Lichess’s Blog • Queens’ Online Chess Festival • lichess.org

About the Queens’ Online Chess Festival

The Queens’ Online Chess Festival 2026 is a series of continental women’s online blitz tournaments. The Festival will start on 1 March 2026 and is dedicated to International Women’s Day (8 March). Lichess is pleased to partner with the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess to bring you this event, which is open to all women chess players from around the world of all ages and all rating groups, including unrated chess fans.

See the official regulations for more information.

Queens’ Women Open Tournament

The Queens’ Women Open Tournament is the main event of the festival and open to all female players.

Participation and Registration

The tournament is open to all female players not banned by Lichess.

Registration Deadline by Continent

The registration deadline for each Continent is:

Registration should be completed on the following link: https://forms.gle/rBcspUh9Fth9fQki9 before the registration deadline.

Schedule

Format

Stage 1: Queens’ Qualifications

• One qualification tournament by continent
• Top 25 qualify for the Queens’ Online Semi-Final Individual Blitz
• Tiebreaks:
  a) Direct encounter (if all tied players have played with each other)
  b) Buchholz cut-1
  c) Buchholz
  d) Greater number of games won
  e) Number of games played with Black

Stage 2: Queens’ Semi-Final

• One tournament for all continents with 100 players, 25 qualifiers from each continent
• The top 8 qualify for the Queens’ Final
• Tiebreaks same as in Stage 1

Stage 3: Queens’ Final

• 8 player round robin
• Tiebreaks:
  a) Direct encounter (if all tied players have played with each other)
  b) Sonneborn-Burger
  c) Greater number of Games Won
  d) Number of games played with Black

Awards and Prizes

• The winner of each continental qualification tournament will receive a voucher of 100 USD for purchasing items at the FIDE website.
• The first ten winners in each qualification tournament will be entitled to two 45-minute training sessions with Women Grandmasters.
• The winner of The Queen Festival Chess Tournament will be invited to the 46th World Chess Olympiad 2026.

Princesses’ Tournament

The Princesses’ Tournament is a youth tournament which will have five age categories: U9, U11, U13, U15, U17.

Participation and Registration

• The tournament is open to all female players without any of the FIDE ratings (classic, rapid and blitz).
• To participate in the Unrated Princesses’ tournament, players need to be U17 years old and have no FIDE rating
• Registrations are made by the players filling this form before deadline: https://forms.gle/c6ZsH6gxPAEN7ZAz9
  The deadline for registration is March 15th.

Schedule

• Players can only play in one qualification stage.
• The time control is 5 mins + 5 secs per move.

Stage 1: Princesses’ Qualifications

• The highest-ranked players in each age category (U09, U11, U13, U15, U17) from both qualification stages will compete in a 9-round round robin tournament to define the overall winner.
• Tiebreaks:
  a) Direct encounter (if all tied players have played with each other)
  b) Buchholz Cut-1
  c) Buchholz
  d) Greater number of Games Won
  e) Number of games played with Black

Stage 2: Princesses’ Final

• Swiss System, 9 rounds
• Tiebreaks:
  a) Direct encounter (if all tied players have played with each other)
  b) Sonneborn-Berger
  c) Greater number of Games Won
  d) Number of games played with Black

Awards

• The top three players in each age category at both qualification stages of the Princesses’ Chess Festival will receive 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place diplomas in their respective age categories (U9, U11, U13, U15, U17).
• The first ten winners in all the qualification tournaments will be entitled to two 45-minute training sessions with Women Grandmasters.
• The winner of the FINAL of the Princesses’ Chess Festival will receive a physical trophy.
• The first place winner will receive a voucher of 100 USD, while the second and the third place winners will receive vouchers of 50 USD each for purchasing items at the FIDE website.