The Chess Power Interschool Chess Tournaments are a wonderful way for kids of all levels to play and enjoy Chess. If kids are new to chess, we recommend the Chess Power Interschools is the right event for them to participate in.

A Chess Power Interschools Tournament is a compelling and outstanding experience for every child enters. To be part of a school's chess team is to be acknowledged as one of the smartest brains in the school.

The sound of silence as bright young minds battling it out over chessboards is what makes kids chess so special and exciting. There is no other school experience like an interschool chess tournament.

The Chess Power Interschools Tournaments are a great preparation ground for NZCF Interschool Tournaments. They are also held more regularly - there is typically an Interschools event held each Term in your area.

Interschool Chess Tournaments offer these great benefits:

• All kids get to play kids at their own level. The way this works is that if a kid loses their first game they play another kid that has also lost their first game. And so on.
• All players will eventually win at least one game, even if they are a complete beginner.
• Each player is guaranteed a total of 7 games on the day.
• Each player receives a Certificate recognising their achievement
• Exceptional players are rewarded with medals
• Each player represents their school with winning schools within a Zone qualify for National Finals tournaments
• The entry fee is $15 per player
• The winning team for an Interschool Zone gains entry into the Interschool National Finals. The winning school of the Interschool National Finals in each division receives an expenses-paid trip to Australia to compete in the Australian Interschool National Finals. Read the National Finals FAQ to learn more.

View our FAQs below to understand all the rules, qualifcation criteria and tournament format.

Check out our upcoming Tournaments to find a tournament your child, student or school can enter.

View recent Interschool Results including videos of previous events.

If you would like to enter a team, register your team on our Tornelo website.

Format
Find out about the format of the tournament including Registration Timing, Tournament structure, the points system and divisions within the Interschools tournament

How to Enter
Details of how to reserve places, submit a player list and modify confirmed entries.

Costs
The entry fee is $15 (inc GST) per player, per event. There are no discounts for host schools, multiple teams or ‘mates rates’.

Terms and Conditions
Each school must provide parents or teachers (minimum 1 per each 15 students) who are responsible for supervision of participants for the duration of the event.

Player Rules
The arbiter for each day will clearly explain all rules before the start of play. It is expected that there will be a significant proportion of players in every event who have minimal or zero tournament experience.

Prizes
Team scores are calculated by summing the points of the Top 4 scoring players from each school at the end of play. Ties are broken by including the 5th highest score, then the 6th and so on until the tie is broken.

National Finals
Learn more about the National Finals qualification criteria, awards and format.