A two-day event dedicated to the interplay between Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Games
20-21 June, 2026, Paul-Henri Spaaklaan 1, 6229 EN, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Contact: vincenzo.lipardi@maastrichtuniversity.nl
We are pleased to invite students, researchers, and enthusiasts in Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing to participate in the 1st European Tournament in Quantum Games, a two-day event dedicated to the emerging intersection between game playing, Artificial Intelligence, and quantum technologies.
Programme
Day 1 – Saturday, 20 June 2026
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Welcoming |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Opening remarks: Prof. dr. Jaap van den Herik |
| 10:45 – 11:15 | Introduction to TiqTaqToe: Dr. Evert van Nieuwenburg |
| 11:15 – 11:30 | Tournament Rules and Structure: Vincenzo Lipardi |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Development Session I: AI for TiqTaqToe |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch Break |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Development Session II: AI for TiqTaqToe |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break |
| 15:30 – 16:00 | Introduction to Cheqqers: Dr. Evert van Nieuwenburg |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Development Session III: AI for Cheqqers |
Day 2 – Sunday, 21 June 2026
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 08:45 – 09:15 | Coffee and Vlaai |
| 09:15 – 10:30 | Development Session IV: AI for Cheqqers |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Final Development and Submission |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch Break |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Tournament on TiqTaqToe and Cheqqers |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break |
| 15:30 – 16:45 | Talks |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Announcement of Winners |
| 17:00 – 17:30 | Closing Remarks: Prof. dr. Mark Winands |
Motivation
There was a time that almost all people believed that computers could never play better chess than the World Champions, such as Euwe, Botvinnik, Kasparov, and Magnus Carlsen. Then the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformed game playing into one of the most successful demonstrations of machine intelligence. A similar scientific transition is now taking place in Quantum Computing. Inspired by the historical role of games in AI, we explore how quantum games can become a new laboratory for developing algorithms, strategies, and intelligent systems for the quantum era.
The tournament introduces participants to quantum games, including TiqTaqToe and Quantum Checkers (Cheqqers), and challenges the design of intelligent agents capable of competing in these environments. The programme combines scientific talks, development sessions, and competitive gameplay, creating the opportunity to explore the future of Quantum AI through games.
Quantum Games involved in the tournament:
- TiqTaqToe: tiqtaqtoe.com
- Quantum checkers (cheqqers) [1]: cheqqers.com
Registration
We invite researchers to submit a short abstract for giving a talk at the 1st European Tournament in Quantum Games. Talks may cover ongoing research and/or perspectives at the intersection of quantum computing, games, and artificial intelligence.
Accepted abstracts will be selected for oral presentations on the second day of the event.
Please submit the title of your talk along with a short abstract (maximum 200 words) by Wednesday the 3rd of June. Note that, all deadlines are specified in AoE (Anywhere on Earth). You can submit your talk at the same link of the registration.
The registration is free for all participants at this link.
Accommodation
You can find some information regarding accommodation at the following link: IEEE WCCI.
References
[1] Marien Raat, Luuk Van Den Nouweland, Matthias Müller-Brockhausen, Mike Preuss, and Evert van Nieuwenburg. Quantum checkers: The development and analysis of a quantum combinatorial game. In 2025 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), pages 1–8, 2025.