Inside Story: SuperNationals VIII Preview

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the April 2025 issue of Chess Life magazine, and is re-published here with updates including more information about special guests and side events. Consider becoming a US Chess member for more content like this — access to digital editions of both Chess Life and Chess Life Kids is a member benefit, and you can receive print editions of both magazines for a small add-on fee. 

SuperNationals VIII 

A long weekend of chess in the Florida springtime awaits at SuperNationals VIII, set for May 8-11 in Orlando, Florida.

SuperNationals combines the national High School, Middle School, and Elementary School championships under one roof.

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The chess begins before the championships do: On Thursday, May 8, SuperNationals kicks off with the bughouse championships at 11 a.m. (all times EDT), followed by the US Chess National Puzzle Solving Championship, held in partnership with ChessKid, at 3 p.m. In between, registration is still open for US Chess Communication Manager and national master Bryan Tillis’s simul. The day finishes off with blitz championships in five sections — K-12, K-12 under 1800, K-8, K-6, and K-3 — starting at 5 p.m.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 9-11, are given over to the championships, held in 26 class sections across six age divisions (K-12, K-8, K-6, K-5, K-3, and K-1). Each section is a seven-round Swiss with a time control of G/90 and a 10-second delay per move. There are medals as well as national championships on the line in all 26 sections for individual players and teams.

The championships are accompanied by even more events. Each day will include a grandmaster lecture and all-comers blitz session, with special guests including U.S. Women’s Champion IM/WGM Carissa Yip, GM Leinier Dominguez, and GM Awonder Liang among others.

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Photo courtesy of FIDE/Lennart Ootes

As the Special Guest, Dominguez will be playing six hours of blitz against all challengers, spread out over three two-hour blocks (Friday beginning at 3:45 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday at 10:00 a.m.).

The four other guest grandmasters will each give one lecture and play two hours of blitz against all comers. Plus, on Sunday afternoon, grab a friend and challenge a pair of guests to a game of bughouse! The full schedule of special guest events is available here.

Adults can participate in a Friends and Family Tournament, or sit in on seminars such as “Building School Chess Programs that make a Difference: Community Impact, Instructional Innovation, and International Recognition,” with Chair Jerry Nash and Abel Talamantez of the FIDE Education Committee.

Other seminars include “Preparing for International Youth Events” and “How to Support US Chess,” both held on Saturday, as is the annual Scholastic Meeting. The full schedule of all events can be found here.

Girls Club Room

The Girls Club returns, with WGM Katerina Nemcova, and WIM Carolina Blanco on hand to analyze games, offer lectures, and hold tandem simultaneous exhibitions. The Girls Club Room is sponsored by the Susan Polgar Foundation, and GM Susan Polgar will also be on-site all weekend. Catch Polgar signing books Friday and Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in Hall WA3 and giving a lecture Saturday at 11:15 a.m. in Lecture Hall W300.

The Girls Club Room is a place where girls and their families can relax, socialize, and participate in plenty of fun activities! Hosted by the US Chess Women’s Committee with assistance from DeVaughn Croxton, director of programs for US Chess, the Girls Club is open Thursday through Sunday in Room 109A.

Other activities include “human chess” games, where people act as the pieces on a life-sized board, on both Saturday and Sunday. There will be trivia contests, random raffles, and a station for making Mother’s Day cards. (You did remember that SuperNationals runs on Mother’s Day weekend, right?) Consider dropping by Room 109A to check the Girls Club out and see what all the fuss is about!

Streams with Sabina

The US Chess Twitch channel is back for SuperNationals VIII, featuring WGM Sabina Foisor as host and commentator. Tune in for live top-board coverage, expert analysis, and interviews. You can even submit your games from SNVIII for possible coverage! We’ll be live at the start of each round, so be sure to tune in.

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Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC

For the first time, US Chess will be covering every round of the tournament. This expanded coverage is made possible thanks to stream sponsor Precision Tune AutoCare. Click here to see Foisor’s full schedule for the weekend, and learn how to submit games for review here.

Last Call!

Registration for the main event is open until 11:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 7, so sign up now! There is no on site registration for the main tournament.

There are four hotels connected to the tournament site, but rooms go fast. And of course you’re not far from Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Sea World, among many other theme parks. Information about group discount rates can be found here for Universal and here for Walt Disney.

The last SuperNationals was the largest rated chess tournament in history, with 5,577 players. That broke the record held by — the previous SuperNationals, which drew 5,335.

For more information, including updates on additional grandmaster lecturers, visit the official website or landing page. Contact Click here to show email address with hotel reservation questions and other concerns.