The 3rd King’s Bangkok Chess Championship for 2026 will take place at King’s College International School Bangkok, on February 8th. Our chess club is proud to organize this massive inter-school chess competition. As those of you who joined in the past 2 years remember, more than 250 students from more than 50 different schools joined the competition each year! We anticipate another full-house event in February. The host school will provide a very spacious venue and excellent conditions for playing a chess tournament.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to the Election Day, which recently was scheduled to take place on February 8th, we must delay the starting time of our tournament. The first round will start at 10:30. We will eliminate the usual physical confirmation of presence in the morning, so that the players can go directly to the playing venue. We are still working on some details. All players who joined the tournament will be updated by email. Updates will also be posted on our Facebook page. The tournament will finish by 17:00, including the awarding ceremony (normally we finish by 16:30).
Aside the usual age groups: U7, U8, U9, U10, U12, U14, and U18, we are also adding a competitive junior FIDE Rated Category to the event! For those who are not familiar with this: FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) stands for the World Chess Federation. Competitive chess player have official ratings, called “FIDE Ratings”. A FIDE Rated Tournament or Category is one in which the results will be valid for ratings and they will be sent to the World Chess Federation for rating calculations. All players in this category will play together in a mixed group, regardless of their age, but please note that this category is for players born 2008 or younger. Older players are not eligible to join.
Players who wish to join the FIDE Rated category must provide their “FIDE Id Number“, which is mandatory for joining any FIDE Rated competition in the world. If you would like to join this category but you don’t have a FIDE Id Number yet, please contact us and we will try to assist you in the process.
We do understand that for novice players and their parents, the “FIDE” part can be confusing, but if you are joining any of the age groups, you can simply ignore all the information. It only concerns the players who want to take part in the FIDE category.
Here are some photos from last year:
Before you register for the competition, we strongly suggest to read the General Regulations, which you can find below the registration form. Players who will join the FIDE Rated Category will find additional regulations at the bottom of the page. All the most important details, including schedule and deadlines, are in it. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
TOURNAMENT REGULATIONS
1. INVITATION
1.1 King’s College International School Bangkok and Red Knight Chess Club have the honor to invite you to the King’s Bangkok Chess Championship that will take place on February 8th, 2026, at King’s College International School Bangkok.
1.2 The championship is open to students from all schools. We plan to accept maximum 250 players.
1.3 The players can join in one of the following age groups:
Under 07 born 2019 or later
Under 08 born 2018
Under 09 born 2017
Under 10 born 2016
Under 12 born 2014/2015
Under 14 born 2012/2013
Under 18 born 2008/2009/2010/2011
1.4 IMPORTANT: Players can play in a higher age group if they choose to do so. For example, a player born in 2014, who should be playing in U12 age group, can choose to play in U14 or U18 age groups instead.
2. AWARDS
2.1 Individual awards
- In each age group, we will award trophies to the Winner, the 1st and the 2nd Runners-up.
- In each age group, we will award medals to the 3rd and 4th Runners-up.
- E-certificates will be sent to all players who will show up for the tournament.
2.2 Team awards
- We will award team trophies to the: BEST SCHOOL TEAM, as well as the teams that will be 2nd place and 3rd place. The results will be calculated based on the top 5 performing players of each school team, across all age groups, including the FIDE rated category.
2.3 IMPORTANT: This is primarily an individual competition. The players are being registered by their parents, not by their schools. The schools that will have minimum 5 participants will have a school team, and all the players from those schools will be a part of their respective school teams by default.
3. REGISTRATION PROCEDURE AND DEADLINES
3.1 You can register by filling in the online registration form. The link and the QR code are posted on this page.
3.2 Registration fees are as follows:
- Early Bird - 1100 THB, by December 14.
- Regular - 1300 THB, December 15 - January 24.
- Late Fee - 1500 THB, January 25 - February 3.
3.3 IMPORTANT: We will close the registrations on February 3rd at 23:00h, and we will not accept any more players after that. The registrations will be closed earlier in case of reaching the maximum number of 250 players.
4. PAYMENT, CANCELLATIONS AND REFUND POLICY
4.1 In order to submit the registration, you will need to upload the proof of payment (a screenshot, a photo or a PDF file, not exceeding 1 megabyte) in the Registration Form. You will not be able to complete the Registration Form without uploading the proof of payment.
4.2 Please find the details of the bank account:
Kasikorn bank, Sukhumvit 33 branch
Account number: 062-1-75111-5
Red Knight Chess Co., Ltd.
4.3 The registrations are non-refundable and non-transferable.
5. SCHEDULE
5.1 For all Age Groups
07:30 - 08:30 Arrival and confirmation of presence.
9:00 Pairings and Technical Meeting
9:30 Round 1
10:20 Round 2
11.10 Round 3
Lunch break after Round 3
13:00 Round 4
13:50 Round 5
14:40 Round 6
16:30 Awarding Ceremony
5.2 IMPORTANT: Some rounds might start slightly later due to different time controls in the Primary and Secondary age groups. This is our best estimation. The Awarding Ceremony might be as early as 16:00, if all games finish by 15:30.
6. TIME CONTROL, PAIRINGS AND TIE BREAKS
6.1 The time control for the Primary division (from U7 to U12 age groups) will be 15 minutes per player, with no time increment. The time control for the Secondary division (U14 and U18 age groups) and the FIDE Category, will be 15 minutes per player with an increment of 5 seconds per move.
6.2 In both divisions, 6 rounds will be played by SWISS Pairing System.
6.3 Depending on the size of the age group, the organizer may have to make some changes which will be printed and published at the playing venue.
7. YEAR OF BIRTH
7.1 Parents do not need to send us a proof of birth of their children. However, parents should present a proof of the date of birth of their child, if the arbiters request it. Please make sure that you write the correct year birth in the Registration Form. We only need the correct year, the month and the day are not relevant.
8. DRESS CODE
8.1 With exception of those students who study in schools in which there are no school uniforms, the students are requested to appear in their school uniform, their school PE outfit, or
8.2 Students can also play in their school team Chess T-Shirt, if they are studying in a school which has a chess team.
9. PERMISSIONS
9.1 By registering for the tournament, you give consent that you might appear on a promotional photo or video materials that will be published on the King's College and RKCC websites and/or social media pages. Where this applies to a minor, the parents give consent by submitting the registration form.
10. CONTACT
10.1 If you need more information about the tournament, before calling us please either:
- Send us an email at redknightchessbkk@gmail.com, or
- Contact us by our official Line account @RedKnight (with @) or through our social media pages (You can find us on Facebook as RedKnightChess and Instagram as RedKnightChessClub).
- Contact phone number: 085-313-3300 (Available on LINE and WhatsApp). Our staff will get back to you on working days between 10:00 and 19:00.
Additional regulations for the FIDE Rated Category:
FIDE RATED CATEGORY - REGULATIONS
1. The General Regulations above also apply to the players who will join the FIDE Rated Category.
2. To join the FIDE Rated Category, the player:
- Must be born 2008 or later. Older player cannot join this competition
- Must have a FIDE Id Number
*If you don't have a FIDE Id number, please contact us and we will try to assist you with the process of obtaining one.
3. The FIDE Laws of Chess will be applied strictly in this category. The players joining this category are expected to be familiar with the FIDE Laws of Chess.
4. The Chief Arbiter will inform the players about the most important rules in the technical meeting before the first round.