A famous school team competition "Belaya Ladya" celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Around 80 Russian and 30 foreign teams will take part in the final event (Dagomys, Sochi, on June 1-11, 2019).

The registration is still open and the Russian Chess Federation welcomes foreign teams to apply by e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

“Belaya Ladya" ("White Rook") was a mass team tournament for schoolchildren of the USSR. The team tournament was conceived to promote chess among children, develop creativity and intelligence and at the same time prepare sports reserves.

To get to the final stage, the school team had to win the local and regional qualifiers. In 1969, the first final of “Belaya Ladya" was held in Moscow; the winner was the team of the school № 56 of Chisinau, Moldova.

The event disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but in 2004 Russian Chess Federation revived this unique competition. Since then, the popularity of “Belaya Ladya” is growing every year - from 9 teams in 2004 to 79 in 2018.

More information here