Sahel Festival's Five Sections Headline Africa's October Slate

Africa’s October 2026 calendar carries 22 tracked tournaments, spread from Morocco to Uganda, and the entry that stands out most for sheer scale is in Tunisia.

The 2026 Sahel International Chess Festival runs October 25-31 in Monastir, organized by the Association Le Carré Royal de Ksibet El Mediouni.

It’s split into at least five sections in the data, Tournoi A through D plus an S5 group, with registration ranging from 61 players in Tournoi D down to 11 in Tournoi S5. All are listed as classical time control, making this the most substantial single gathering on the continent’s October docket.

Morocco offers its own long-running fixture with the Festival international des echecs Chefchaouen, now in its 22nd edition. It runs October 18-24 at the Maison des Jeunes in Chefchaouen with 55 players registered, organized by Association Alwan Fania Chefchaouen, and sits at classical time control across the week.

Tunisia also shows up with a quicker format. The Tournoi d’échecs rapide Marsa is a one-day rapid event on October 18 with 37 players signed up, a contrast to the weeklong classical fields elsewhere on the calendar.

South Africa’s contribution comes through the Lenasia Chess Academy Red October 2026, a single-day rapid tournament on October 4 at Redwood Academy in Lenasia with 31 players registered. The same country also hosts three separate Heidelberg Open sections at Heidelberg High School on October 17, run by the Heidelberg Chess Club, with registration ranging from 6 to 8 players per section.

Beyond those, the sheet includes a scattering of school and club events across Nigeria, Kenya, Algeria, and Uganda, several still showing zero players registered ahead of their dates. That includes Uganda’s Western Region Open Chess Championship, a three-day classical event set for October 9-11 in Mbarara City, and four separate Glamour Rapid sections, split by age and rating, at Emmanuel College Kazo on October 10.

For a look back at how last month’s rankings actually shook out, see how the same tournaments actually turned out. October’s numbers, particularly for the still-unregistered events in Uganda and Kenya, will fill in as the month approaches.