UK Chess Challenge 2020 – Online!

Many people have asked me about the future of the UK Chess Challenge since the start of the lockdown.

Our own Teesside Megafinal had to be cancelled, as did every other Megafinal. Unfortunately, there was no alternative.

I am now delighted to convey the big news of the solution devised by Sarah and Longson.

UK Chess Challenge 2020 – Online!

For the first time the UK Chess Challenge will be being held online. Throughout the summer there will be a festival of chess with all the regular events (Megafinals, Gigafinals and Terafinal) and a host of other championships including chess 960, chess variants and a Blitz championship. We will also be holding regular simultaneous displays with masters and past champions.

Unlike previous years once you have entered the competition you have a ticket to the full event – no requirement to pay extra for Gigafinals or the Terafinal if you get that far.

There are three options.

 i) “Competition Pass” which gets you access to all of the competitions

 ii) “Season Ticket” which includes everything in “Competition Pass” PLUS 1 x bootcamp (targeted training session with master coach) and access to special events such as the simultaneous displays versus masters and past champions

iii) “VIP Pass” which has everything in “Season Ticket” PLUS 2 x training sessions (in small groups) with past UKCC champions such as Sarah Longson and David Howell and a tailored report on your performance with tips on how to improve.

The events take place on lichess.org – the best place to play chess online and completely free registration. All participants will have access to full training on how to use the platform and all the safety features (though most will be able to just “pick up and play” as it is very easy to use).

All participants get: 

Access to all tournament competitions (though qualification required for some events)

 
Digital certificate of participation 

Access to video library – “How to learn and play chess online” 

Access to the live stream – daily tournament commentary, lessons and more.

Further details are available here.

Incidentally, Sarah and Alex have been very proactive during the current emergency and have been producing lots of new material, details of which can be found on the Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge Facebook page and Twitter account.