Any player born after  31 December 2003 can participate (any category up to Sub16 inclusive ).

All interested schools may enter, provided that they have the minimum technological requirements for participating in the competition (details below).

Countries participating in Expo 2020 are asked for their support in publicizing the event; and the countries that have a team classified for the finals are asked to help by paying their teams’ travel costs to Dubai and giving visibility to the presence of their teams in the Expo.

Each educational centre interested in participating must register by a computer application installed on the official Tournament portal. It will have to provide details on its activities related to chess.

If there are more than ten applications from a single country, the application will select the ten teams to participate based on the following criteria: five of them on the basis merit (sporting results of their players, introduction of chess into the curriculum or extra-curricular activity in the school, etc.). The other five teams will be selected by lot, with no criteria of merit used.

This system provides the opportunity for all the schools to take part, while also stimulating those who have incorporated chess into their activities, or want to increase its importance.

When a team classifies classifies for the on-site final, the country will pay the costs of the trip and stay for its teams in Dubai, as well as ensuring the visibility of their presence in the Expo.

Each team will be composed of:
7 first-team players
2 reserves

There will also be:
one captain;
and an adult delegate responsible for the team during the whole competition.
Section 3, the Tournament Rules, explains these requirements in more detail.
Schools are urged to make their balance between male and female players as equal as possible.