The role of chess in educational systems and its contribution to children's cognitive development has been a widely accepted reality for many years. However, until now, there has been a lack of comprehensive global data on how school chess programs are organized, funded, and evaluated worldwide. Conducted for the FIDE Chess in Education Commission and led by Dr. George Chitiyo from Tennessee Technological University, the 2026 FIDE Global Chess in Schools Survey fills this significant gap by providing a comprehensive overview of global chess education.

A Massive Ecosystem Reaching 100 Countries and 30 Million Students

Building upon a 2021 study by FIDE and the European Chess Union (ECU) that focused primarily on Europe, this expanded research is based on data from 239 respondents across 100 countries on all five continents. According to the comprehensive 33-question survey involving national federations, schools, and chess-in-schools organizations, approximately 30 million children participate in school chess programs in the surveyed nations. Remarkably, about half of this massive figure comes from India, a country that has made extraordinary strides in the chess world in recent years.

The educator statistics revealed by the study also demonstrate how institutionalized chess has become within schools. Globally, more than 145,000 classroom teachers and around 22,500 independent chess coaches are actively working to instill a love for chess and analytical thinking skills in children. Although these figures rest largely on respondents' estimates rather than an exact census, they serve as a critical indicator for understanding the immense scale of educational chess worldwide.

Technology Outpaces Formal Curriculum

One of the most striking findings of the report emerges when comparing markers of program establishment across continents. The analysis reveals that the integration of technology in chess education is far more widespread than formal teaching structures, such as a standardized written curriculum. While digital chess platforms and educational software are rapidly entering classrooms, developing standardized pedagogical curricula remains a vital task ahead for policymakers and national chess federations.