Episode 50: How Much Does It REALLY Cost to Play Chess Internationally?

the tournament itself i'd like to now just take you through what is this actual tournament that i'm discussing and is this the fide world amateur chess championships 2026 this is hosted annually by fide this is running from november 4th until november 13th uh in malaysia it is nine rounds and as i said uh the time control is 90 minutes plus 30 and they've got the under 1700 under 2000 under 2300 rating categories All players must complete registration by the 9th of October 2026.

Participants who need to apply for a Malaysian visa must request an invitation letter by October 5th, 2026.

In terms of the actual event, here is the formal invitation.

In total, six championship titles will be awarded.

At any time, FIDA will do its thing and you are welcomed by the Malaysian Chess Federation.

In terms of venue, dates and schedule, it is a four-star hotel in Malaysia.

It has high speed Wi-Fi, it has DGT electronic boards for live broadcasting of selected games, not all the games.

Dedicated rooms will be provided for the SecuChart, Arbiters, Tournament Director, 3 Day Officials, Live Games, Operations and Media.

The playing hall is with 5 minutes walk from the official hotel.

This is what the schedule would look like Wednesday the 4th you would arrive.

Thursday the 5th is the technical meeting at 10 and then opening ceremony round 1, round 2, round 3, round 4, a free day for the Diwali festival for those celebrating Diwali, round 5 and 6 on the following Monday, round 7, round 8, round 9, closing ceremony and then departure on Friday the 13th.

Now, unlucky technical regulations are, you know, as follows, and you can read through them.

You can go to the FIDE website to get this.

Here are the categories.

There are certain ineligible titles, so this is really for amateurs.

This isn't for title players to just come in.

prizes and so on so prizes is interesting so for under 1700 which is where i would play first place is a thousand euros which is fantastic uh third place is 400 euros and that is it so a thousand six hundred four hundred two thousand euros for the under 17 the woman obviously getting 500 300 and 200 so you know not exactly in there direct titles can be applied all participants will receive a gift from the organizer and a certificate of participation and you know there's registration registration fees the registration fee is 140 euros 110 euros which includes accreditation badge airport transfer and participation certificate 30 euros which is the standard fee a fee i think for rating the event and so on and so forth.

The registration fee for delegates and so on is 60 euros.

Travel information, participants shall book their flights to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, KLIA, Terminal 1 or Terminal 2.

The travel time from the airport to the hotel is approximately 45 minutes to an hour and so on and so forth.

Transfers on other dates are possible upon request, but they will organize it on November 4th and November 13th.

The organizer will publish the transfer schedule and other important details three days prior to the event.

In terms of accommodation, if I wanted a single room by myself, it's €95 per person per night.

If I wanted to share a room with someone, it is €75 per person per night.

Now, this does come with the buffet service, which is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so not a bad fee at all, but it is quite a thing.