Round 1
This year’s British Chess Championships are being held at the University of Warwick in Coventry, with the main tournament running from 1 to 9 August.
This is the 112th British Chess Championship in a series which has run almost unbroken since 1904. A late surge has seen more than 1,750 entries, making the 2026 edition the biggest in the event’s history. The nine-day festival will also feature the largest prize fund ever offered at the Championships, an expanded programme of festival events and a significant boost for women’s chess.
The tournament is a 9-round Swiss open with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes until the end of the game and 30 seconds increment from move 1.
Rounds are played daily from 1 to 9 August, with no rest days. The action starts daily at 14.30 local time (15.30 CEST), except for the final round, which starts at 10.00.
Live games and commentary
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves