2026 NATIONAL SCHOOLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS:
CONFIRMED PROGRAMME AND 2027 INTERNATIONAL
SELECTION UPDATE

Chess South Africa (Chess SA) wishes to inform players, parents, coaches, schools, provincial chess affiliates and other stakeholders of a scheduling clash between two important national chess events taking
place in December 2026.

The Mzanzi National Chess Championships are scheduled for 14–19 December 2026 in Bloemfontein, Free State, while the National Schools Chess Championship is scheduled for 11–15 December 2026 in Gauteng. This overlap presents a challenge for young players who may wish to participate in both events.

Chess South Africa is deeply concerned about the unresolved visa challenges affecting members of our delegation and several other African representatives attending the Chess Olympiad and FIDE Congress in Samarkand

The AOC, Free State Chess and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Mzansi Youth Chess Championship 2026 hereby issue a Call for Applications for the appointment of Arbiters and Fair Play Officers for the Mzansi Youth Chess Championship 2026.

Thirty-Eight Limpopo Teachers Certified as School Chess Supervisors

Mastec Tivumbeni College, Tzaneen 8–9 August 2026

Limpopo has become the first province under the new training framework to deliver a full teacher training course using its own local facilitators.

Over 8–9 August, Tumelo Mmola and Tebogo Mahomole ran the Chess Coach Development Training Programme at Mastec Tivumbeni College in Tzaneen, under the auspices of Chess South Africa. Forty teachers participated and 38 met the assessment standard, certifying as School Chess Supervisors.

The significance is not the number. It is that the delivery capacity now sits inside the province. Limpopo no longer needs facilitators deployed from outside to run this course — it can train its own teachers, at its own pace, at a fraction of the cost.

That is what the new framework was built to produce, and Limpopo has produced it first.

Thirty-eight teachers have qualified as School Chess Supervisors after a two-day Chess Coach Development Training Programme in Tzaneen. Forty teachers took part, and 38 met the certification standard.

The programme brought three partners together, each doing what it is equipped to do:

• The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture funded the training, in partnership with the Department of Education.
• Chess South Africa set and certified the national School Chess Supervisor standard.
• Chess Limpopo Federation delivered the training, through its own facilitators — Tumelo Mmola and Tebogo Mahomole.
  Delivered from inside the province.

That last point is the one that matters.

Chess development has usually depended on specialists sent in from outside the region — expensive, effective once, and gone by the following term. In Tzaneen, the course was run and assessed by people who live and work in Limpopo.

The capacity to train teachers now sits inside the provincial structure. It can be repeated in another district next term without waiting for anyone. Forty teachers trained in two days is a result. The ability to do it again is an asset — and it is a model that transfers to any province willing to build it.

From playing to teaching

Participants covered the fundamentals of chess and the fundamentals of coaching. The second is the harder half: how to structure a session, sequence material so beginners progress, judge a learner’s level, and run a school chess programme as an ongoing activity rather than a series of disconnected lessons.
A teacher who plays well but cannot structure a programme will produce two or three strong players and lose the rest of the room. The training was built to close that gap.

The group was engaged throughout, questioning and contributing rather than simply listening, and several used the two days to convert existing chess knowledge into teaching method.

A standard that means something

Thirty-eight of forty met the assessment standard. That figure is worth stating plainly rather than rounding up, because an assessment everybody passes is not an assessment. The credential carries a real threshold — which is exactly what a principal or a parent needs it to carry.

A certified supervisor is equipped to introduce chess to learners, establish a school chess programme, run regular sessions, and support learners into competitive play.

What comes next

School Chess Supervisor is the entry point of the pathway, not the end of it. The next credential for these teachers is Entry Level Coach — the step from running chess inside a school to coaching players formally.

That progression is what turns a training event into a development structure. Thirty-eight supervisors who advance are thirty-eight qualified coaches in schools that had none.

Chess Limpopo Federation thanks DSAC and the Department of Education for funding the initiative, Chess South Africa for the certification framework, Mastec Tivumbeni College for hosting, and Tumelo Mmola and Tebogo Mahomole for their delivery.

𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘…𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 𝗜𝗧.

“It is possible for a woman to beat the world champion.”
– Judit Polgár

Today, we celebrate the women who play, coach, arbitrate, organise, lead and work behind the scenes to grow chess across South Africa. In the black-and-white world of chess, thank you for the colour you bring to the game.

Chess SA wishes all the women in our chess family a very happy Women’s Day!

Keep making your move. Keep changing the game!

This Women’s Day, Chess South Africa invites women and girls from across the chess community to share their stories, experiences and dreams.

Record a short video answering the five questions featured on our campaign poster. Your story could inspire another girl to begin her chess journey, believe in herself and make her next big move.

Video requirements:

1. Record your video using your phone
2. Record in vertical format only
3. Resolution: 1080 × 1920 or 720 × 1280
4. Keep your video between 1 and 2 minutes maximum
5. Upload the video to your own Facebook page or profile and tag Chess South Africa

Please make sure your video is clear, recorded in a quiet environment and that you speak from the heart. It does not need to be perfect, it simply needs to be authentically you.

Let your voice be heard this Women’s Day and help us inspire the next generation of women in chess.

𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗲𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 | 𝟭𝟯–𝟭𝟵 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

The nation’s finest young chess players will come together to represent their provinces in a week of teamwork, determination, unforgettable battles, and championship ambition.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿.