2026 Virginia Scholastic & College Chess Championships

PRE-TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

2026 Virginia Scholastic & College
Chess Championships

hosted by

Thomas Jefferson High School

for Science and Technology

Saturday-Sunday, March 7-8, 2026

6560 Braddock Rd., Alexandria VA

WHAT: The Virginia Chess Federation (VCF) is partnering with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology for the 2026 Virginia Scholastic & College Chess Championships.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8, 2026, with a Blitz Tournament on Friday night, March 6th.

REGISTRATION: We will open Registration at www.vachess.org by December 1st, 2025. Specific entry fees have not yet been determined; they are pending final logistical arrangements with the venue. Please do not contact TJ High School, they are relying on the VA Chess Federation to answer all questions about the tournament and event logistics.

HOTEL ARRANGEMENTS: TBD. We will seek agreements with hotels close to the High School. Details will be posted on the VCF website, www.vachess.org.

EVENT FORMAT: The tournament has nine (9) sections:

• College: One section, with all games on Saturday.
• K-12 Championship and K-12 Under 1400
• K-8 Championship and K-8 Under 1200
• K-5 Championship and K-5 Under 1000
• K-3 Championship and K-3 Under 600

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

• Friday, March 6th: On-site Registration for the Main Event and Blitz. Round 1 of BLITZ is at 6:30 PM.
• Saturday, March 7th: Rounds 1-3 at 9 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:30 pm. College Section games are at 9, noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm. Parents & Friends tournament starts at 12:45.
• Sunday, March 8th: Rounds 4-5 at 9:30 am and 1:30 pm. Awards Ceremonies held by section as soon as possible after the last game finishes in a section.

TEAMS: Teams must be comprised of players who attend the same school. A school is not required to have a “chess club” or “official school team” to form a team for this tournament. Two or more players who go to the same school and play in the same section of the tournament are automatically considered a team for the purposes of this tournament. More details will be available when we open registration.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY: 

• All players in the Scholastic sections (K-12, K-8, K-5, K-3) must be Virginia residents. 
• In the College section, players must be attending college in VA or be a VA resident attending college out of state. All college players must be high school graduates. 
• U.S. Chess Federation membership is required for all players. Players can join US Chess or renew their membership through the VCF at www.vachess.org and select the “Join US Chess” tab on the left side of the webpage. We offer all Virginians a small discount on US Chess Federation membership. If you prefer, you also can join/renew your US Chess membership directly with US Chess, go to www.uschess.org.

IMPORTANT: The VCF uses the results of this tournament to identify and nominate representatives to attend the US national tournaments of State Champions. These tournaments (see list below) will be held in early August in conjunction with the U.S. Open in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The VCF provides stipends to assist the Viriginia players selected to represent The Commonwealth at these tournaments.

• Denker Tournament of High School State Champions (Grades 9-12)
• Barber Tournament of Middle School State Champions (Grades 6-8)
• Rockefeller Tournament of Elementary School State Champions (Grades 4-5)
• NEW for 2026: Maurice Ashley Tournament of Primary School State Champions (Grades K-3)
• Haring Tournament of Girls State Champions

FUN SIDE EVENTS:

• BLITZ on Friday evening March 6th (Round 1 at 6:30 pm). 4 double-rounds (2 games per round for 8 total games).
• 4-round “Parents & Friends” tournament open to adults. Scholastic or college players are NOT eligible to play in this event.
• “Challenge the Master” Simultaneous Exhibition.

TEAM ROOMS: We are working with the TJ High School administration to obtain a number of classrooms that can be used by teams with 10 or more players as well as by parents who wish to form a group in order to get a team room. Please do not contact the school for any information about this, the school relies on the VA Chess Federation to collect and consolidate all Team Room requests.

PRE-EVENT ZOOM INFO MEETINGS: The VCF will organize several options for players and parents to attend a pre-event Zoom Meeting in mid-to-late February 2026.