The eighth edition of the strong Open in Sitges was a thrilling tournament throughout, but it offered an extra dose of excitement on the final day of play. Four players finished with 8 points at the top of the standings table, and a knockout was organized to decide the winner. Dimitrij Kollars reached the final, where he lost to Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Andusattorov. | Photos: Rupali Mullick
Thanks to a final-round victory over Armenia, Ukraine got their first gold medals at the open section of the European Team Championships. France came second after beating Azerbaijan, with Alireza Firouzja beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to climb to second place in the world ranking and become the youngest ever player to cross the 2800-rating barrier. Poland finished in third place. | Photos: ECU Press
An eighth win in as many matches gave Russia tournament victory at the women’s section of the European Team Championships with a round to spare. This is Russia’s fourth consecutive title and the seventh in the last eight events. Meanwhile, in the open section, four teams go into the final round tied for first place Armenia, France, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. | Photos: Mark Livshitz
Azerbaijan and Ukraine are sharing the lead after seven rounds in the open section of the European Team Championships. While Azerbaijan defeated the Netherlands on Friday, Ukraine inflicted Russia’s first loss of the event. The best individual performer in Slovenia, Alireza Firouzja, scored his sixth win of the tournament and is now 1.1 Elo points away from reaching the 2800 rating barrier. In the women’s section, the defending champions of Russia still have a perfect score. | Photos: ECU Press
Rating favourite Fabiano Caruana was defeated by Daniel Naroditzky in round 5 of the US Championships and is currently a full point behind the co-leaders. Ray Robson drew to remain atop the standings, except he now shares first place with Alex Lenderman, who showed great tenacity to beat Sam Sevian after 140 moves. Katerina Nemcova is the sole leader in the women’s event. | Photo: Lennart Ootes