Players arrive in Växjö, Sweden for the Elite Hotels Open 2026 from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 February 2026 at Elite Stadshotellet in the very center of the city. You play in a modern city hotel just a few hundred meters from the railway station, with comfortable playing conditions, easy travel, and about twenty boards broadcast live throughout the weekend. The organizers combine four rapid rounds on Friday evening with four classical rounds on Saturday and Sunday, so you experience both fast and long games in a single event.

As the fourth stage of the 2025–2026 Swedish Grand Prix series, Elite Hotels Open attracts a strong national field and ambitious club players from across Scandinavia. You choose between the main Elite Hotels Open and the rating-limited Lilla Elite Hotels Open under 1750, both FIDE-rated and run in the same venue, with a shared schedule and similar prize structures. A prize pool packed with main prizes, rating prizes, and special awards for women, juniors, veterans, and younger players—plus discounted hotel rooms at Elite Stadshotellet and Elite Park Hotel-turn the weekend into a complete chess festival in Småland.

🗓️ Event Details

🏆 Prize Fund

Elite Hotels Open offers a prize ladder headed by 12,000 kr for first place, while Lilla Elite Hotels Open provides 3,000 kr for the winner plus deep prize lists and multiple category prizes. The five main prizes in each tournament may be shared between players on the same score, but all other prizes are indivisible. Organizers pay prizes by bank transfer and guarantee them when the minimum number of entries is reached in each section; they deduct preliminary tax according to the rules of the Swedish Tax Agency.

Elite Hotels Open – main and rating prizes:

Lilla Elite Hotels Open – main and rating prizes:

All prizes are paid to the player’s bank account, and the prize structure in both tournaments follows the same principle of shared main prizes and non-shared category and rating prizes.

⏱️ Time Control & Pairings

• Both Elite Hotels Open and Lilla Elite Hotels Open run as 8-round FIDE-Swiss tournaments.

• Rounds 1–4 use a rapid time control of 15 minutes per game plus 5 seconds increment per move.

• Rounds 5–8 use a classical time control of 90 minutes per game plus 30 seconds increment per move.

• The organizers register the tournaments for Elo rating, and games from both rapid and classical phases affect rating in accordance with current regulations.

• Standard Swiss pairings apply, and the organizers publish pairings and results online together with live boards from about twenty tables.

📂 Sections / Groups

Both sections share the same playing hall at Elite Stadshotellet and follow the identical round schedule across the whole weekend.

📅 Schedule

Players who appear as “paid” in the online start list may go directly to the first round without checking in during the Friday registration window.

📝 Registration

You register for Elite Hotels Open or Lilla Elite Hotels Open online at https://member.schack.se/turnering/5684/anmalan. On the registration page you enter your details and choose either the main Elite section or “Lilla.” After you register, you pay your entry fee to Växjö SK’s PlusGiro 580294-7 no later than 1 February 2026, clearly stating your name as the payment reference.

If you pay by 16 January 2026, the Elite Hotels Open fee is 800 kr and the Lilla fee is 600 kr. After that date, the fees rise to 900 kr and 700 kr respectively. When you pay on site you add a 100 kr surcharge, except if you are a foreign player, in which case no extra fee applies. Grandmasters, Woman Grandmasters, International Masters, and Woman International Masters enter free of charge. The organizers refund the entry fee if you cancel because of illness.

👥 Organizer

Växjö SK organizes Elite Hotels Open and Lilla Elite Hotels Open as part of the Swedish Grand Prix 2025/2026, with support from Elite Hotels and the Swedish Chess Federation. The club focuses on delivering a professional, centrally located event with live boards, clear information, and convenient registration and accommodation for players from all over Sweden and beyond.

• Organizer club: Växjö SK

• Contact person: Håkan Jalling

• Email: hakan.jalling@gmail.com

• Phone: +46 72 974 72 06

• Tournament website: https://www.gpschackvaxjo.se/

• Club website: http://www.vaxjoschackklubb.se/

• Swedish Grand Prix regulations: https://schack.se/tavlingar/svenskt-grand-prix/regler/

🏨 Venue

Elite Stadshotellet in Växjö serves as both the playing venue and one of the official tournament hotels. This classic city hotel stands in the middle of the center, only a few hundred meters from the railway station, and offers spacious playing areas, hotel rooms, and dining facilities under the same roof. Players can reach the venue easily by train, step straight into the hotel lobby, and move between their rooms and the tournament hall in just a few minutes.

🛎️ Accommodation

Elite Stadshotellet and Elite Park Hotel (at the concert hall) act as the main hotel partners for Elite Hotels Open. You book your stay with an Elite discount by logging into the Swedish Chess Federation’s membership system at https://member.schack.se/, selecting “Jag – Mina erbjudanden” in the top menu, and then completing your hotel booking through the special offer link. If you lack login details, you email the federation office at kansliet@schack.se to obtain access.

Both Elite Stadshotellet and Elite Park Hotel allow you to check out on Sunday just before the final round begins at 2:00 pm, so you can play the last game without worrying about your room. The Elite discount, central locations, and synchronized checkout time make these hotels the most convenient options for the weekend.

🚗 How to Get There

You travel to Växjö by train and walk a few hundred meters from the railway station to Elite Stadshotellet in the city center. Drivers enter Växjö via the main approach roads and follow signs to the central area, where they can use nearby parking facilities around the hotel and city core. Once you arrive at Elite Stadshotellet, you reach both the playing hall and your room without needing additional transport, and you can also walk to restaurants, cafés, and shops in the immediate neighborhood.

You can turn this Swedish Grand Prix stage into a full weekend of rapid and classical Elo-rated games, live-board excitement, and comfortable hotel conditions at Elite Hotels Open and Lilla Elite Hotels Open 2026 in Växjö.

🧾 Other

• The five main prizes in each tournament may be shared between players on the same final score; rating and special prizes are not shared.

• All prizes are paid by bank transfer, and preliminary tax is deducted according to Swedish tax rules.

• Both tournaments follow the official regulations for the Swedish Grand Prix series 2025/2026, including fair-play and anti-cheating guidelines issued by the Swedish Chess Federation.