The 2026 European School Chess Championship concluded yesterday in Trogir, Croatia!
Europe crowned 12 School Chess Champions for 2026, in six age categories: U7, U9, U11, U13, U15, and U17, for Open and Girls sections.
In the U7 age category, Sophia Kaliskami (GRE) became an absolute European School Chess Champion with the score of 8.5 points and better tiebreaks than Albert-Tudor Jacota (ROU) who tied in the first place, and as the best ranked boy in the event, clinched title of European School U7 Champion. Finnur Arnason (ISL) came third with 7 points. Sophia Kaliskami was at the same time the best-ranked girl in the tournament, Emilia Karin Arnarsdottir (ISL) was the second-ranked girl, and Mia Stojanovic (CRO) was third.
Deniz Irtes (TUR, 1838) emerged as the sole Winner of the Open U9 section, with the convincing score of 6.5/7 points, finishing two points ahead of three players who tied for silver with 4.5 points each. Teodor-Nicolas Haimana (ROU, 1750) had the best additional tiebreak criteria to win silver medal, Luca-Stefan Cioboata (ROU, 1726) clinched bronze, while David-Christian Talaba (ROU, 1699) came fourth.
After nine played rounds in the Girls U9 section, Kayal Vijay (ENG, 1615) and Ela Sirekbasan (TUR, 1501) tied for gold scoring 8 points each, but Kayal Vijay claimed gold medal thanks to better tiebreaks, while Ela Sirekbasan clinched silver medal. With the score of 7 points, Funda Su Seyhanli (TUR) won bronze.
Meric Zeynel Aker (TUR, 1987) and Leonid Ivanovic (SRB, 2181) tied for the top of the U11 age category, scoring 6.5 points each, and the tiebreak criteria determined the Winner. Having better tiebreaks, Meric Zeynel Aker won gold medal, while Leonid Ivanovic clinched silver. Onur Hisir (TUR, 1747) claimed bronze with 6 points and better tiebreaks than Lile Svanadze (GEO, 1645) who finished the event in the overall fourth place, but won gold as the best-ranked girl in the tournament.
Mariam Rekhviashvili (GEO, 1750) was the second-ranked girl in the championship and won silver, while Varvara Sigacheva (GER, 1580) took bronze.
Denys Farkash (UKR, 2158) emerged as the Winner of the U13 category with the score of 5.5/7 points, with half a point edge over Alexandre Ghonghadze (GEO, 1816) who won silver with 5 points. Clio Alessi (ITA, 1904) finished the evet in the third place with 4.5 points, at the same time winning gold as the best-ranked girl in the tournament. Tea Rusitashvili (GEO, 1953) had the same score but came fourth and clinched silver as the second best-ranked girl, while Anna Hrckova (CZE, 1778) had 4 points to come fifth, and win bronze in the Girls section.
Georgian players dominated in the U15 age section as Gabriel Gabadadze (GEO, 2012) won gold with impressive 8.5/9 points, Andria Kviriashvili (GEO, 2188) clinched silver with 8 points, and Luka Kuntelia (GEO, 2048) won bronze with 6 points.
Beren Kalyoncu (TUR, 1840) emerged as the best-ranked girl in the tournament with the score of 5.5 points, Lika Chkhartishvili (GEO, 1870) was second, and Renata Hranilovic (CRO, 1622) came third.
Uros Brankovic (SRB, 2072) clinched gold in the U17 age section with the score of 6 points, Ela Mullakutukcu (TUR, 1724) was second with 5.5 points and won gold as the best-ranked girl in the event, while Matija Mimica (CRO, 2161) claimed bronze medal with the score of 5 points.
Lilian Schirmbeck (GER, 1879) was the second best-ranked girl in the tournament, while Lila Quinn Field (IRL, 1918) came third in the respective section.
Final rankings in all sections can be found here.
Detailed information about the event can be found on the official webpage.
Photos by Croatian Chess Federation can be found on the official Facebook page.
