Join ChessKid in Spain: Intercontinental ChessKid Candidates!

ChessKid is pleased to announce the qualifiers for the Intercontinental ChessKid Candidates 2022! The tournament will consist of multiple stages leading to a culminating event, the ChessKid Candidates, taking place in person in Madrid, Spain!

The tournament will run alongside the actual Candidates Tournament, which decides to is the challenger to the world championship. And here's the real cool news: qualifying ChessKids will get to play on the actual boards that the elite grandmasters do!

The first stage will include three qualifying sections -- an Americas qualifier, a European and African qualifier, and an Asian and Oceania qualifier. The top four players from each qualifying event will then go to play in a semifinals match the following weekend and receive a free year of ChessKid Gold Membership!

The top two players from the semifinals will then qualify for Intercontinental ChessKid Candidates in Madrid with ChessKid coving the accommodation expenses for the qualifying playing and a tutor. In total, we will have eight ChessKids playing in the same room and with the same chess boards that the GM Candidates will use in their event!

Tournament Details

 The first stage of this event will consist of three regional qualifiers. 

Americas Edition

• When: Saturday, May 21st, 2022 at 10am PT/1pm ET
• Registration: To register for this event, please click here! The entry fee will cost $20 USD and will include a free 3 months of ChessKid Gold Membership! Registration closes on May 18th, 2022 at 11:59 PT; players who register by May 11th will be able to participate in a special warm up event on May 14th at 8am PT/5pm CET/9:30pm India Time and a GM-led Master Class on May 15th 8am PT/5pm CET/9:30pm India Time
• Sections: This event will feature only an Under 12 section (Any player born after December 31st, 2010 can participate)
• Format: Players will play 9 rounds with a time control of G10+2 (Ten minutes per player with a two second increment per move)

Europe and Africa Edition

• When: Sunday, May 22nd, 2022 at 10am CET
• Registration: To register for this event, please click here! The entry fee will cost $20 USD free 3 months of ChessKid Gold Membership! Registration closes on May 18th, 2022 at 11:59pm CET; players who register by May 11th will be able to participate in a special warm up event on May 14th at 8am PT/5pm CET/9:30pm India Time and a GM-led Master Class on May 15th 8am PT/5pm CET/9:30pm India Time
• Section: This event will feature only an Under 12 section (Any player born after December 31st, 2010 can participate)
• Format: Players will play 9 rounds with a time control of G10+2 (Ten minutes per player with a two second increment per move)

Asia and Oceania Edition

• When: Saturday, May 21st at 10am India Time
• Registration: To register for this event, please click here! The entry fee will cost $20 USD free 3 months of ChessKid Gold Membership! Registration closes on May 18th, 2022 at 11:59pm India Time; players who register by May 11th will be able to participate in a special warm up event on May 14th at 8am PT/5pm CET/9:30pm India Time and a GM-led Master Class on May 15th 8am PT/5pm CET/9:30pm India Time.
• Section: This event will feature only an Under 12 section (Any player born after December 31st, 2010 can participate)
• Format: Players will play 9 rounds with a time control of G10+2 (Ten minutes per player with a two second increment per move)

Semifinals and Finals

In each qualifying tournament, the top four players will move forward to the semifinals stage. Players in each semifinal will play a round robin event with a time control of G10+2 (Ten minutes per player with two seconds added on each move). All players will be required to join a Zoom room and play all games with their camera on. All games will also be checked via ChessKid's Fair Play system. 

Here are the dates for the three Semifinal matches:

Americas Edition: May 28th at 10am PT/1pm ET

Europe and Africa Edition: May 29th at 10am CET

Asia and Oceania Edition: May 28th at 10am India Time

The top two players from each semifinal will qualify for the finals in Spain along with two additional "wild card" players. In total, eight players will be invited to compete in Madrid to play an in-person event on June 21st, 22nd, and 23rd during of the most important chess events of the year, the Candidates! Players competing in the ChessKid Candidates will have the opportunity to play in the same game room as the Candidates.

For the qualifying players, ChessKid will cover the lodging for both players and tutor along with covering the cost of participation in attending the Candidates tournament. Players who qualify for the finals will be responsible for their travel expenses to Madrid, Spain. ChessKid reserves the right to verify the residency of winners in this event. Players must present their passport or proof of residence confirming that they are a resident of a country that belongs within the corresponding geographic region of each edition of the tournament. A player may not participate in two or more editions. If a player qualifies but cannot attend, ChessKid will move down the list of finishers in the semifinals for invitations.

Fair Play

ChessKid expects that all children and their families will abide by the rules governing fair play. Both the child and the parent/guardian will have to agree to our fair play policies when registering for the event.

This is what will be agreed to upon registering for the event:

• ChessKid will run this event with the highest level of integrity and ethics. All players must play fairly and use good sportsmanship. We strictly forbid cheating of all kinds. ChessKid will use its own algorithms to monitor games and also will manually analyze select games at its discretion.
• All of your moves must be your own. You will not get help from anyone or anything else, including coaches, friends, parents, chess engines, or any other software of any kind.
• You will also not have a phone, tablet, or any other electronic device in the same room.
• You are only allowed to have one browser tab open and no other programs running on your computer. Violating this rule is a “technical forfeiture” and you will be disqualified, with no chance at prizes.
• You agree that ChessKid will make the final determination on any fair play issue.
• If you violate the ChessKid Fair Play Policy, then ChessKid will close your account and label it as having violated the Fair Play Policy.
• In the Semifinals stage, players must play while on camera via Zoom for fair play purposes. All games will be subject to a post event fair play review. 
• If you are not willing to agree to the above policies, you will not be allowed to play in the event.

Technical Details

• All games will be played on ChessKid.com's live server. No account is needed and if you already have an account, you won't need that either. Special one-time use tournament accounts will be created for all players. 
• Each section will be open for kids to 'join' the tournament about 30 minutes before the first round.  Here's a video on how a child joins a live tournament on ChessKid. If you try to join after the starting time, you may not be able to play. It is required that you 'join' before the tournament starting time.
• ChessKid highly encourages playing on a laptop/desktop computer and not a tablet. Wifi is usually stronger and the site functions better. If you can plug in to an ethernet port, that is best. The reality of online play, even with the world champion, is that Wifi failures can impact an online tournament.
• If you must play on a tablet, the web site version is the only way (opening a browser on your device). The app will not work for this.
• Preferred browsers are Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
• Clearing your browser's cache before the tournament is another great protective measure.
• If you experience issues in the middle of the game or the tournament, clicking 'refresh' on your browser is the first thing to do. If you 'refresh' in the middle of a game, it will never kick you out of the game and can only help.
• Two kids cannot play at the same time on the same device.
• If a family has any issues with logging in, playing, etc, there will be a live help desk on Slack that will open one hour before the first round.

For any questions about the event, please email us at tournaments@chesskid.com

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