Only one round left to be played at the European Individual Chess Championship 2026 and the tension reached its maximum as five players enter the last day co-leading in the tournament!
Five-way tie for the top between GM David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2656), GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2653), GM Muradli Mahammad (AZE, 2605), GM Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2586) and IM Roman Dehtiarov (UKR, 2452) promises an exiting final round which is scheduled for tomorrow, 15:00 CEST.
In a direct encounter between round 9 leaders – GM David Anton Guijarro and GM Nijat Abasov, both player had their chances to play for the advantage. The position looked particularly dangerous for the Spanish representative after he played 31.f4?? but Abasov missed the only move which would give him a decisive advantage – 31…Qh7!, and it wasn’t an easy find. As the game equalized at that point, both players went on precisely, and shortly after signed a draw, in the 43rd move.
Playing on the second board, GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2653) defeated GM Valery Kazakouski (LTU, 2572) with the black pieces. Suleymanli quickly got a slightly better position, and then kept improving it until white started making large mistakes, first with 27.Rc5? and then with 28.Nd4? After just two moves, the game finished in favour of the Azerbaijani youngster.
GM Mahammad Muradli (AZE, 2605) scored a win against GM Nikita Meshkovs (LAT, 2532) in a game where both players struggled to maintain precision, resulting in a double-edged battle of missed opportunities. First, it was white to go out of the opening with a nice advantage, but then, Meshkovs turned the tables earning a clear advantage in the middlegame. Eventually, the advantage slipped away, and Meshkovs made a bad mistake with 44…Qe7? allowing Muradli to play for a win. Further on, the Latvian grandmaster played another bad move 45…Rh5? and Mahammad Muradli used the chance to win the game and leap on the top.
18-year-old IM Roman Dehtiarov (UKR, 2452) once again surprised and made an absolute sensation in the tournament! 126th-seed of the championship, Dehtiarov, defeated GM Maxime Lagarde (FRA, 2621) with blacks, to join the leading pack ahead of the final round! It was a sharp start of the game where White early lost an option for catling, and the Ukrainian youngster used that to press Lagarde’s Kingside. After inacurrate 24.Qd3??, Dehtiarov found great Bishop’s sacrifice and started converting the advantage. Once the Ukrainian secured the material advantage out of the attack, he started simplifying and won the game after 46 moves.
Seven players score 7.5 points to follow the leaders, including: GM Ediz Gurel (TUR, 2635), GM Nikolozi Kacharava (GEO, 2500), GM Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2642), GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2633), GM Gleb Dudin (HUN, 2566), GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2610) and GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2655).
All results, rankings and pairings of the last round can be found here.
Today’s round was opened by CEO of the Mokate Group Mr. Adam Mokrysz and Vice President of the City of Katowice Mr. Maciej Stachura.
The last round of the Championship is scheduled for tomorrow, 15:00 CEST. Live video broadcast with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic, WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and WIM Anna-Maja Kazarian can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.
Detailed information about the tournament can be found on the official website.