A Battle of Wits: The Alma Mater University Chess Tournament Makes Its Return

Kings and queens, rooks and knights, bishops and pawns will once again take the stage in the Aula Magna of the University Library of Bologna for the 2025 edition of the Alma Mater University Chess Tournament.

From 12 to 14 September, eighteen teams will face off across 36 electronic boards, armed with strategy, intuition, and creativity. Chess enthusiasts can follow the live commentary on chess.com or watch every move on chess.com or watch every move on the tournament website.

A new feature this year will be an analysis room equipped with an artificial intelligence system, allowing players and spectators to revisit and critically assess the games just played.

The Alma Mater University Chess Tournament is organized with the support of the Italian Chess Federation and thanks to the sponsorship of Intel, together with Banca di Bologna, Teodomiro Dal Negro, Lavoropiù, Bologna Airport, and with the technical sponsorship of Cimas Ristorazione, Scuderia Future Food Living Lab and Acquaviva. It will be a unique opportunity to promote academic growth, interdisciplinary connections, and global engagement among the universities that have accepted the invitation of the University of Bologna.

Among the teams competing are the long-standing American rivals Yale and Harvard, as well as Oxford and Cambridge from the UK, who have been facing off in pursuit of checkmate for over 150 years. This will be the first time they meet outside their national borders. The competition will also include the defending champions from Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands), along with teams from Maastricht (Netherlands), Panthéon-Sorbonne (France), University College Dublin (Ireland), Lund University (Sweden), and Boğaziçi University (Turkey).

New entries this year include Keio University from Tokyo, Samarkand State University from Uzbekistan, and Trinity College Dublin. Representing Italy, alongside Bologna, are Milano-Bicocca, the Federico II University of Naples, the University of Pisa, and the University of Padua.

Each team is composed of four members - almost always students, though in some cases faculty may also take part. The tournament consists of five rounds, pairing teams according to the Swiss system, which matches opponents with similar scores.

The Rector of the University of Bologna, Giovanni Molari, will welcome the participants on Friday 12 June, at 14 PM with an opening address. The first matches will begin immediately afterwards, continuing on Saturday and into Sunday morning, concluding at noon on Sunday, 14 September with the awards ceremony.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams. Special prizes will also be given: “Best Chess Player,” awarded by Banca di Bologna - which has supported the Tournament since the first edition and is developing several projects with the Alma Mater -, and the “Intel Award” for the player whose game is deemed the most exciting by artificial intelligence.

The competition, overseen by referees from the Italian Chess Federation, is deliberately not FIDE-ranked, in keeping with the inclusive and friendly spirit of the event. Above all, the initiative is intended as an opportunity for cultural exchange: a celebration of friendship, competitive spirit, sportsmanship, and mutual respect that characterize the international academic community.