Southern Nevada Scholastic Chess Championships

Silver State Chess Association LLC

Presents

SOUTHERN NEVADA STATE SCHOLASTIC
INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
and QUALIFIER to NEVADA STATE SCHOLASTIC CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2026 @ 8:45am

IMPORTANT: Both the Southern portion of the state (defined below) and the Northern portion of the state will hold separate Over-The-Board tournaments to determine individuals and teams from each region who will then compete in the Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship to be held on dates to be determined.

Individuals who reside in, or go to school in, the following Nevada counties will be eligible to participate in the Southern Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship: Clark, Nye, Lincoln and Esmerelda.

This announcement is for the Southern Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship. The Northern Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship will be held on a different day and will be detailed in a separate announcement.

Location:

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts   
3100 E Patrick Ln    
Las Vegas, NV 89120

To register please visit www.kingregistration.com/event/2026SNVSCh

A US Chess Rated Tournament in 6 Sections open to Southern Nevada residents or Southern Nevada students in the counties listed above.

K-3 Championship (Open to all players in grades K – 3)
K-5 Championship (Open to all players in grades K – 5)
6 rounds
Time Control Game/25 minutes +5 seconds

Middle School Championship (Open to all players in grades 6 – 8)
High School Championship (Open to all players in grades 9 – 12)
5 rounds
Time Control Game/30 minutes +10 seconds
 

K-5 Challengers (Open to all players in grades K – 5 rated Under 400 or unrated)
K-12 Challengers (Open to all players in grades K – 12 rated Under 800 or unrated)
6 rounds
Time Control Game/25 minutes +5 seconds

Individual and Team Trophies will be Awarded!

All players will receive a participation medal. Trophies will also be awarded.

Qualifiers
The top three individual scorers in each of the six Sections in the Southern Nevada Scholastic Chess Championship will meet on a date to be determined to compete in the Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship (individuals), an online tournament that includes the Southern Nevada individual qualifiers and the Northern Nevada individual qualifiers. We will provide digital tablets for that tournament. The winners of the four sections: High School, Middle School, K-5 Championship, and K-3 Championship from that tournament will represent the State of Nevada at national tournaments to be held on August 3-6 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Nevada State representatives will each receive a travel stipend from Silver State Chess after completing all games in the national tournament without a forfeit loss.

The top two scoring teams in each Section in the Southern Nevada Scholastic Chess Championship will meet on a date to be determined to compete in the Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship (teams), an online tournament that includes the Southern Nevada team qualifiers and the Northern Nevada team qualifiers. We will provide digital tablets for that tournament. The winning teams will not qualify for any national tournament because there is no national team tournament for which to qualify.

Additional Prizes

The top scoring player in each section will receive free entry to the International Youth Championship in Las Vegas June 13-14. Restricted to players born after June 14, 2011 and rated under 1800.

The second-place finishers in all six sections will receive an entry to a future one-day tournament of their choice at Southern Nevada Chess Club in Las Vegas.  The high school second place finisher may choose the Thursday night series instead of a one-day tournament.  The free entry offer expires 12/31/26.  Visit https://snvchess.com for more information about tournaments at the Southern Nevada Chess Club.

Entry Fees:

$50 before Feb. 8

$65 by Feb. 22

$75 before March 6

$100 before 6 AM on March 7

$125 on-site on March 7 may receive a half point bye in round 1

Refunds:

Refunds must be requested via email to [email protected] prior to 11:59pm on March 6 and will have a processing fee of $12 withheld.

Byes

Maximum two half-point byes are available upon request. All half-point byes must be requested before 8:30am on March 7. Half-point byes for Rounds 4 or later are irrevocable after 12:30pm on March 7. If any player is unable to play any round for any reason, including withdrawals, please notify a tournament director or score keeper.

Teams

Two or more players from the same school in the same section automatically form a team.

US Chess Membership required: you may join or renew at https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess

Lunch: 
We are seeking a sponsor to donate a pizza lunch for all participants and staff. A 60-90 minute lunch break will be provided following the completion of Round 2.  If we do not get a sponsor for a pizza lunch, we will invite one or more food trucks to provide food service in the parking lot.
 

Schedule: Welcome and announcements will begin at approximately 8:45am. All players should be seated for Round 1 start at 9:00am. Subsequent rounds start about 15 minutes after the previous round ends. There will be a lunch break for players to eat lunch. Players registering on site may not be paired for round 1.

Players should bring a Chess clock capable of using Increments and they should be familiar with how to set the clock.