The best university teams will meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan this August to compete for the title of FIDE World University Team Chess Champion.
The World University Team Chess Championship is governed by FIDE and organized by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, together with the Almaty city administration and with support from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Sports and Tourism.
The competition has three stages. It begins with Online Swiss Qualifiers, followed by an Online Knockout stage. The over-the-board finals will then take place in Almaty from August 3–10, 2026.
There will be two Online Swiss Qualifiers. The registration deadlines are:
- April 27, 2026, 11:59 PM UTC for teams participating in Online Swiss Qualifier 1
- May 4, 2026, 11:59 PM UTC for teams participating in Online Swiss Qualifier 2
The finals will feature 16 teams – eight that qualify from the knockout stage and eight wild cards invited by FIDE and the organizer.
The tournament features an inclusive team concept – each match will be played on four boards, and lineups must include at least one female and at least one male player.
Participation is open to university teams with players born between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2008 who are currently enrolled in at least one class at the university.
The winning team will become the FIDE World University Team Champion and receive a prize of €25,000. The team finishing second will be awarded €15,000, while the third-place team will receive €10,000.
The entry fee is €100 per team. However, each national chess federation may nominate one university to participate free of charge. Payment details will be published on the tournament website.
Team registration is available here: https://worlduniversities2026.fide.com
Here is the list of registered teams:
- Universidad de El Salvador
- The University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Auckland
- Riga Technical University
- Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani)
- The Egyptian Chinese University
- Universiti Malaya
- University of Dhaka
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
- Webster University
- Samarkand State Pedagogical Institute
- École Polytechnique de Ouagadougou
For more information, please email worlduniversity@fide.com.
Official website: https://worlduniversities2026.fide.com