The 2026 European Individual Senior Chess Championship will take place from 1st-11th June 2026 in Acqui Terme, Italy.
The event will be played in two age categories: 50+ and 65+, Open and Women’s sections separately. Each championship shall be played in 9 rounds, swiss system, with the time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes until the end of the game, with 30-second increment for each move starting from move one. In case that less than 9 players are registered in Women’s sections, the Women’s events will be merged with the respective open category.
The official venue of the tournament is the conference centre of Acqui Terme.
The total prize fund of the event is 18.000 EUR, with the financial support of the European Chess Union (8000 euros). The donation to ECU is made by Mr. Evren Ucok and Monaco Chess Federation.
The Winners of each tournament will be awarded with trophies and medals, and the Winners of respective categories will clinch European Senior Chess Champion 2025 titles for the respective tournament section. According to FIDE regulations, the best-ranked three players from each category will qualify with personal rights to the World Senior Chess Championship 2027.
The event is open to all players representing National chess federations listed as the members of the ECU, and all the players shall fulfill the age requirement that they have reached the age of 50 or 65 by December 31st of the year in which the tournament commences.
Detailed information and regulations can be found in the Official invitation of the event (attached below).
Contact email: info@arcoworldchess.com