The Orlando Magic Chess Championship

On March 2, 2025, history will be made at the Kia Center in the heart of Orlando as basketball and chess fans alike are invited to the Orlando Magic Chess Championship.  The event will take place in the beautiful Hourglass Room overlooking Downtown Orlando on a Sunday afternoon just a few hours before the Magic host the Toronto Raptors in an Eastern Conference rivalry game.  The event will be hosted by the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance, a new non-profit organization seeking to promote great chess events and educational opportunities in Central Florida.

The day will begin with a Quick Rated (15/d3) tournament in four sections:  Open Rated, Open Scholastic Rated, Open Scholastic Rated U600, and Open Unrated (non-USCF).  The first round is at 10:45, but we encourage guests to arrive as early as 10:00 to secure parking and get settled in.

The tournament will proceed throughout the morning and afternoon and will conclude with an awards ceremony where we will give away a plethora of amazing prizes provided by our generous sponsors. This includes, but is not limited to, exclusive event T-shirts printed by Wheelzy, free memberships to Chessbook, a free chess lesson with GM Aryam Abreu Delgado, free Chess.com memberships, a free chess lesson with Life Master Theo Slade, a free entry from the USCF to SuperNationals, a free entry to the Florida State Scholastic Championship from the Florida Chess Association, a Chessable course from NM Bryan Tillis, exclusive Orlando Magic merchandise, trophies, and cash prizes in the Open Rated section based on entries.
   

After the tournament, all players will come together to cheer on the home team as we watch the Magic take on the Raptors to finish off an incredible day of fun, prizes, and getting to know your fellow chess players.  We hope to have even more exciting announcements soon as we continue to build this legendary event.  So, keep an eye on OrlandoMagicChess.com to keep up to speed. There you can find the links to buy tickets to the event and register for the tournament itself.  We secured an incredible group rate of $19 for each ticket to the Magic game.  ALL PLAYERS AND SPECTATORS OF THE CHESS TOURNAMENT MUST PURCHASE A MAGIC TICKET TO ENTER THE BUILDING. Once you’ve bought tickets for yourself and anyone accompanying you, registration can be completed at chessregister.com.
   

Any questions may be directed to Tournament Director Nick Perez at nick@orcachess.com and he will be happy to walk you through the process.  Round times and round length SUBJECT TO CHANGE based on potential future updates to the event.