AVE CHESS z.s., the Czech Chess Federation and the European Chess Union have the honour to invite all European Chess Federations to participate in the EUROPEAN YOUTH TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2026 organised in Pardubice, Czech Republic from 25th July (arrival) to 2nd August (departure) 2026.
The event will be played in two age categories: U12, and U18, open and girls sections separately. The playing members of the teams shall not have reached the age of 12 or 18, depending on category, by 1st January 2026. Teams consist of four (4) players and one (1) reserve in the open competitions and two (2) female players and one (1) reserve in the girl competitions.
The organising chess federation may decide to enter more than one team or to invite more than one team from the same federation, but finally the number of participating teams shall be an even number. These teams may represent the national federation, a region, a city, a club, or a school.
Each tournament will be played in 7 rounds, swiss system, with the time control of 90 min. + 30 sec. increment for every move played starting from move 1. If there are eight teams or less in a competition, the competition will be played as a Round Robin tournament. In such case, the drawing of lots will take place at the Captain’s Meeting.
Entry forms must be filled in and sent to the Tournament office not later than May 31st 2026. A complete registration form must include surname/s, first name/s, FIDE ID number, FIDE rating and title, and passport number or identity card number of each player, captain and each accompanying person. It also must include the name and telephone/e-mail/ of the chief of delegation. If the registration form is not completed by the federation, a copy must be sent to the national federation.
The playing hall is the multi-purpose “Enteria Arena” (ice hockey stadium) at the following distance from official hotels of the championship: 1) 300 m from the Labe hotel, 2) 1200 m from the hotel Zlatá Štika and 3) 1400 m from the Euro hotel.
Prizes
The winning team of the open competition receives the title “European Youth Team Champion 2026” in its respective age category and the winning team of the girls competition receives the title “European Youth Team Champion for Girls 2026” in its respective age category. The winning team of the combined age category of the competition (sum of the match points from both tournaments open & girls, then, if equal, sum of the game points) receives the title “Absolute European Youth Team Champion 2026” in its respective age category.
The first three (3) teams in each competition will receive trophies. Each member of the winning team (players, reserve and captain) will receive a gold medal. The members of the 2nd and 3rd placed teams will each receive a silver and bronze medal respectively.
Contact information:
AVE-CHESS z.s., Příčná 1892/4, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Tournament Director: IO Dr. Jan Mazuch
phone: +420 466 535 200, mobile phone + 420 608 203 007
e-mail: office@avechess.cz
Official website: https://www.czechopen.net/en/chess/eytcc-2026