1. Competition format
AI Chessathon is an AI chess engineering competition. It starts with an online qualification from 4–11 September 2026. Selected participants are invited to an in-person final at Encode Club, London on 12 September 2026. The match format, the clocks, the compute and network limits, the submission rules and the qualification and selection process are set out in the documentation. A team has at most three members.
Registration and the online qualification are open worldwide. A team enters the final qualification stage if at least one member is a UK university student, and only its UK university students may take a seat at the in-person final. Teams are verified before invites are confirmed. Seats are limited and are confirmed in the order replies arrive. Participants must give accurate registration information. An invitation to the final is personal to the selected participant or team and may not be transferred without organiser approval.
2. Agents and submissions
Participants build and operate their own chess agent within the published interface and the compute, network and time limits. The documentation sets out which open-source libraries, models, external services and hardware are permitted and how collaboration works. Participants disclose components and assistance where the specification requires it.
Agents must produce legal moves and operate reliably. They must not attempt to reach another participant’s system, hidden match data, organiser infrastructure or credentials.
3. Fair play and enforcement
No participant may manipulate pairings, coordinate match outcomes, impersonate another entrant, exploit infrastructure outside the intended game interface, or misrepresent authorship or eligibility. The Daily Five is solved alone, on your own account, without an engine, another person or a second account, and an invitation earned from it is personal. Wildcard invitations go through the same verification as finalist invitations, and where a review raises a question the participant may be asked to solve a position in person at the final. Report suspected vulnerabilities privately to hello@aichessathon.com and do not use them for advantage.
Organisers may pause a match, request logs or a reproducible build, rerun a match affected by a verified technical problem, or disqualify a submission for a material breach. Decisions rest on the published rules, the available evidence and consistent treatment of participants. An appeal process will accompany the final technical rules.
4. Code of conduct
Treat other participants, organisers, venue staff and online communities with respect. Harassment, discrimination, threats, deliberate disruption, doxxing and retaliation are not permitted. Communicate constructively, respect personal boundaries, and follow reasonable safety and venue instructions.
Report conduct concerns to hello@aichessathon.com. Reports are handled as privately as reasonably possible and shared only with the people who need to respond.
5. Intellectual property and event data
Participants keep ownership of their original agent code. Entry grants the organisers only the limited rights needed to run, test, review and record the competition. Any separate request to publish code, demonstrations, participant profiles, photography or recordings is explained before use.
Match results, pairings, rulings and factual event records may be published. Private registration data and CVs are handled under the privacy notice.
6. Prizes
Prize money is awarded at the in-person final. £1,000 goes to the winning team, £500 to the runner-up and £250 to third place. Third place is the losing semi-finalist with the better standing in the final qualification Swiss. Prizes go to the team, and a team of more than one member decides how its prize is divided.
Payment is made after the final to bank details the team provides. The organisers may require proof of identity and eligibility before paying. Participants are responsible for any tax arising on a prize. A team disqualified under these rules forfeits any prize, and the organisers may award it to the next placed team.
7. Updates and precedence
This page is the competition framework and the documentation holds the operational detail. Material changes are versioned and communicated to registered participants, who are asked to acknowledge any change that materially affects participation. If documents conflict, the latest dated competition rules take precedence for competition matters.
Questions go to hello@aichessathon.com.