Areguá becomes a meeting point for competitive chess this weekend Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August, 2026. The Chess Players Club of Areguá hosts its first International Rating Tournament (IRT) Grand Prix, bringing together around 50 players from Paraguay and the neighbouring region, including Clorinda, Posadas and Foz do Iguaçu.
An International Rating Tournament (IRT) Grand Prix is a series of FIDE-rated chess events designed to give players opportunities to earn or improve their official international Elo ratings while competing for ranking points. The three-day tournament in Areguá runs from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August 2026. It will be held at the Gobernación Central office on the Areguá-Capiatá route.
From a Facebook post to a federation
The club’s story began in 2022, when founder Jason Sullivan, a 58-year-old American who has lived in Paraguay for several years, went looking for opponents. He answered an old online post and connected with a fellow expatriate in Areguá, a city he had first visited 31 years earlier with a host family.
The group grew informally, drawing in local players, including a carpenter who now makes chess boards for the club. “We joined forces just to play,” Sullivan tells The Asunción Times. “And then next thing you know, we had a tournament.”
From informal games to official status
That first tournament, in 2023, drew 80 players, the maximum the club’s borrowed chess sets could support. A founding meeting followed on 30 July 2023, with over 15 members still active today. Formal recognition took longer.
“This tournament means a whole lot to the club. It is the culmination of three years’ work, from founding the club, writing our statutes, obtaining the legal recognition and then being recognised as an official club by both the National Sports Secretariat and the Paraguayan Chess Federation.”
The club now counts roughly 300 members on Facebook and meets every two weeks at SENATUR, a Tourism Ministry venue in Areguá. This weekend’s Grand Prix marks its first FIDE-rated event: results will count towards players’ international Elo ratings.
Seven rounds, one weekend
The Swiss system keeps players in for all seven rounds: one on Friday night, three on Saturday 28 and three on Sunday 30 2026. Games will use a 60+30 time control, each player starts with 60 minutes and gains 30 seconds per move, a standard classical format.
Prize money totals ₲3,000,000 (approximately US$500), alongside medals and trophies for top performers.
Who can play?
Entrants must be registered with the Paraguayan Chess Federation. Club membership costs ₲50,000 (approximately US$8) per year and is optional but encouraged. Registration closes on the evening of Friday, 28 August 2026.
What spectators do not see
Behind the pairings and chessboards sits a longer list of logistics.
“Probably the most key is finding a suitable venue,” Sullivan says. The Gobernación Central is providing that venue, while the club covers medals, trophies, tables, chairs and cash prizes, costs that depend on drawing enough players to break even.
A new chapter for Areguá chess
For Sullivan, success will be measured after the final game, not before it. “Although we are a new club, we are serious about our membership in the Federation.”
The hope is that players leave with a good impression of the club, the tournament and Areguá, and return for the next one. Find more info about the event in the Chess Players Club Of Areguá’s Facebook group.
