The American Continental Stage of the FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship 2026 began today at the DoubleTree by Hilton Cariari in San José, the first time the championship has come to Central America. 29 school teams have travelled here from 25 countries, from Canada to Argentina and across the Caribbean, each of them playing for a place in the Grand Final later this year. The stage falls within the Year of Chess in Education and is supported by Freedom Holding Corp. and the Costa Rican Institute of Sport and Recreation (ICODER).
Format
Each team fields four main players and one reserve, with both boys and girls represented. The tournament follows an eight-round Swiss system, with a time control of 45 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move from move one. Competitive play begins in the coming days; the opening day was given over to ceremony, dialogue and getting to know one another.
At the top of the starting rankings is Peru’s Saco Oliveros de Lince (average rating 1889), followed by the USA’s Harvest Park Middle School and Canada’s Crescent Heights Academy. The host country, Costa Rica, is represented by three schools, led by Colegio Bilingüe San Francisco de Asís.
Here is a closer look at the day’s action.
A special opening ceremony
The championship opened at 10:00 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Cariari. Following the guests’ registration, the Costa Rican national anthem and the FIDE anthem, three officials took to the stage, but not to deliver speeches.
Instead, José Antonio Carrillo Pujol (President, FIDE Americas, CCA), Timur Turlov (President of the ISCF and CEO of Freedom Holding) and Luis Eduardo Quirós Rojas (President of the Costa Rican Chess Federation) opened a message from the young players of the African Continental Stage, part of a growing tradition in which the children of one stage pass the chess relay on to the next.
This time the African players sent not ordinary letters but a “package”, unwrapped on screen item by item. Inside were several small symbolic gifts, each carrying a wish, a piece of advice, and a dose of humour: a chess compass, a flashlight, a magnet, an AA battery, a salt shaker of “lightness,” and an extra, empty suitcase. As each official opened a gift, the children’s words set a warm and personal tone for the week ahead.
Opening the “compass,” Timur Turlov read:
“We are sending you a chess compass. It does not point north or south. It points in the direction of your next good move… We wish everyone to find their own direction at this championship and make at least one move that takes you where you truly want to go.”
Opening the “flashlight,” José Antonio Carrillo Pujol read:
“Sometimes the position seems dark and unclear, and all the moves are like in a fog. Then take the flashlight and look at the board from a different angle… Sometimes the best move is visible only in semi-darkness, when your eyes have adjusted and are not distracted by flickering.”
Unwrapping the “magnet,” Luis Eduardo Quirós Rojas read:
“The magnet doesn’t work from fear. If you are nervous and fidgety, it repels everything good. But if you breathe evenly and trust your calculation, it pulls the right moments toward you… The main thing – don’t bring the magnet near your rating. It doesn’t attract that. Only your mood and attention.”
The final card left the young players with a thought to carry through the week: “You are not just participants. You are part of a great chess story that began long before you and will continue after you. Happy playing, champions!”
The ceremony closed with the symbolic first move, made by Timur Turlov (President of the ISCF and CEO of Freedom Holding) and José Antonio Carrillo Pujol (President, FIDE Americas – CCA), officially declaring the American Continental Stage open.
Round 1
The opening round saw a predictable start. Seven of the thirteen matches finished 4-0, which is common enough on the first day of a school team event, where the seeding gap between the top and the bottom of the field is at its widest. Top seed Saco Oliveros de Lince swept Costa Rica’s Colegio Bilingüe San Francisco de Asís, and Harvest Park Middle School did the same to Paraguay’s Colegio Cristo Rey.
The result of the round came on board five, where Queen’s College of Barbados, seeded 18th, beat Mexico’s Colegio Celta Internacional 3-1. Mexico took the top board through CM Fernando Cortes Medina, but Queen’s College won the other three, with Jaeda Herbert and Nathan Simmons-Patterson both beating higher-rated opponents.
It was a difficult start for the hosts. None of the three Costa Rican schools won. San Francisco de Asís was swept by Peru, Colegio Humboldt lost 1-3 to Saint Gabriel’s School of Chile with only Nicolás Ramírez Quirós scoring, and the British School took the day’s only drawn match, holding Colegio Madre del Divino Pastor of El Salvador 2-2.
Position of Round 1
Board one of the top match produced the finish of the round. Marcos Beltrán Meneses Morales of Saco Oliveros de Lince, playing White, helped his team to their 4-0 sweep with a game he had taken control of in the opening.
White is winning here and has several good continuations, but the young Peruvian found the most attractive one: 20.d5! opening the b2 bishop’s diagonal towards the black king on g7 and setting up a discovered check the moment the knight on f6 moves. In such overwhelming positions it is easy to rush; instead, White brought another piece into the attack.
The game continued 20…cxd5 21.Nxd5+ Kh6, and White wrapped it up with 22.Qc1+ Kg6 23.Qg5#, the queen protected by the knight on f3 and every escape square covered.
Round 2
Round 2 produced the upset the opening round had not. Top seed Saco Oliveros de Lince was held to 2-2 by Colombus American School of Colombia, who won both of the top boards: William Nicolás Rodríguez beat Marcos Beltrán Meneses Morales, whose game had been the pick of Round 1, and Ángel Damián Muñoz, rated 1467, beat Dante Iván Vilca Contreras, rated 1980, largest upset of the day.
Queen’s College was held back as well, drawing 2-2 with Panama’s The Oxford School. That leaves four teams with two wins from two: Harvest Park Middle School, Crescent Heights Academy, Saint Gabriel’s School of Chile and Harrison College School of Barbados, the last of them beating Ecuador’s Don Bosco Macas 3½-½. The hosts recovered from a bruising morning, with Colegio Humboldt winning 4-0 and Colegio Bilingüe San Francisco de Asís 3-1, though the British School was swept by Mexico’s Colegio Celta Internacional.
Position of Round 2
The second round produced the game of the day. On the top board of match two, Zhuoyuan Wu of Harvest Park Middle School, playing White with under a minute on his clock, sacrificed his queen to force checkmate.
29.Qxb7+ is met by 29…Nxb7, the only legal reply, since the queen is defended by the knight on d6 and the king cannot take. There followed 30.Rxb7+ Ka8 31.Ra7+ Kb8 32.Rb1+, and Black resigned. Every one of those moves left Black a single legal answer, and after the forced 32…Qb6 the queen falls to 33.Rxb6+ with mate to follow shortly after. A queen sacrifice with the flag hanging, and not a wasted move in it.
The Conference “Smart Moves: Governments That Think Ahead”
While the teams were at the boards, ministers of education, government officials and federation leaders from across the continent met at the Cariari Center for the ISCF and CCA conference on chess in education. The day produced a Memorandum of Understanding between the participating ministries, FIDE, the ISCF, and the CCA, and school awards for three Costa Rican institutions. The conference is covered in a separate report.
The week ahead
Beyond the boards, ISCF has planned a full week of side events open to players, families and educators: a Girls’ Blitz masterclass and tournament in collaboration with the FIDE Women’s Commission, the “Chess in Subject” Master Class connecting chess with STEM and social-emotional learning, the ISCF Master Class Series for parents and coaches, a Simul with a Twist, a Kahoot Chess Quiz, a mask-making master class, a culinary master class, and a dance workshop.
The competition gets under way in the coming days in San José, with the competitive programme running alongside the full schedule of conferences, masterclasses and side events. The top teams will secure their places in the Grand Final later this year.
Written by Aruzhan Aldasheva