ten years will head global companies and government institutions. Connections formed during student years often turn out to be the strongest, and this is perhaps the most important result outside the tournament table. Almaty is an ideal place for this story. As the largest student center of Kazakhstan, it speaks the language of youth," concluded Turlov, who recently nominated his candidacy for the post of FIDE President.