One of the biggest inter-school chess competitions, the 3rd NIST Chess Championship, will take place at NIST International School Bangkok on May 10th 2026. The competition will be open for players from all schools in Thailand and abroad, who are born in 2008 or later. We plan to accept 250 players, same number of players that joined in the past two years.
Aside the usual age groups: U7, U8, U9, U10, U12, U14, and U18, this year we will also add a competitive junior FIDE Rated Category! 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 the information above. It only concerns the players who want to take part in the FIDE category.
Here are some photos from the previous competitions at NIST:
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You will find the Registration Form and the Tournament regulations below. Please carefully read the tournament regulations and the conditions, before submitting the registration form. The Early Bird fee deadline is April 3. Some small changes might be done as the tournament approaches. Please follow our social media pages for updates.
You can find the registration form below:
TOURNAMENT REGULATIONS
1. INVITATION
1.1 NIST International School and Red Knight Chess Club have the honor to invite you to the 3rd NIST Chess Championship that will take place on May 10th, 2026, at NIST International School.
1.2 The championship is open to students from all schools. We will 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
FIDE Rated Category, born 2008 or later, FIDE Id number is mandatory.
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. The player can also join the FIDE Rated category, provided that he has a FIDE Id number.
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 in the tournament.
2.2 Team awards
- We will award team trophies to the: BEST SCHOOL TEAM, 1st and 2nd Runners-Up School Teams. 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 registration form on this link:
https://redknightchess.com/nist
3.2 Registration fees are as follows:
- Early Bird - 1100 THB, by April 3.
- Regular Fee - 1300 THB, April 4 – 25
- Late Fee - 1500 THB, April 26 - May 6.
3.3 IMPORTANT: We will close the registrations on May 6th 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.
4.4 Lunch is not included in the registration fee. We will inform about lunch options both for the players and the parents, as the tournament approaches.
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
16:00 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 AND PAIRINGS
6.1 The time control for the Primary division (U7, U8, U9, U10 and 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 Rated 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 need 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 regular school uniform, their PE school uniform, 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 may appear on a promotional photo or video materials that will be published on the NIST 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, info@redknightchess.com.
- 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 18:00.
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 players 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. Big thanks to our host, NIST International School Bangkok, for providing their facilities for yet another major chess competition for children in Bangkok!