Kazakhstan to host FIDE World University Team Chess Championship final
Kazakhstan will host the final of the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship, one of the International Chess Federation’s flagship tournaments of 2026. The announcement was made by Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The FIDE World University Team Chess Championship 2026 will take place in Almaty in August and will mark the return of university chess to the global stage.
“This will be a complete rethinking of the university-team format in world chess, something the professional community has been anticipating since 2021. As a reminder, the inaugural FIDE World University Online Rapid Championship was held during the pandemic, but it took place entirely online. Now the format is being revived with truly global reach and a live final stage, the hosting of which has been entrusted to us,” he wrote.
Qualifying rounds were held throughout May, bringing together leading universities from North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Following closely contested competition, the first eight finalists were determined: Saint Louis University, the University of Texas at Dallas, Ural State Mining University, the National Technical University of Athens, Webster University, the University of Chile, Gunadarma University and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
The remaining eight teams will receive direct wild-card invitations. At present, these include the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Harvard University, Peking University and the Kazakh Academy of Sport and Tourism, which secured its place through the national selection process. The names of the remaining three wild-card recipients will be announced at a later date.
The federation president noted that a university tournament of this calibre offers not only an opportunity to compete for sporting success and medals, but also a platform for establishing new academic ties and launching joint youth initiatives.
“It is already clear that this is a real opportunity to bring university chess back to the forefront and highlight Kazakhstan’s active role in this global process,” he concluded.
