{"id":39411,"date":"2025-10-20T11:34:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T11:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=39411"},"modified":"2025-10-20T20:15:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T20:15:51","slug":"fide-and-iscf-declare-2026-as-the-year-of-chess-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/fide-and-iscf-declare-2026-as-the-year-of-chess-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"FIDE and ISCF declare 2026 as the Year of Chess in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Following the Year of Social Chess, 2026 will be dedicated to chess in education, underscoring FIDE\u2019s focus on integrating chess into the global school curricula worldwide.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

On 20 October, at NGS School in Astana, FIDE and the International School Chess Federation (ISCF) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to jointly promote scholastic chess globally. The initiative builds upon the successful 2025 Year of Social Chess and aligns with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich\u2019s proposal \u2013 made at the recent Smart Moves Summit in Washington, D.C. \u2013to make education one of key focus areas for 2026.<\/p>

Under the agreement \u2013 which will guide future cooperation \u2013 ISCF will work closely with FIDE to organise a series of international school team tournaments under the name \u201cWorld Schools Team Championship League 2026\u201d (WSTCL), which will serve as a flagship event of the \u201cChess in Education 2026\u201d programme.<\/p>

The tournaments will unfold in two stages:<\/p>

  1. Continental Championships for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.<\/span><\/li>
  2. Grand Final featuring the winners of respective Continental Championships.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

    The parties expressed their intent to draft an action plan for additional events alongside each WSTCL 2026 tournament, aiming to expand scholastic chess and promote chess as an educational tool.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    The memorandum was signed by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Timur Turlov, President of the International School Chess Federation.<\/p>

    \u201cEducation is the foundation for a good and successful life, and chess is a proven and powerful tool to underpin that goal,\u201d said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.<\/p>

    \u201cInvestment in chess education, youth and school events has been one of the goals of my team since taking the helm of FIDE. I am delighted that after a successful Year of Social Chess, we are continuing with the Year of Chess in Education, launching new projects and initiatives and getting more schools and educational facilities involved in chess.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    The memorandum will serve as a foundation for implementing initiatives aimed at developing school chess and popularising intellectual sports in school education.<\/p>

    \u201cInclusion and equal opportunities have always been close to my heart. With the backing of our Freedom Shapagat Foundation, we have consistently supported social initiatives that help children and promote a more compassionate and humane society. That is why hosting these initiatives within the framework of the FIDE Olympiad for People with Disabilities feels especially meaningful,\u201d said Timur Turlov.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    \u201cIt is only natural that in this year \u2014 declared by FIDE as the Year of Social Chess \u2014 together with the International School Chess Federation, we take the next step and announce 2026 as the Year of Chess in Education. From early childhood, it is through learning that we build a society grounded in respect, empathy, and support for every child,\u201d he added.<\/p>

    The \u201cChess in Education 2026\u201d initiative marks a major milestone in FIDE\u2019s global efforts to promote chess as a valuable component of learning, supporting both cognitive and social development among students worldwide.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    About ISCF: <\/strong>The International School Chess Federation (ISCF) is dedicated to the global promotion and integration of chess within the educational system globally. Launched in September 2024 as a FIDE-affiliated organization, the ISCF operates as a main institutional platform for advancing chess in schools \u2014 developing educational programs, supporting national federations, and fostering cognitive and social growth among students through the game of chess.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Following the Year of Social Chess, 2026 will be dedicated to chess in education, underscoring FIDE\u2019s focus on integrating chess into the global school curricula worldwide. On 20 October, at NGS School in Astana, FIDE and the International School Chess Federation (ISCF) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to jointly promote scholastic chess globally. The initiative builds upon the successful 2025 Year of Social Chess and aligns with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich\u2019s proposal \u2013 made at the recent Smart Moves Summit in Washington, D.C. \u2013to make education one of key focus areas for 2026. Under the agreement \u2013 which will guide future cooperation \u2013 ISCF will work closely with FIDE to organise a series of international school team tournaments under the name \u201cWorld Schools Team Championship League 2026\u201d (WSTCL), which will serve as a flagship event of the \u201cChess in Education 2026\u201d programme. The tournaments will unfold in two stages: Continental Championships for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. Grand Final featuring the winners of respective Continental Championships. The parties expressed their intent to draft an action plan for additional events alongside each WSTCL 2026 tournament, aiming to expand scholastic chess and promote chess as an educational tool. The memorandum was signed by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Timur Turlov, President of the International School Chess Federation. \u201cEducation is the foundation for a good and successful life, and chess is a proven and powerful tool to underpin that goal,\u201d said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. \u201cInvestment in chess education, youth and school events has been one of the goals of my team since taking the helm of FIDE. I am delighted that after a successful Year of Social Chess, we are continuing with the Year of Chess in Education, launching new projects and initiatives and getting more schools and educational facilities involved in chess.\u201d The memorandum will serve as a foundation for implementing initiatives aimed at developing school chess and popularising intellectual sports in school education. \u201cInclusion and equal opportunities have always been close to my heart. With the backing of our Freedom Shapagat Foundation, we have consistently supported social initiatives that help children and promote a more compassionate and humane society. That is why hosting these initiatives within the framework of the FIDE Olympiad for People with Disabilities feels especially meaningful,\u201d said Timur Turlov. \u201cIt is only natural that in this year \u2014 declared by FIDE as the Year of Social Chess \u2014 together with the International School Chess Federation, we take the next step and announce 2026 as the Year of Chess in Education. From early childhood, it is through learning that we build a society grounded in respect, empathy, and support for every child,\u201d he added. The \u201cChess in Education 2026\u201d initiative marks a major milestone in FIDE\u2019s global efforts to promote chess as a valuable component of learning, supporting both cognitive and social development among students worldwide. About ISCF: The International School Chess Federation (ISCF) is dedicated to the global promotion and integration of chess within the educational system globally. Launched in September 2024 as a FIDE-affiliated organization, the ISCF operates as a main institutional platform for advancing chess in schools \u2014 developing educational programs, supporting national federations, and fostering cognitive and social growth among students through the game of chess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[414,392],"regular":[],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-39411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fide-news","tag-chess-in-education-2","tag-chess-in-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39411"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39421,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411\/revisions\/39421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39411"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=39411"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=39411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}