A late surge has seen more than 1,750 entries—including from the UK’s top grandmasters—in this year’s British Chess Championships starting on Saturday, making the 2026 edition the biggest in the event’s 122-year history.
The nine-day festival, which runs from August 1 to 9 at the University of Warwick, 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 record entry comes amid growing interest in chess across the UK.
Who to look out for?
The field is stacked yet again for the 112th British Chess Championships, but one name stands out: Bodhana Sivanandan.
The 11-year-old prodigy from north-west London has been breaking records for fun, but in Coventry she has the chance to become the youngest British Women’s Champion in history.
Elaine Pritchard won the British Women’s Championship outright in 1939 aged 13. Akshaya Kalaiyalahan shared the title with Sarah Hegarty [Longson] in 2013 when she was a few days short of her 12th birthday. So if Bodhana does walk away with the title, it truly will be a special moment for British chess.
Alex Holowczak, Director of Events for the English Chess Federation, said:
An unprecedented number of players will descend on Coventry to take part in the most prestigious chess event on British soil.
This is the largest entry in the history of the British Championships. We have the very best players in the country competing, but players of all standards, ages and ratings will be taking part across a wide range of tournaments and events.
Alongside the competitive chess, we’ve put together a full programme of training for juniors and social events, making the Championships an event for anyone with an interest in the game.
Coventry is hosting the highlight of the British chess calendar and we encourage everyone to come along and experience it for themselves.
A record £34,000 prize fund will be on offer in the British Championship itself, while the prize fund for the Women’s Championship has more than doubled compared with previous years.
The English Chess Federation has also expanded the festival programme, introducing additional training opportunities for junior players, a broader range of social events and activities to complement the main competitions.
The 2026 British Chess Championships will feature tournaments for players of all ages, from under-8s through to seniors, alongside a packed programme of side events throughout the nine-day festival.
This year’s event will be the 112th British Chess Championship, continuing a tradition that has run almost uninterrupted since 1904.
Coventry last hosted the Championships in 2015, when Grandmaster Jonathan Hawkins won his first British title and Akshaya Kalaiyalahan claimed the Women’s Championship. The city previously staged the event in 1970.
Last year’s Championships were held in Liverpool, where Grandmaster Michael Adams claimed a record-equalling ninth British title at the age of 53 after a dramatic three-way play-off.
About the English Chess Federation:
The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England and is affiliated to FIDE (the Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Its mission is to promote the game of chess, in all its forms, as an attractive means of cultural and personal advancement to the widest possible public. In addition, the ECF exists to develop chess by creating the means to enable the highest forms of chess excellence to be achieved, and to expand the game as a social and sporting activity.