7th and 8th February 2026 at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) will be organizing the National Youth Chess Championship 2026 (NYCC26) on the 7th and 8th of February, returning to its favorite venue at the Chancellor Hall of the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak
This year’s event will maintain the previous time control of 30 minutes + 30 seconds, but will be reduced to 7 rounds due to time constraints. However, MCF expects the shortened schedule will also help boost the event’s popularity, as parents and children will be able to minimize their absence from work or school. With many events planned throughout the year, starting with the Malaysian Chess Championship scheduled in April, moving the NYCC event to a later date will disrupt and create a tighter schedule for MCF to complete its program commitment for 2026. With more than 10 National events, 2 International events (planned), and a projected monthly scheduled Standard weekend events at its office, not to mention SUKMA and Olympiad looming towards the mid-year, MCF has little option but to proceed with completing the NYCC event before the upcoming CNY/Syawal celebration.
The playing format for NYCC differs from that of NJCC, as players will be categorized and divided within their respective age brackets: U18, U16, U14, U12, U10, and U8, separated into Open/Boys and Girls sections. While the organizer will allow for a Girl player to play in the Open event and compete against their male counterpart, should they are interested to do so provided allowed by the Chief Arbiter and Tournament Director, moving to the higher age bracket will not be allowed as it may create issues when representing Malaysia at International events.
Similar to the National Junior event, there is no cash prize offered to the winners. Champions of each age group event will have the first option to represent Malaysia as its official representative to ASEAN and ASIAN events, and may also include offers to participate in international and world events. Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Achievement medals will be awarded to the top 10 winners, along with e-Certificates of Achievement, and additionally, all players will also receive e-Certificates of Participation for taking part in the national event.
For now, entries for each age group event will be limited to 128 players but, if there is a need to add more rounds, Round 8 shall be added only to the oversubscribed age category events. The Organizer also reserves the right to reduce the rounds to no less than 6 rounds should the number of players are less than 10 players, or merge the category with the opposite gender event of the same age bracket, or with the higher or lower age group bracket of the same gender. In any event, the announcement whether the rounds will be added or reduced will be made known to all players on the first day of the event during the player’s briefing.
Interested players and parents/teachers are requested to download the event Rules and Regulations before agreeing to participate in the event. Entry fee is set at RM65 for all players regardless of their age and rating. As this is an MCF Rated event, a valid MCF ID is compulsory, whereas a FIDE ID is optional and will not be required.
To register, please CLICK HERE
Closing date is 1st February 2026 or when all the allocated 128 seats have been filled.