Rao's Chess Corner invites you to 2nd Grand RCC International Rating Festival 2026

by Shahid Ahmed - 27/01/2026

Rao's Chess Corner invites you to 2nd Grand RCC FIDE Rated International Chess Festival 2026. The number of events have been doubled to six from the inaugural edition. There will be a Classical, a Rapid, two Blitz, one Freestyle (Chess960 / Fischer Random) and one Puzzle Solving Tournament. That means there is something for everyone. The total cash prize up for grabs is ₹1400001, ₹500001 in Classical, ₹200000 in Rapid, ₹100000 in each of the two Blitz events, ₹50000 in Chess960, ₹25000 in Puzzle Solving, Grand Prix prize ₹400000 and Academy/Team prize ₹25000. Entry is FREE for GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs with accommodation. Read the article to know more about the entire festival. Graphic: Rao's Chess Corner

This March, play six tournaments in six days in Mangalore, Karnataka

Rao's Chess Corner is run by Karnataka's strongest chess couple - IM Sharan Rao and WGM FT Isha Sharma. They are frequently organizing Classical, Rapid, Blitz, Rated and Unrated events all over Mangalore, creating opportunities for the players, training and helping them get stronger. The inaugural RCC Festival took place from 25th to 30th September 2025. Reports for all three events of the festival was published on our website - Classical, Rapid and Blitz. We also regularly publish all rating tournament reports organized by RCC, on our website.

2nd Grand RCC FIDE Rated International Chess Festival will take place from 27th March to 1st April 2026 | Graphic: Rao's Chess Corner

Interview with Karnataka's strongest chess couple - WGM FT Isha Sharma and IM Sharan Rao | Video: ChessBase India

Venue

All tournaments will take place at St. Theresas School, Bethany Institution, Bendur, Mangalore - 575002 from 27th March to 1st April 2026.

33rd RCC STS Classical Rating Open: 27th March to 1st April

33rd RCC STS International FIDE Rated Classical Chess Cup will take place from 27th March to 1st April 2026. The total prize fund is ₹500001. The top three prizes are ₹70000, ₹50000 and ₹35000 along with a trophy each.

33rd RCC STS Classical Chess Cup Rating Open prize details | Source: Tournament circular

34th RCC STS Rapid Rating Open: 28th and 29th March

34th RCC STS International FIDE Rated Rapid Chess Cup will take place on 28th and 29th March 2026. The total prize fund is ₹200000. The top three prizes are ₹40000, ₹25000 and ₹12500 along with a trophy each.

34th RCC STS Rapid Chess Cup Rating Open prize details | Source: Tournament circular

35th RCC STS Blitz Rating Open: 29th March

35th RCC STS International FIDE Rated Blitz Chess Cup will take place on 29th March 2026. The total prize fund is ₹100000. The top three prizes are ₹20000, ₹10000 and ₹7000 along with a trophy each.

35th RCC STS Blitz Chess Cup Rating Open prize details | Source: Tournament circular

37th RCC STS Rapid Rating Open: 30th and 31st March

37th RCC STS International FIDE Rated Blitz Chess Cup will take place on 29th March 2026. The total prize fund is ₹100000. The top three prizes are ₹20000, ₹10000 and ₹7000 along with a trophy each.

37th RCC STS Blitz Chess Cup Rating Open prize details | Source: Tournament circular

RCC Freestyle Open: 29th March

RCC Freestyle Chess Tournament will take place on 29th March 2026. The total prize fund is ₹50000. The top three prizes are ₹20000, ₹13000 and ₹7000 along with a trophy each.

RCC Freestyle Open prize details | Source: Tournament circular

RCC Speed Puzzle Solving Tournament: 27th March

RCC Speed Puzzle Solving Tournament will take place on 27th March 2026. The total prize fund is ₹25000. The top three prizes are ₹10000, ₹7500 and ₹5000 along with a trophy each.

RCC Speed Puzzle Solving Tournament details | Source: Tournament circular

RCC Grandprix Wall of Fame

All six tournaments count towards the Grandprix points. Check out the image below to find out how much a player can win based on their GP points. A 600 GP point finish will earn a player ₹200000. Minimum GP points 200 need to be scored to be eligible for GP prizes.

RCC Grandprix points prize details | Source: Tournament circular

Entry fee details

Entry is FREE for GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. For everyone else, please refer to the image below to find out entry fee details of each event as well as combo.

Entry fee and Registrations details | Source: Tournament circular

Academy/Team prize

Best Academy/Team prize is also there. Total prize fund for best academy/team prize is ₹25000. The top three prizes are ₹10000, ₹7500 and ₹5000 along with a trophy each.