2026 US Cadet Championship

Friday September 4th - Monday September 7th

DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle Naperville
3003 Corporate W Dr, Lisle, IL 60532

$126 room rate - reservation link Here
Cutoff date - 8/13

View Games Live on - Chess.com

See Results and Pairings online at https://www.kingregistration.com/results/uscadet26

The Contestants:

Format: 8 player round robin at G/90 with 30 second increment. Pairings will follow US Chess Table C based on the drawing of lots. This event is also FIDE rated with a default time of 30 minutes.

Round Times:

• Opening ceremony (drawing of lots) Friday 9/4: 1:30pm
• Round 1: Friday 9/4: 7pm
• Round 2: Saturday 9/5: 10am
• Round 3: Saturday 9/5: 4pm
• Round 4: Sunday 9/6: 10am
• Round 5: Sunday 9/6: 3pm
• Round 6: Monday 9/7: 10am
• Round 7: Monday 9/7: 3pm
• Awards: 8:30pm

Prizes:

• Champion is awarded $1,000 + $10,000 scholarship ($5,000 from the Dewain Barber Foundation and $5,000 from US Chess) for their college/university of choice.
• 2nd Place: $500
• 3rd Place: $300
• 4th Place: $200

In case of a tie for 1st place, the scholarship is awarded based on a blitz playoff. Two games of G/5;+2 with alternating colors are played. If still tied, one Armageddon game (black has draw odds for one minute less with no increment). If more than two players are tied for first, then knockout bracket format is used with seeding determined by tiebreaks.

Tiebreaks:

• Direct Encounter
• Most Blacks
• Koya System
• Sonneborn-Berger
• Won games