European Championship: Six players tied for first place after five rounds

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/13/2026 – After five rounds of the European Chess Championship in Katowice, six players share the lead on 4½/5 following a quiet draw between early pacesetters Eduardo Iturrizaga and Robert Hovhannisyan (pictured). A group of four joined them with wins. Close behind, 44 players stand on 4/5, while several of the top seeds, including Igor Kovalenko, are already a point off the pace in the 501-player Swiss open. | Photo: Official website
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No more perfect scores

After five rounds of the European Chess Championship in Katowice, the standings reflect the depth and competitiveness typical of this event, with a large group of players clustered near the top and no clear favourite emerging.

Organised by the Polish Chess Federation, the tournament runs from 7 to 19 April and has attracted 501 participants. It is played as an 11-round Swiss open, with a total prize fund of €100,000, including €20,000 for first place. In addition to the financial rewards, the stakes are heightened by qualification spots for the next FIDE World Cup, as the top 20 finishers will secure places in the knockout event that offers three tickets to the Candidates Tournament.

Going into the first rest day (on Saturday), Eduardo Iturrizaga of Spain and Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia were the only players on a perfect 4/4 score. Paired against each other on the top board in round five, they drew a relatively quiet game, allowing a chasing group to catch up. Four players who had started the round on 3½ points all scored victories to join the leaders: Maxime Lagarde of France, Lorenzo Lodici of Italy, Isik Can of Türkiye and Vignir Vatnar Stefansson of Iceland.

Vignir Vatnar Stefansson

Vignir Vatnar Stefansson | Photo: Official website

Eduardo Iturrizaga

Eduardo Iturrizaga | Photo: Official website

As a result, six players share first place on 4½ points each. Notably, none of them were among the top ten seeds at the start of the tournament. Hovhannisyan, the highest-rated among the co-leaders, began as the 12th seed, while Stefansson - the 2023 Icelandic champion - is the lowest-rated in the group, as he is seeded 74th in the large field.

No fewer than 44 players are on 4/5, just half a point behind the leaders, keeping a wide range of contenders in the race as the event approaches its midpoint. Meanwhile, several of the top seeds have already dropped ground: top seed Igor Kovalenko of Ukraine, along with Bogdan-Daniel Deac of Romania and David Navara of Czechia, are on 3½/5, a full point off the lead.

With 87 players rated 2500 or above in the field, the championship remains one of the strongest open tournaments on the calendar. The standings illustrate the difficulty of maintaining a leading score, with little margin for error in the rounds ahead.

Alparslan Isik upsets Bogdan-Daniel Deac

Round 2

Standings after round 5

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo 4,5 0
2 Hovhannisyan, Robert 4,5 0
3 Lodici, Lorenzo 4,5 0
4 Can, Isik 4,5 0
5 Lagarde, Maxime 4,5 0
6 Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar 4,5 0
7 Sargsyan, Shant 4 0
8 Suleymanli, Aydin 4 0
9 Gurel, Ediz 4 0
10 Gumularz, Szymon *) 4 0
11 Ilinca, Felix-Antonio 4 0
12 Moroni, Luca Jr 4 0
13 Brunello, Sabino 4 0
Pasti, Aron 4 0
15 Alexakis, Dimitris 4 0
Malek, Jan 4 0
16 Bjerre, Jonas Buhl 4 0
Ivanchuk, Vasyl 4 0
19 Klimkowski, Jan 4 0
20 Santos Latasa, Jaime 4 0
21 Abasov, Nijat 4 0
22 Sahidi, Samir 4 0
23 Kazakouski, Valery 4 0
Kantor, Gergely 4 0
24 Dardha, Daniel 4 0
26 Sokolovsky, Yahli 4 0
Kosakowski, Jakub 4 0
Blomqvist, Erik 4 0
29 Samadov, Read 4 0
30 Ohanyan, Emin 4 0
31 Dyachuk, Artem 4 0
32 Donchenko, Alexander 4 0
33 Anton Guijarro, David 4 0
Martirosyan, Haik M. 4 0
35 Kacharava, Nikolozi 4 0

...501 players

All available games

Links

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Topics: European Championship 2026
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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