Official regulations
Eligibility, tournament system, fair play, appeals and prizes. Every fact on this page traces to the official regulations document.
- Host city
- Cairo, Egypt
- Dates
- 8–15 December 2026
- Categories
- 6 · Open & Girls
- Format
- Rapid & Blitz · 11 rounds
- Opens in
The complete official regulations, the single source of truth for every rule, fee and date on this site.
§ 02Participation
Six age
categories
Eligibility is determined strictly by date of birth, exactly as defined in the official regulations. Every category is contested twice, Open and Girls.
§ 02.1Rules
There shall be 6 categories — Under-7, Under-9, Under-11, Under-13, Under-15 & Under-17 — with separate events for Open and Girls.
All chess players who shall not have reached the age of 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, or 17 before 1 January 2026 are eligible to participate, per the age table above.
The Champions (1st place) of the previous odd W-RBCYC edition (U9–U17 age groups) have personal rights and are entitled to participate provided they fulfil the age condition above. Winners may select to play in the same age category or a higher age category (e.g. the U9 winner may play U9 again, if still eligible by age, or move up to U11). The Organizers will provide free board and lodging in twin-share rooms to these winners.
The Championship is open to all players. FIDE-endorsed Chess Academies may also register players through their respective National Chess Federation (NCF), with a copy to TRG for endorsement.
FIDE Member Federations have the right to send any number of additional players they want.
§ 09Technical
How the titles are decided
- Tournament system
- Swiss System, 11 rounds
- Rapid
- 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move
- Blitz
- 5 minutes + 3 seconds increment per move
If a player does not have an existing FIDE Rapid or Blitz rating, his/her FIDE Classical rating shall be used, where applicable.
The FIDE Anti-Cheating Rules and Guidelines and applicable Fair Play Protection Measures shall apply to all Championships.
Any appeal against a decision of the Chief Arbiter shall be submitted in accordance with the applicable FIDE Appeals Committee Procedural Rules.
- Direct Encounter (only if all tied players have played each other)
- Buchholz Cut 1
- Buchholz
- Greater number of games played with Black
- Greater number of wins
- Drawing of lots
§ 10Appeals
A clear and impartial process
Any appeal against a decision made by the Chief Arbiter must be submitted in writing to the Chairman of the Appeals Committee within 15 minutes following the end of the relevant game.
- Submission window
- After the end of the relevant game, in writing to the Chairman of the Appeals Committee.
- Appeal deposit
- If the appeal is upheld, the deposit will be refunded immediately.
- If rejected
- If the appeal is rejected, the deposit will be forfeited to FIDE.
The appeal must be submitted by the player concerned, and the decision of the Appeals Committee shall be final and binding.
Champions of tomorrow,
honoured today
Best Federations
Trophy
The three best Federations, by ranking of medals collected across all categories, will receive a trophy according to the rules below:
- For first place, the number of gold medals is taken into consideration.
- If there is a tie, the number of silver medals is taken into consideration.
- If there is still a tie, the number of bronze medals is taken into consideration.
- If there is still a tie, the total points of medalists is taken for tiebreak.
- Finally, if this is still equal, the average performance rating of the medalists from each country is taken into consideration.
The official regulations do not specify monetary prize amounts. None are stated on this site.