The 7th SkillCraft Chess Fest 2026 takes place from November 13–15, 2026, at Talkatora Indoor Stadium in central New Delhi, India. The festival brings several separate chess competitions under one event identity: an Open Blitz on Friday, junior rapid events for Under-16 and Under-12 players on Saturday, and an Under-8 event together with a Below-2000 Rapid competition on Sunday. The organizer publishes linked Chess-Results starting lists for all five groups, which makes it possible to check individual entries rather than treating the entire festival as one indiscriminate player pool.

This seventh edition offers an appealing weekend program for families with children of different ages, club-level adults and players looking for a short-format event. The public CircleChess listing advertises ₹25,000 in cash prizes for the Open Blitz and gives +91 96672 75083 as a registration contact. The other four competitions have their own entry lists, but a fully verified combined festival prize total and detailed eligibility or fee schedule were not available in the checked source pages. Accordingly, this guide separates known information from those competition-specific details.

Talkatora Indoor Stadium lies near Talkatora Garden, Connaught Place and the government district of New Delhi, not in the suburban sports complexes sometimes used for major chess events. Travelers can approach the area from New Delhi railway station, nearby metro stations or Indira Gandhi International Airport. Below you will find a day-by-day list of the five tournaments, player entry links, accommodation options near the stadium and a practical guide for planning a three-day Delhi chess trip.

📌 Event Details

⏱️ Time Control & Pairings

The festival is made up of several short-format events rather than one shared classical championship. The Friday Open Blitz uses the blitz discipline, while the Sunday Below-2000 Rapid and the advertised age divisions appear as individual tournament selections in Chess-Results. The actual minutes, increment and number of rounds for each separate event must be taken from its final published rules. A time control from an unrelated SkillCraft event should not be used as evidence for this November program.

Participants can check the five individual Chess-Results starting ranks and their dedicated tournament schedules. These records allow a player or parent to verify the correct section and name before arriving. The entries are managed as distinct competition groups, so someone playing in more than one format should expect separate pairings, prize rules and possibly different registration requirements. The organizer’s technical meeting or final circular will govern tie-breaks, late arrivals and behavior in the playing area.

🏆 Prize Fund

The Open Blitz tournament on November 13 is advertised by CircleChess with ₹25,000 in cash prizes. At the reference conversion for October 27, 2026, this represents approximately US$270, rounded up to the next ten dollars. This confirmed amount belongs to the Blitz event and must not be incorrectly presented as the sum of all five separate competitions.

The full festival prize schedule was not established from the checked linked entries. It would be misleading to infer that the Under-16, Under-12, Under-8 or Below-2000 events each award the same amount as Blitz. Anyone comparing this festival with a national open should request the exact prize chart for the desired section and clarify any rules governing joint prizes or special-category awards.

♟️ Sections / Groups

Five connected Chess-Results records show the festival’s structure. The Open Blitz offers a chance for participants to compete in a fast tactical format on Friday. Saturday is directed toward the Under-16 and Under-12 divisions, while Sunday separates younger Under-8 entrants from those in the Below-2000 rapid event. This distinction helps families decide which days require hotel accommodation and whether siblings have overlapping play.

The rating ceiling in the Below-2000 event is not proof that every player rated under 2000 may enter without any further limitations. Players should clarify whether the relevant rating is a FIDE rapid rating, another national rating, or a historical maximum and whether unrated entries are permitted. Similarly, a junior category label does not itself establish a birth-date cutoff. Check the organizers’ current regulations for the age and rating rules before submitting an entry.

📅 Schedule

The festival’s main public schedule is clearly organized around three days. The Open Blitz appears on November 13, Under-16 and Under-12 are listed for November 14, and the remaining two competitions are listed for November 15. However, the group pages reviewed do not display a uniform set of verified round start times. The festival should therefore be planned by day first, with exact reporting and round times checked through the relevant group organizer.

Anyone entering multiple competitions should ask whether the organizer allows repeated entries across different days and how the entry fees are combined, if at all. Families traveling with several children may need to attend on both Saturday and Sunday. Keep the five different Chess-Results pages accessible so that a starting list for one section is not mistaken for the correct event on another date.

📝 Registration

CircleChess publicly lists the Open Blitz on November 13 and gives +91 96672 75083 for registration. The other festival competitions are linked through Chess-Results, but their separate confirmed direct registration URLs and fees were not available in the reviewed listing. MyChess.Events therefore does not invent a common ticket link or imply that entry to one group automatically covers the others.

