UKCC 2021 – What’s New?

Has there ever been a new year with so much uncertainty? 2020 has been a tremendously difficult year for so many people and heading into 2021 there is still a great deal of uncertainty for families and businesses.

Whilst we are a bit later than usual we are happy to confirm that the UK Chess Challenge will be going ahead in 2021 for its 26th consecutive year. Delancey have again agreed to support the competition and we look forward to putting on good show for the 1000’s of children who enjoy this competition each year.

What’s New

1) Team competition in addition to traditional individual competition

All schools are automatically registered into the team competition where they get to compete in regional and national leaderboards. No additional work is required from the school or coach – players’ scores are collated at the Megafinals and beyond to count towards the team score. A range of prizes and bragging rights are available for the top teams. Leaderboards will be available online so players, parents, teachers and coaches can track their team’s progression.

2) Free Basic School Entry

Basic school entry is free – for this the school gets access to digital materials for running a chess competition and the school is registered for the team element of the UKCC Competition. We want to remove price as a barrier to participation in junior chess events and we hope this move will enable more schools and more children to take part.

Please note the Tournament Packs are still available at the same prices as last year under the “Gold Package”.

3) Qualification for the Megafinals no longer required

This is perhaps the biggest change – all children who know the rules are encouraged to take part in the Megafinals and to represent their school in the team element. Everyone who participates will be helping their team and those reaching a qualifying score will qualify for the National Gigafinals.

The School Stage can therefore be considered a ‘preliminary stage’ – a great opportunity for children to get used to playing in a competition and a chance to determine the school champions. Plus everyone in the school stage gets a certificate and prize (if the school has registered for the “Gold Package”).

4) Megafinals and Gigafinals will take place online (until further notice)

At the moment (April 2021) we are planning on running the Megafinals and Gigafinals online (lichess.org) with the Terafinal taking place over the board in the Autumn term