Apr. 2 — A 17-year-old Ukrainian from Roman Dehtiarov won the European Individual Chess Championship 2026, which took place from Apr. 7 to Apr. 19 in Kratowice in Poland, reported the Ukrainian Chess Federation (UCF). He’s the only person winning the tournament without the title of grandmaster. 

Dehtiarov lives in Kharkiv, the city 30 miles from the Russian border, and studies at the local university.

The tournament was held using the Swiss system with 11 rounds, in which players were paired only with opponents with a similar running score. The highest aggregate points determined the winner after all rounds.

A total of 497 players competed in the tournament, including 35 from Ukraine. In addition to medals, participants were also vying for World Cup spots, awarded to those finishing in the top 20, UCF claimed.

Dehtiarov scored 9 out of 11 points to win the first place. In the decisive round, he defeated Spanish grandmaster David Antón Guijarro. At the start of the tournament, the Kharkiv native was ranked only 126th among nearly 500 participants.

Another Kharkiv representative, grandmaster Anton Korobov, also secured a World Cup spot.

Four more Ukrainian players — Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ihor Samunenkov, Igor Kovalenko, and Sviatoslav Bazakutsa — scored 7.5 points each, finishing just outside the top 20.

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