When contacting the organizer, specify the exact event title and day, such as “Below-2000 Rapid on November 15” rather than simply saying “SkillCraft Fest.” A family registering children in different age groups should retain a separate entry confirmation for each tournament. If payment is requested through another site, verify that the destination is published by the organizer before submitting personal information.

♟️ Organizer

SkillCraft Chess is the festival identity used in the connected competition records. The records were uploaded by Sushant Tiwari on Chess-Results, with several group pages updated on October 22, 2026. The public CircleChess event listing supplies +91 96672 75083 as a registration inquiry number for the Blitz competition.

The linked tournament selector is useful because it shows the organizer’s intended five-part festival structure. Rather than treating different age-division pages as independently named festivals, visitors can use the common event name and venue to plan a single trip. The current organizer is also the right party to ask about staggered section check-ins, parental waiting arrangements and any age proofs required at registration.

📍 Venue

The announced venue is Talkatora Indoor Stadium near Talkatora Garden, President’s Estate, New Delhi 110001. This established indoor sports arena is managed within New Delhi’s central civic sports infrastructure and is distinct from Thyagaraj Sports Complex, which has hosted other SkillCraft chess events in previous months. Selecting the correct venue is particularly important for families relying on rideshares or metro transport.

Talkatora is near the Connaught Place and government-district areas. The stadium complex may host more than one competition at the same time, so visitors should ask where chess registration takes place and whether spectators may accompany junior players inside. Use the venue’s full name and New Delhi location rather than entering only “SkillCraft Stadium” into a navigation app.

🏨 Accommodation

The central Delhi venue is well served by hotels and hostels around Connaught Place, Jai Singh Road and the government district. The following properties have publicly verifiable listings and are relatively convenient compared with distant Gurgaon or outer Delhi accommodation. They are independent travel options, not tournament accommodation partners.

Parents should compare room size, child occupancy conditions and breakfast hours if a junior participant is scheduled for an early start. Three-day visitors may prefer lodging with flexible luggage storage on Sunday, so a hotel checkout does not require carrying bags to the playing area. Actual room rates and availability vary, so check the November 13–15 dates before confirming payment.

🚇 How to Get There

✈️ Indira Gandhi International Airport

International and many domestic travelers arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), southwest of central New Delhi. A prepaid or app-based taxi to Talkatora Indoor Stadium is the simplest door-to-door option for a family with luggage. Metro travelers can use the Airport Express connection into New Delhi’s city-center network and then continue toward the stadium district by a final taxi or other suitable transport.

🚆 New Delhi Railway Station

New Delhi Railway Station is a principal terminal for intercity services and offers road access toward Connaught Place and Talkatora. The stadium is a separate destination, so do not assume that arriving at the railway station completes the trip. A taxi or auto-rickshaw can continue to the sports complex; confirm the exact entrance if the event requires reporting before the first round.

🚇 Metro and the Last Connection

Central New Delhi has multiple metro lines. Depending on the arrival direction, Shivaji Stadium, Patel Chowk or other central stations may be useful interchange points, followed by a final surface transfer. The nearest practical station can depend on luggage, weather and road restrictions around the government district. Always check current Delhi Metro information, not an outdated route map.

🚕 Traveling Between Festival Days

For participants attending Friday Blitz and weekend rapid events, confirm the return journey each evening and how early players must report the following morning. Delhi traffic and road closures around central government sites can affect taxi access. Keep a copy of the venue address, the five relevant event links and the organizer’s inquiry number to avoid traveling to a different chess venue used by SkillCraft at another time.

🔗 Useful Official Links

ℹ️ Other Information

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Choosing One or Several Groups

A child entering Under-12 on Saturday may also want a place in Blitz on Friday, but the organizer must confirm whether the entry is permitted and how separate fees are handled. Likewise, a family with an Under-8 player and an older Under-16 player faces different days of competition. Using the five specific Chess-Results records makes it easier to plan transport and lodging without confusing group assignments.

⭐ Rating Status and Eligibility

The existence of a Chess-Results page is not itself confirmation that a tournament contributes to the FIDE rating list. The public summary consulted here does not establish international rating calculation for every SkillCraft festival section, so no blanket FIDE-rated claim is made. Players whose main goal is to earn a FIDE rapid or blitz result should request the event registration number and eligibility details directly from SkillCraft Chess before paying.