The World Amateur Chess Championship is a tournament organised by FIDE and Amateur Chess Organisation (ACO).
The world governing body intended to promote amateur chess play by holding championship tournaments linked to the Olympic Games, but only two events were held. Since 1996, it has been an annual FIDE event.
History The first championship was held the year that FIDE was founded, at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. This is considered the unofficial first Chess Olympiad, and is the only Olympiad that was an individual event. The second championship was held at the 1928 Summer Olympics in The Hague, in conjunction with the 2nd Chess Olympiad.
Chess has never been an official part of the Olympic Games, and since the chess community does not make any essential distinction between amateur and professionalA chess amateur is a player who does not earn a living through chess. Chess amateurs are not restricted in any way: they can win prizes, accept appearance fees, and earn any chess title, including World Champion. In 1935 Max Euwe became the last amateur to win the World Championship. the championship was discontinued after 1928. However, in 1995 FIDE has revamped it to celebrate the centenary of the Hastings International Chess Congress and since then it has been held annually. The first renewed edition, held concurrently with the 1995/96 Hastings Congress from 28 December 1995 to 5 January 1996, was restricted to non-FIDE rated players.Hastings Centenary Congress (PDF). The Hastings International Chess Congress. Retrieved 2016-04-20. Subsequently, amateur was defined as a player with a FIDE rating below 2000 and not having attained a rating of more than 2000 in the past 2 years. Since 2016, the championship has been split into three rating categories: U-2300, U-2000 and U-1700. Additionally to these rating limits, a player must not hold the title of International Master or higher (or Woman International Master for women) for U-2300 and U-2000 section or the title of FIDE Master (or Woman FIDE Master for women); however, players that are 65 years or older are exempt from this additional requirement to qualify.
According to the current FIDE regulations, the winners of the U-2300 and the U-2000 sections are awarded with the title of FIDE Master (FM), while the winner of the U-1700 category, the runner-ups and bronze medallists of the U-2300 and the U-2000 categories receive the Candidate Master (CM) title. Analogously the women's champions in the U-2300 and U-2000 categories receive the title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM), the winner of women's U1700 category, the silver and bronze medallists in the women's U-2300 and U-2000 categories are granted the title Woman Candidate Master (WCM).
Since 2012, there is another World Amateur Chess Championship, organised by the Amateur Chess Organisation (ACO),Amateur Chess Organization which is not recognised by FIDE.WORLD AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP . FIDE. 2013-11-05
Winners Year Dates Host Winner(s) Women's champion(s) 1924 4 May – 27 Jul Paris Hermanis Matisons 1928 17 May – 12 Aug Amsterdam Max Euwe 1996 28 Dec – 5 Jan Hastings"Dr Shabier Bhawoodien is World Amateur Champion" . FIDE. 2003-07-18. Brian JohnsonFIDE Honours. English Chess Federation. 1997The Week in Chess 113 28 Dec – 5 Jan Hastings Olev Schults Catherine Dewitte 1998The Week in Chess 166 29 Dec – 11 Jan Hastings Viraf Avari Rosalind Kieran 1999The Week in Chess 218 29 Dec – 10 Jan Hastings Gaguik Oganessian Jessie Gilbert 2000[75th Hastings International Chess Congress Bulletin] 29 Dec – 6 Jan Hastings Sven Mühlenhaus Elaine Rutherford 2001Brasilbase 27 Dec – 8 Jan Pamplona Bismarck Nicolás Chaverra Rojas Maria Goni 2001Brasilbase 6–13 Dec Bento Gonçalves Flávio Olivência Amanda Benggawan 2002Brasilbase 13–19 Dec Bento Gonçalves Juliano Resende Pereira Thalita Cincinato 2003Brasilbase 2–13 Jul Tshwane Shabier Bhawoodien Daleen Wiid 2004World Amateur Championship 2004. FIDE. 30 Jun – 10 Jul Cape Town Farai Mandizha Jenine Ellappen 2005The Week in Chess 553 31 Jul – 12 Aug PiešťanyCancelledWorld Amateur Championship 2005. FIDE. 2006"Brave schoolgirl is first female world champ". Daily Mirror Sri Lanka. 