The second round of the European Individual Chess Championship 2026 is in the books, and the highlights were on the top boards major upsets!
Tournament’s rating favorite GM Igor Kovalenko (UKR, 2685) lost with the black pieces against IM Samuel-Timotei Ghimpu (ROU, 2443), who played a fantastic game. Ghimpu overcame time-trouble issues and never let go of the decisive edge he earned in the endgame.
Another major upset occurred on the third board in the game between third-seeded GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2655) and IM Alparslan Isik (TUR, 2535). Isik won the game after Deac made a critical mistake under time pressure with 34…Qd7?. While Isik pressed for the win, he made a mistake that briefly allowed Deac to get back into the game and fight for a draw; however, the Romanian representative missed the opportunity and subsequently lost.
Along with these surprising losses by the favorites, the top 20 boards saw eight unexpected draws. GM David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2656) drew with white against lower-rated GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO, 2432) after missing a winning chance in the early endgame.
GM Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2642) drew with black against IM Arsen Davtyan (ARM, 2430) after facing a worse position out of the opening, while GM Anton Demchenko (SLO, 2636) drew against IM Rajat Makkar (FRA, 2422) in a relatively balanced game.
Today’s round was opened by the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili and the Chairman of the Organising Committee Mr. Grzegorz Masternak, who made the first ceremonial move in the game between top-seeded GM Igor Kovalenko and IM Samuel-Timotei Samuel.
All results, pairings and rankings can be found here.
Detailed information about the event can be found on the official website.
Daily live commentaries of the games by GM Alojzije Jankovic, WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and WIM Anna-Maja Kazarian can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.