Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Dates

22 May to 24 May 2026

When?

Soon

Link

To know more

From May 22nd to 24th, the 5th International Chess Tournament 'Provincial Historical Archive of Segovia' will be held at the headquarters of the Historical Archive, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The competition is open to players with a valid federation license and an ELO rating below 2400. Registration will be open until Wednesday, May 20th at 10:00 PM, with a maximum of 80 players. Registration is online via the AHP Segovia 5th International Chess Tournament registration form .

The tournament will combine international competition and historical dissemination with the conference 'From the Enlightenment to Romanticism: Coffee and Chess', given by the chess player and popularizer from Segovia, José Luis Torrego.

Organized by the UNED Segovia Chess Club in collaboration with the Castilla y León Chess Federation, the tournament is characterized by its integration of high-level competition with a cultural program in a historical setting. It will be played using the Swiss system over 7 rounds, with a time control of 60 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment per move (60'+30''), and will be FIDE Standard rated, in accordance with the rules of the 5th AHP Segovia International Chess Tournament .

The competition will be structured over three days: Friday will feature player accreditation and two rounds; Saturday will have three rounds; and Sunday will feature the final two rounds and the awards ceremony.

In addition, the tournament will offer over €2,700 in prizes and will be complemented by cultural activities consisting of visits to the Provincial Historical Archive of Segovia. These visits will take place on Friday the 22nd at 6:00 PM and on Saturday the 23rd in two sessions, at 10:30 AM and 5:00 PM, with a maximum capacity of 15 people. Registration for these visits will be available at the tournament itself.

Organizing a chess tournament at a center dedicated to preserving historical documents is based on the close relationship between this game and written history. For over 1,300 years, chess has been documented in records that attest to its existence, rules, evolution, and key figures.

Chess is one of the best-documented sports, with surviving game notations, treatises, instruction books, and other texts that have allowed for its study throughout history. Furthermore, it is the only sport in which moves are recorded simultaneously with the game's progress and by the players themselves.

For this reason, chess and archives are closely linked, since the very development of the game generates documentation that allows for its preservation, analysis, and reproduction. Chess notation, based on an alphanumeric system that identifies pieces, files, and ranks, allows for the precise recording of each game. This practice, which began in the Middle Ages, has been preserved in archives and libraries through manuscripts, personal notes, and chess treatises.

Lecture 'From the Enlightenment to Romanticism: Coffee and Chess'

The program is completed with the conference entitled 'From the Enlightenment to Romanticism: Coffee and Chess', which will take place on Saturday, May 23 at 1:00 p.m. in the Provincial Historical Archive of Segovia.

The lecture is open to the public and will be given by José Luis Torrego, a chess player from Segovia and a popularizer of chess history. He will discuss the experiences of numerous players during the 18th and 19th centuries, when chess and the cafés of London and Paris were closely intertwined. He will also analyze the rivalries and differences of opinion that laid the foundation for what eventually became the World Championship.