Brazil's Youth Circuits Dominate a Packed September Calendar in South America

September 2026 brings 223 tracked tournaments across South America, and the data we have paints a continent where Brazil’s regional scholastic and rapid circuits pull in the biggest fields, while a handful of standout opens dot Argentina, Colombia, and Uruguay.

The single largest field in this batch belongs to the Circuito SESC 2026 - Cascavel (U12, U18), a one-day rapid event on September 12 at the Hotel Sesc Fazenda in Cascavel with 230 players registered. Not far behind is the Circuito Metropolitano de Xadrez 2026 - E7 - Belo on September 27 in Belo Horizonte, drawing 121 players in another rapid stage of Pioneiros Esportes’ ongoing metropolitan series.

Catanduva gets its own big day too. The 8º Campeonato Catanduvense de Xadrez 2026 runs September 12 at CAIC with 115 registered, jointly organized by the local chess club and Associação Entre Amigos. The same date brings the 2º Festival de Xadrez Serramar Shopping to Caraguatatuba, held inside the Serramar Shopping mall with 86 players signed up.

For classical chess, Minas Gerais hosts the biggest multi-day event in this set. The Absoluto - II Araguari International Chess Open 2026 runs September 24-27 at the Ginasio Poliesportivo General Mario Brum Negreiros with 83 players, and the same organizers run a companion scholastic event, the Estudantil - II Araguari International Chess Open, on September 27 with 77 registered.

Outside Brazil, Argentina offers the IRT Rápido “V Gran Abierto Latino” 2026, a rapid event running September 18-20 in La Falda with 70 players and a listed prize component of over $7,000. Later that month, the CAMPEONATO ABIERTO DE AJEDREZ- DE LA PROVINCIA DE brings classical chess to Mar Azul in Buenos Aires province, September 25-27, with 50 players.

Colombia’s entry comes from Ibagué, where the PRIMER FESTIVAL DE AJEDREZ LA ISLA MONTECARLO runs a single rapid day on September 19 with 64 players. Uruguay checks in with the XIII Abierto UCU, a rapid tournament at Universidad Católica del Uruguay’s Espacio Bildung on September 19 with 47 players.

Prize funds and rating requirements aren’t tracked for most of these events in this data, so the picture here leans heavily on registration numbers and format. Even with that gap, the pattern is clear: Brazil’s weekend rapid circuits for youth players are the volume engine of South American chess this September, while the region’s classical opens cluster in the back half of the month.