Antarctica

Polar Chess Expedition

January 2027

Six players. Six continents. One board. South Pole.

Six players.
Six continents.
One board. South Pole.

Six chess players — one from every inhabited continent — are traveling to Antarctica and the South Pole to play the most geographically extreme chess tournament ever staged.

The Story

Every good expedition starts somewhere unexpected. This one started with an interview.

Two years ago, Aung Kyaw Moe, a Candidate Master from Myanmar, was watching Grandmaster Nigel Short talk about his career when one line caught his attention: Short had won chess tournaments on every continent except one.

"To summarise my career, I'm the only player in the world to have won tournaments in six continents. I'm missing Antarctica... it would be nice to complete the set!"
Nigel Short
Grandmaster

One missing continent was all Aung needed to hear. He decided to turn that idea into a reality: building the field, the logistics, and the event itself from the ground up.

The result: The Polar Chess Expedition, in which six players will play a FIDE-rated tournament across multiple locations, from the Antarctic ice to a final round at the Geographic South Pole.

The Players

Six chess players will be travelling to Antarctica to play the most geographically extreme chess tournament ever staged.

Nigel Short

  • Europe
  • England
  • Grandmaster
  • FIDE 2594

Tris-Ann Richards

  • North America
  • Saint Lucia
  • Woman Candidate Master
  • FIDE 1701

Shaun Press

  • Oceania
  • Papua New Guinea
  • FIDE Master
  • FIDE 1922

Jesse February

  • Africa
  • South Africa
  • Woman International Master
  • FIDE 2010

Aung Kyaw Moe

  • Asia
  • Myanmar
  • Candidate Master
  • FIDE 2158

Damaris Abarca González

  • South America
  • Chile
  • Woman FIDE Master
  • FIDE 1996

The Arbiter

Peter Darby

  • Chief Arbiter
  • Thailand

The Record

The Polar Chess Expedition is a FIDE-rated tournament, the first competitive chess event to bring players representing all six inhabited continents to the Geographic South Pole.

When completed, it would be certified as the southernmost chess tournament ever played.

kilometre-distance from the equator

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metres above sea level

0

south latitude

0 °00′00″

Dispatches

From six corners of the world to the edge of it — this is where the story unfolds, one dispatch at a time.

  • Announcement

Polar Chess Expedition Brings the First FIDE-Rated Chess Tournament to Antarctica and the South Pole

Read Article