Youth

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Tournaments in Switzerland and abroad, news from our live events and a coach who fits you.

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Tournament calendar

Upcoming youth tournaments, championships and camps. For registration and details, the official announcement always applies.

October 2026

November 2026

  • 1 – 7 Nov 2026

    FIDE World Junior U20 Rapid & Blitz Championships

    Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesChampionship

    Details
  • 1 Nov 2026

    Winterthur Youth City Championship

    Winterthur, SwitzerlandOpen

    Details
Swiss Youth Individual Championship

SJEM: how the Swiss youth championship works

The SJEM is the Swiss Chess Federation's individual championship for juniors. Each season runs four qualifying tournaments and one final, plus a separate final for the girls. A place in the final has to be earned through the qualifiers.

It is played in the categories U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18. What counts is the age a player reaches in the year of the final, and taking part requires federation membership.

A qualifier: two tournaments in one

A qualifier runs over three days, normally Friday evening to Sunday, and consists of seven rounds of Swiss pairing. The time control changes partway through: the first three rounds are rapid, the last four classical.

  • Rounds 1-3

    Rapid

    15 minutes + 3 seconds per move

    No scoresheet required

  • Rounds 4-7

    Classical

    90 minutes + 30 seconds per move

    Scoresheet required

Only rounds 4 to 7 count for the FIDE rating. From round 4 the players also have to keep score, and a draw may not be offered before move 31.

How the season is scored

Each tournament gives a single score: ten times the points scored plus rank points, where first place is worth 50 rank points, second 45, third 41 and so on. The season standing counts the best three of those, so with four tournaments one result is dropped.

The highest-placed eligible player of each qualifier goes through to the final directly. The remaining places go to the best season standings.

The final

The final runs over four days and seven rounds of Swiss pairing, at 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move throughout. There are no rapid rounds here. The U10 to U16 categories field sixteen players each, the U18 eight, and no wildcards are given in U18.

The best girls also play a final of their own, in the categories MU10 to MU18.

The next SJEM dates

The same dates as the calendar above, narrowed to the SJEM. The official announcement always governs.

  • 6 – 8 Nov 2026 Swiss Youth Championship 2027: 2nd qualifier Lugano
  • 15 – 17 Jan 2027 Swiss Youth Championship 2027: 3rd qualifier Geneva
  • 19 – 21 Mar 2027 Swiss Youth Championship 2027: 4th qualifier Basel
  • 14 – 17 May 2027 Swiss Youth Championship 2027: final U10–U18
  • 4 – 6 Jun 2027 Swiss Girls' Youth Championship 2027: final
  • 3 – 5 Sept 2027 Swiss Youth Championship 2028: 1st qualifier Walenstadt
  • 12 – 14 Nov 2027 Swiss Youth Championship 2028: 2nd qualifier

Everything on this page comes from the youth commission's regulations, valid from 1 September 2026: SJEM U10 to U18 regulations (PDF)

Swiss Youth Team Championship

SJMM: the youth team championship

The SJMM is the counterpart to the SJEM: played not individually but in teams entered by a club. A season runs over three to five playing days, and the calendar above lists the dates of the current one.

It is played in National League A and B and in Regional Leagues 1 and 2. A club may enter as many teams as it likes, but at most two in the national league and at most one of those per group.

The team

A team is four players. They must be federation members who turn at most 20 in the year of the final. A player may play for only one club per season, and on a playing day only in one team and on one board.

In the national league the board order is not free: it has to roughly follow playing strength. Nobody may be placed above a player rated more than 100 Elo higher, and unrated players may not play above anyone rated over 1550.

A playing day

A playing day holds two matches, one in the morning starting between 10:00 and 10:30 and one in the afternoon starting between 14:00 and 14:30. The time control depends on the league, and the scoresheet is required throughout.

  • National League A and B

    Classical

    90 minutes + 30 seconds per move

  • Regional League 1 and 2

    Classical, shorter

    60 minutes + 30 seconds per move

The team named first on the schedule has White on the odd boards. The two team captains act as arbiters together. Since 1 January 2026 all games are FIDE rated where possible.

The next SJMM playing days

The same dates as the calendar above, narrowed to the SJMM. The official announcement always governs.

  • 5 Dec 2026 Swiss Youth Team Championship 2027: round 1
  • 9 Jan 2027 Swiss Youth Team Championship 2027: round 2
  • 27 Feb 2027 Swiss Youth Team Championship 2027: round 3
  • 29 May 2027 Swiss Youth Team Championship 2027: round 4
  • 19 Jun 2027 Swiss Youth Team Championship 2027: finals

Groups and schedule

Which team plays in which group, and who meets whom, is set by the tournament office before the season starts. For the 2027 season the groupings and the schedule are not out yet.

Until they are, the 2026 documents show what they look like. Note these are the past season, not the coming one:

Groups and schedule at Swiss Chess

Everything in this section comes from the youth commission's regulations, valid from 1 September 2025: SJMM regulations (PDF)

News & live events

Reports from tournaments, live events and posts from training.

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