2007-01-02. 23 Nov – 3 Dec Tripoli Rachid Hifad Nirmala Chandrasiri 2007World Amateur Chess Championship 11–18 Aug Predeal Alexandru Gabriel Duca Eugenia-Daniela Ghita 2008World Amateur Chess Championship 2008. FIDE. 28 Apr – 6 May Chalkidiki Panagiotis Galopoulos Mitali Patil 2009World Amateur Chess Championship 2009. FIDE.World Amateur Championship 2009 27 Apr – 3 May Thessaloniki Stefan Parlog Efstathia Andrikopoulou 2010World Amateur Chess Championships 2010. FIDE.Winners of the 2010 World Amateur Chess Championship. Chessdom. 19–25 Mar Skokie Andrew Hubbard Yun Fan 20112011 World Amateur Chess Championship14-year-old wins World Amateur Chess Championship 2011. ChessBase. 1–10 Oct Antalya Bilgunn Sumiya Bayar Anu 2012FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2012 crowns new champions . FIDE.World Amateur Championship 2012 16–22 Apr Chalkidiki Haralambos Tsakiris Laura Perez 2013World Amateur Championships 2013. FIDE.World Amateur Chess Championship 2013 21–30 Apr Iași Lehel Vrencian Bayarsaikhan Yanjinlkham 2014World Amateur Chess Championship 2014 26 Apr – 3 May Singapore Gijir Munkhbayar Chitlange Sakshi 2015World Amateur Chess Championship 2015 14–21 Apr Chalkidiki Mire Deniz Doğan Paula-Alexandra Gitu 2016World Amateur Chess Championships 2016 – Winners. Chessdom. 18–28 Apr Chalkidiki Zhuban Bigabylov (U2300) Khulan Enkhsaikhan (U2000) Jatin S.N. (U1700) Georgia Grapsa (U2300) Khulan Enkhsaikhan (U2000) Diana Zakharova (U1700) 2017World Amateur Chess Championship 2017 1–9 Apr Spoleto Win Tun (U2300) Maciej Koziej (U2000) Hope Mkhumba (U1700) Bayarjargal Bayarmaa (U2300) Zainab Saumy (U2000) Vilena Popova (U1700) 2018FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2018 22–29 Apr Cagliari Arvinder Preet Singh (U2300) Kanan Hajiyev (U2000) Batuhan Sutbas (U1700) Bayarjargal Bayarmaa (U2300) Elisaveta Chetina (U2000) Vilena Popova (U1700) 2019FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2019 29 Jun – 7 Jul Colima Elías Renzo Gutiérrez Medina (U2300) Jesús Amezcua Luría (U2000) Dashtogtokh Amarsaikhan (U1700) Alexandra Zherebtsova (U2300) Batnasan Khaliun (U2000) Omya Vidyarthi (U1700) 20202020 World Amateur Chess Championship. FIDE. 2–12 Apr HeraklionPostponed to 2021FIDE World Amateur Championships 2020 Postponed for April/May 2021 2021FIDE World Amateur Championships 2021 16–26 Oct Rhodes Dimitrios Ladopoulos (U2300) Peter Anand (U2000) Mukhtar Ainakul (U1700) Alexandra Zherebtsova (U2300) Marigje Degrande (U2000) Glenda Madelta (U1700) 2022FIDE World Amateur Championships 2022 20–30 Oct Mellieħa Abdilkhair Abilmansur (U2300) Sodbilegt Naranbold (U2000) Tuguldur Soninbayar (U1700) Grigoryan Meri (U2300) Baliuniene Margarita (U2000) Margadgua Erdenebayar (U1700) 2023 2–11 Nov Muscat Abdilkhair Abilmansur (U2300) Dashtogtokh Amarsaikhan (U2000) Ganbat Danzanjunai K (U1700) Bauyrzhan Amash (U2300) Norovsambuu Badamkhand (U2000) Bat-Amgalan Anujin (U1700) 2024FIDE World Amateur Championships 2024 26 Oct – 5 Nov Rhodes Tomasz Zebracki (U2300) Nurasyl Zhumabek (U2000) Yassine Rafik (U1700) Amin-Erdene B (U2300) Saikhanchimeg T (U2000) Anastasiia Osadchuk (U1700) 2025FIDE World Amateur Championships 2025 4–14 Nov Vrnjacka Banja Ivan Kudrin (U2300) Dejan Jakovljević (U2000) Medet Dyahaparov (U1700) Tsogtsaikhan Saikhanchimeg (U2300) Khuslenzaya Baldanjantsan (U2000) Mouza Nasser Alshamsi (U1700)
See also 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad (Paris 1924) 2nd Chess Olympiad (The Hague 1928)
References