First FIDE World University Online Championships announced

The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce the First FIDE World University Online Chess Championships. The event is open to students born in 1995 or later, who have their secondary education completed, and are currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma at a university.

The championships will be organized by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (www.utrgv.edu) and will consist of four different competitions that will take place over three consecutive weekends:

1. FIDE World University Individual Online Blitz Championship (13-14 March)
2. FIDE World University Individual Online Rapid Championship (20-21 March)
3. FIDE World University Team Online Rapid Cup (27 March)
4. FIDE World University Team Online Blitz Cup (28 March)

Please note that the championships will be played on two different platforms: the individual events will take place on Tornelo, while the team events will be hosted by Chess24. Players who are banned by the hosting internet platform are not eligible to take part in the tournament.

FIDE World University Individual Online Blitz Championship (March 13-14, Tornelo)

The Individual Blitz Championship will be a 20-round Swiss tournament, with a time control of 3+2. Students from the same university shall not be paired against each other. The winner will be announced the World University Online Blitz Champion 2021, and the highest placed woman will be announced as the World University Online Blitz Women’s Champion 2021.

During the registration (see Article 2.A.9 of the regulations), each university can designate up to seven students to form a team that represents it. The top four team members’ scores, (including at least one man’s score and one woman’s score) will count for the team standings that will be used as a qualifier for the FIDE World University Team Online Blitz Cup.

The registration deadline is March 5, 2021 (11:59 UTC), and there is no entry fee. However, bear in mind that there is a limit of 1000 participants for this championship, by order of registration.

Registration link: https://worlduniversity.fide.com/registration_blitz.phtml

Schedule:

FIDE World University Individual Online Rapid Championship (March 20-21, Tornelo)

The Individual Rapid Championship will be a 12-round Swiss tournament, with a time control of 10+5. Again, students from the same university shall not be paired against each other, and the individual results of the top performers from each university will be used as a qualifier for the World University Team Rapid Cup. Likewise, the event will be played on Tornelo, with a limit of 1000 participants, and March 5 as a deadline (11:59 UTC).

Registration link: https://worlduniversity.fide.com/registration_rapid.phtml

Schedule:

FIDE World University Team Online Blitz Cup (March 27, Chess24)

The four best teams according to the final team’s standings of the World University Individual Online Blitz Championship will qualify for the team online blitz cup. 

This competition will be played as Knockout duels of four matches each, with each match played on board boards, with a time control of 3+2.

The playing schedule of each duel will be decided taking into consideration the time zones of the qualified teams, and it will be announced by March 23.

The winning team will be announced the World University Team Online Blitz Cup Winner 2021 and will be awarded a trophy.

FIDE World University Team Online Rapid Cup (March 28, Chess24)

The rapid competition will follow a similar format to the blitz, with four teams playing a knockout. The only differences are obviously the time control, which in this case will be 10+5, and the fact that the duels will consist of two matches between the teams, instead of four.

The Tournament Director will be GM Bartlomiej Macieja, with GM Aleksander Mista as his deputy, and IA Tomasz Delega as Chief Arbiter. Technical meetings are scheduled for March 7 (individual championships) and March 19 (teams championships).

For more information, please check the complete regulations.