The FIDE World Senior Teams Chess Championships 2026, April 18-29, 2026, in Durrës, Albania brings senior team chess to a seaside setting at the official event hotel, with four parallel World Championship categories (Open and Women in 50+ and 65+). The event welcomes teams from all FIDE member federations without rating or title restrictions, and it keeps the focus on match strategy across four boards plus one reserve player.

You can compete for official world senior team titles in your age category through a nine-round team Swiss, with classical time control and clearly defined tie-breaks. The tournament also runs a free day with a parallel rapid event, and it provides organized airport transfers on the official arrival and departure days for accredited participants and accompanying persons who stay in the official hotel.

🗓️ Event Details

🏆 Prize Fund

Prize amounts (cash) are set in EUR and awarded by category.

Open 50+ (EUR)

Open 65+ (EUR)

Women 50+ (EUR)

Women 65+ (EUR)

If teams tie on match points and game points, the event distributes prizes by the Hort system among the number of teams that matches the number of advertised prizes. The event ranks teams using match points first (win = 2, draw = 1, loss = 0), then game points, then additional tie-breaks in the published order.

⏱️ Time Control & Pairings

The championship runs a 9-round team Swiss System on 4 boards, and teams may add 1 reserve player (4–5 players total). Each game uses the same classical time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1. The default time for all rounds is 30 minutes.

The event ranks teams by match points, then game points, then mutual game, Buchholz Cut 1, Buchholz, and Sonneborn-Berger. A team that receives a pairing-allocated bye scores 2 match points and 50% of game points; if the opponent defaults the match, the team scores 2 match points and 100% of game points.

📂 Sections / Groups

📅 Schedule

📝 Registration

👥 Organizer

The organizers run the FIDE World Senior Teams Chess Championships 2026 under the aegis of FIDE and the Albanian Chess Federation, and they coordinate registration, accreditation, official accommodation, and airport transfers for participants and accompanying persons through the event’s official channels.

• Email: worldseniorteam@fide.com

• Website: https://worldseniorteam2026.fide.com

• Website: https://wstcc.com/

🏨 Venue

Hotel Grand Blue Fafa (*****) Durrës, Albania
The event takes place in the official 5-star tournament hotel, and the organizers require all teams to book and stay in the official hotel through the organizing committee. The accommodation package includes full board (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for the event days.

🛎️ Accommodation

The official accommodation package includes full board (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and covers all taxes, and it also includes free Wi-Fi and access to hotel parking and swimming pools. The organizer handles bookings through the Organizing Committee only, and teams secure their accommodation with a 30% deposit during the registration period, then complete full payment before Round 1. The organizer may offer extra nights upon availability at the same rate when requested in advance.

🚗 How to Get There

Fly into Tirana International Airport (TIA) and use the organizer’s arranged transfers to the official hotel on the arrival day (April 18) and back to the airport on the departure day (April 29). Plan your travel around accreditation and the start of Round 1, because the event requires in-person accreditation before the draw.

Bring your team, settle into the official event hotel, and fight for a World Senior Team title across nine demanding rounds on the Adriatic coast.

🧾 Other

The event applies FIDE Anti-Cheating guidelines and may conduct random anti-cheating inspections during the championship. If you want to appeal an arbiter decision, you must submit a written protest to the Chief Arbiter within 1 hour after the end of the game and pay a EUR 200 protest fee, and the event refunds the fee if it upholds the protest (and it may also refund the fee if it deems the appeal not frivolous).