ChessKid Candidates Events in Madrid

The ChessKid team is getting ready for an amazing adventure in Madrid! We're looking forward to many exciting events for ChessKids and their families, like ChessKid simuls with titled players (including FunMasterMike himself), educational chess seminars, and the finals of the Intercontinental ChessKid Candidates Tournament.

The tournament will be live on twitch.tv/chesskid between 9:00 and 13:00 CEST on June 21, 22 and 23! Read on to find out more details about all of the fun things we have planned.

Intercontinental ChessKid Tournament Candidates 2022: The Qualifiers

The qualifiers for the Intercontinental ChessKid Tournament Candidates 2022 are officially over, with six mighty ChessKids qualifying for the finals from the three regionals! They will be joined by two local players to compete in Madrid, Spain, just like their adult Candidates counterparts. They will even get to play in the same room, using the same boards and pieces! 

A graphic showing the logo of the Intercontinental ChessKid Tournament Candidates 2022

Qualifiers involved more than 200 ChessKids from 52 countries, divided into three sections:

Each section featured a Swiss-system qualifying tournament, with four players from each section qualifying for the online semifinal event. The semifinal featured a round robin, in which two players from each section went through to the finals.

If you're keeping count, that's six ChessKids in total! In addition, two wildcard entries will be taking part in the finals -- one from the Madrid Chess Federation, and another candidate chosen by ChessKid España.

Intercontinental ChessKid Tournament Candidates 2022

The main event will take place from June 21 to June 23, 2022, in Madrid. All eight candidates will play in a round robin system, in the very same room and using the same boards and pieces as the adult grandmasters playing in the FIDE Candidates Tournament!

The logo of the Intercontinental ChessKid Tournament Candidates 2022.

FM Mike Klein and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili will be providing commentary in English, while FM Julio Diaz and WFM María Rodrigo will handle the Spanish coverage of the event. You'll be able to catch all the action live on twitch.tv/chesskid between 9:00 and 13:00 CEST every day.

Spanish commentary aquí.

But that's not all...

ChessKid Simuls by Chess Stars

To kick things off, there will be an exciting simul event on Thursday, June 16 at 4:00 pm local time in Madrid. WFM María Rodrigo, Spanish Champion GM Eduardo Iturrizaga, and FM Mike Klein (aka FunMasterMike) will be ready to take on all challengers!

Important information:

Please note that there is a maximum limit of 50 players, so make sure you register as soon as possible if you'd like to take part in this exciting event!

ChessKid Educational Seminar

As part of ChessKid's collaboration with FIDE, there will be a special Spanish-language seminar featuring Spanish chess expert Leontxo García and WFM María Rodrigo.

An image featuring Spanish chess journalist Leontxo García and WFM María Rodrigo, with the time and date of their seminar listed as in the article.

This event (in Spanish only) will be held at the Palace of Santoña on July 2. Leontxo García's lecture will begin at 10:00, and WFM María Rodrigo's lecture will start at 11:00. It's free to attend, but guests must register here!

Chess.com and ChessKid Booths

We always have a great time meeting ChessKids, which is why we'll be present with our very own booth during the Candidates Tournament in Madrid (June 17 to July 5, 2022). 

A promo banner for the Candidates 2022 tournament, showing Madrid in the background.

Our booth will be open throughout the day and have plenty of fun chess-related activities for kids and adults. Come say hi, if you can! For everyone who can't make it, don't worry, we'll be keeping you up to date on all the action so you don't miss a thing.