Format & rules

Who can play?

Students at international and bilingual schools in Year 1–12 / Kindergarten–Grade 11 may enter. Players must be enrolled at the school they represent. Each school/campus has one team, with no limit on the number of players.

How games work

• Games are played on Lichess using the Arena Team Battle format. There is no fixed number of rounds; the number of games varies by player.
• After every game, return to the tournament lobby for another pairing. Losing a game does not eliminate you.
• Base scoring: win 2 points, draw 1, loss 0. Lichess draw restrictions apply. Berserk and Arena streak bonuses are disabled.
• There is no fixed maximum game length with an increment. Finish games that are in progress when the event ends; games finishing after the Arena countdown reaches zero do not count towards the tournament score.

Team scoring & qualification

• In each qualifier, the scores of a team’s top four players form its team score.
• The regular-season standings add each team’s scores from the two qualifiers.
• First tie-break: the total score of all players on the school team. Second tie-break: highest individual score.
• The top six teams qualify for the Final Six. Teams placed 7–12 qualify for the Challengers’ Final.
• Only students who played in at least one qualifier may join the finals.

Fair play & cameras

Play your own moves without help from people, engines, books or analysis tools. Webcams are not required in qualifiers; they are required for the Final Six. Follow the organiser’s event instructions.

Read the fair play guidance →

Prizes

• Final Six: trophies for the top three schools.
• The top three schools each receive eight individual performance medals. Priority goes to players who finished in their school’s top four in any event. If more than eight qualify, the tie-breaks are number of top-four performances, then total score across all events. Remaining places, if any, are filled by Final Six individual score.
• For the top six schools, certificates go to players who finished in their school’s top four in any event.
• No prizes are awarded for individual qualifier events.