The 2026 European Youth Team Chess Championship officially commenced yesterday at Enteria Arena in Pardubice, Czech Republic!
Played across U12 and U18 age categories (Open and Girls sections separately), the tournament set a new participation record with 66 teams and 218 players. Each tournament is played in 7 rounds, swiss system, with the time control of 90 min. + 30 sec. increment for every move played starting from move 1.
The Opening ceremony of the event took place yesterday, shortly before the start of the first round, with the attendance of the ECU Vice President Mr. Roman Muzik, ECU Tournament Director Mr. Petr Pisk, Tournament Director of the Championship Mr. Jan Mazuch, Chief Arbiter of the event Mr. Jan Sikora, and other distinguished guests.
To inaugurate the start of the round, ECU Vice President Mr. Roman Muzik, played the first ceremonial move on the top-board game of U18 section in the match between Austria and Ukraine.
The rating-favourite teams across four age categories are: Ukraine (U18, average rating of players 2404), Germany 2 (GU18, average rating of players 2186), Netherlands (U12, average rating of players 2045) and Poland (GU12, average rating of players 1912).
The championships feature strong fields, including the participation of reigning European Individual Chess Champion GM Roman Dehtiarov who plays the top board for Ukraine in the U18 category.
All pairings, results and team compositions can be here.
Live games can be followed through the following link.
Detailed information about the event are available on the tournament official webpage.
