29th NATO Chess Championship to Be Held at Texas Tech University

The 29^th NATO Chess Championship will be held on the campus of Texas Tech University from June 4-8, 2018.  This will be the first time in the history of the NATO Chess Championship that the event will be held in the United States and only the second time that the event will be held in the Western Hemisphere.  Canada hosted the event in 2014. The hosting of this event is made possible by the generous offer of Texas Tech University and Head Coach GM Alex Onischuk.  The tournament will welcome military teams of six players from any NATO member nation.  Countries will face off against each other in an individual seven round swiss with the top three individual players winning Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals.  The top four scores from each team will determine the team champion and the top three nations will receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals respectively. In addition to the teams, NATO countries typically bring small delegations of team officials and a team captain.  These individuals are allowed to participate in the tournament, but their scores do not count toward their nation’s team.  This is an invitation only event.  All players must be members of their nation’s military forces and are selected, sanctioned, and registered by their NATO member nation. The USA is currently in the process of selecting our team.  In order to participate, players must be active or reserve military members or full time Department of Defense civilian employees. Personnel who have retired in the last 12 months before the tournament are still eligible to play.  There may also be a very limited number of slots for veterans.  These veterans will not be eligible to play for the USA Team, but will play all the rounds of the tournaments as a veteran’s team.   Please note that the Department of Defense no longer funds participation in this event. As such, players are responsible for their own expenses.  The deadline for application is December 1, 2017. For more information or to apply, please contact Staff Sergeant John Farrell, USMC retired at Click here to show email address and johnnyusmc@aol.com.  Please send to both e-mail addresses in case your e-mail is blocked by a firewall.