The European Youth Chess Championship 2025 concluded this evening in Budva, Montenegro.
The Closing ceremony of the event took place in the playing venue with the attendance of ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, President of the Montenegro Chess Federation Mr. Jovan Milovic, ECU Honorary Vice President Mr. Veselin Draskovic, Secretary of the ECU Events Commission Ms. Nina Rob, Secretary of the ECU Arbiters Coucil Mr. Geert Bailleul and other distinguished guests.
Nearly 1200 players from 48 European federations competed in the event, and attended the Awarding ceremony to applaud and congratulate to the Winners. Five best-ranked players of each category were awarded at the Closing ceremony which was marked with the festive and cheerful atmosphere.
Myron Netrebka (UKR) became the Champion of the Open U8 section with a round to spare. Netrebka finished the tournament with impressive score of 9/9 points, having two points edge over the runner-ups. Four players tied for second place with 7 points each, but according to the tiebreak criteria Iskander Zhakupov (FRA) won silver, Maks Levacic (SLO), clinched bronze, Omer Taha Dede (TUR) came fourth and Kanan Babasoy (AZE) was fifth.
Stealla Zhu (FIN) clinched the title in Girls U8 category with the score of 8 points. Ada Zeynep Koken (TUR) won silver with 7.5 points, Wiktoria Trzcinska (POL) came third with 7 points, Frida Kaloh (SLO) finished fourth with 6.5 points, and Bilge Arslan (TUR) finished fifth with 6 points and best tiebreak criteria in a group of eight players who had the same score.
Three players tied for gold in Open U10 section scoring 7.5 points and tiebreaks determined the Winner. CM Luca Protopopescu (FRA) finished first, CM Dam Bram Ten (NED) won silver, and Leonid Ivanovic (SRB) claimed bronze. Four players tied for the fourth place, but having better tiebreaks CM Tomas Andre (SVK) and Ata Peray (TUR) finished on the podium as fourth and fifth ranked players in the tournament.
Daria Kravchuk (UKR) became the Winner of the Girls U10 section with the score of 8 points. WCM Mehriban Ahmadli (AZE) was second with 7.5 points, and three players tied for third place scoring 7 points each. According to the tiebreaks, WCM Eliza-Ioana Badescu (ROU) won bronze, Bianka Macakova (SVK) finished fourth, and Defne Karaman (TUR) came fifth.
Turkish players had a dominating performance in the Open U12 section winning all three medals. Eren Elci (TUR) clinched the title with 8 poitns, Ali Aras Yildiz (TUR) was second with 7.5 points, Mustafa Demirkan (TUR) won bronze with 7 points and better tiebreaks than Mehmet Alper Celebi (TUR) who finished fourth, while FM Marc Llari (FRA) came fifth with 6.5 points.
Alona Tolmaceva (LAT) won the Girls U12 tournament with the score of 7.5 points and better tiebreak criteria than Tea Rusitashvili (GEO) who won silver medal with the same score but lower tiebreak criteria. Three players tied for bronze with 7 points each, but Alicja Gruszecka (POL) won bronze, Lam Vy Le Nguyen (ENG) was fourth, and WCM Lilian Schirmbeck (GER) finished the event in the fifth place.
IM Khagan Ahmad (AZE) clinched the Open U14 championship with the score of 7.5 points and slightly better tiebreaks than FM Tyhran Ambartsumian (ARM) who had the same score but finished second. CM Rahav Eliran Shilon (ISR) won silver with 7 points and better tiebreak criteria than CM Dragos Stefan Leu (ROU) who was fourth, and FM Wiktor Golis (POL) finished fifth with 6.5 points.
WFM Vera Vujovic (SRB) defended the title in the Girls U14 section, finishing first with the score of 8 points. WFM Blanka Ejsymont (POL) came second with 7.5 points, WFM Evangelia Siskou (GRE) won bronze with 7 points and better tiebreaks than WFM Varvara Matskevich (POL) who had the same score, and Gabriela Tokarz (POL) was fifth with 6.5 points.
FM Mykola Korchynskyi (GER) emerged as the sole Winner of the Open U16 category with the score of 7.5 points, while as many as four players tied for the second place scoring 7 points each. FM Jernej Kozlovic (SLO) had the best tiebreaks to win silver, IM Lukas Dotzer (AUT) won bronze, IM Benik Agasarov (ARM) finished fourth and FM Rustam Rustamov (AZE) came fifth.
Lucia Stoll (FRA) clinched the girls U16 tournament with the score of 7.5 points, while three players scored 7 points each to tie for silver medal. Tiebreaks favoured WFM Lara Zagorac (CRO) who came second, WCM Maryam Aghaverdiyeva (AZE) won bronze, WFM Anastasia Kirtadze (GEO) finished fourth, and WFM Mariam Tsetskhladze (GEO) came fifth.
Three players tied for gold in the Open U18 category, scoring 7 points each. FM Vahe A. Sukiasyan (ARM) had the best tiebreak criteria and won gold medal, FM Vladimir-Alexandru Cnejev (ROU) clinched silver, and IM Laurenz Borrmann (AUT) came third. IM Edvin Trost (SWE) and FM Matyas Palczert (HUN) joined the podium as the fourth and fifth ranked players in the tournament with the score of 6.5 points each.
WFM Maria Siekanska (POL) emerged as the Winner of the Girls U18 Championship with the score of 8 points. She was half a point ahead of WFM Klara Szczotka (POL) who won silver with 7.5 points, while WFM Lia-Alexandra Maria (ROU) claimed bronze medal with 7 points. WFM Ceren Tirpan (TUR) finished fourth with 6.5 points, and WCM Alifnaz Akat (TUR) came fifth with the same score, but lower tiebreak criteria.
Final rankings and all results can be found here.
Detailed information about the event can be found on the Official website.
Photos by Mark Livshitz and complete photo gallery is available here.