The 39th National Under-11 Open and Girls Chess Championship 2026 will be held in Mangaluru from August 2 to 8.Organised by the Dakshina Kannada Chess Association (DKCA) on behalf of the Karnataka State Chess Association, under the aegis of the All India Chess Federation, the championship will be held at Urwa Indoor Stadium.Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Amarshree A. Shetty, president of DKCA, said a national-level chess championship would be held in Dakshina Kannada for the first time and in Karnataka for the second time.To be eligible to participate in the championship, players should have been born on or after January 1, 2015.Dr. Shetty said there would be two categories of entry. The fee for ordinary entry will be ₹1,250 and for special entry, ₹6,250.Ordinary entry will be only for players sent by the respective state/Union Territory chess associations. Each state/Union Territory can send a maximum of four players, two boys and two girls. Those players should be respective state champions. The state/Union Territory associations should be affiliated to the All India Chess Federation.Special entries will be open to all.There will be a 50 per cent concession in entry fee for participants from the northeastern states and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Entry fees will be accepted strictly online at prs.aicf.in?entry.All entries, including special entries, should come through the respective state/Union Territory associations.Dr. Shetty said the total prize fund would be ₹8 lakh. The championship will have 11 rounds.She said a lump sum amount of ₹1,500 would be paid by the organiser towards boarding expenses, only to affiliated state/Union Territory associations for seeded and selected players under the ordinary entry category.She said no participant should leave the venue before the prize distribution function without the permission of the chief arbiter. Participants disregarding this rule will be suspended for one year.Ramesh Kote, vice-president, Karnataka State Chess Association, Sunil Achar, honorary president, DKCA, and others were present. Published - July 09, 2026 06:58 pm IST