Vahap Sanal and Team Türkiye triumph at NATO Chess Championship

by Press release
10/21/2026 – Vahap Şanal won the 2026 NATO Chess Championship in Jūrmala with a perfect 7/7 score, while Türkiye took first place in the team competition. Slovenia's Laura Unuk finished second overall and was the event's top woman, with Germany's Robert Stein claiming bronze on tiebreaks. The championship brought together 148 military players from 18 NATO countries and also featured a blitz event won by Dutch IM Mark Timmermans. | Photo: Vladimir Lionter / @the_lionter
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Press release by FIDE

GM Vahap Şanal and Team Türkiye emerged victorious at the 2026 edition of the NATO Chess Championship.

The seven-round Swiss tournament, held at the Baltic Beach Hotel & SPA in Jūrmala, Latvia, from 11 to 17 October, brought together 148 military chess players representing 18 NATO member nations.

The top seed and only GM in the field, Şanal confirmed his status as the pre-tournament favourite and cruised to the title, winning all seven of his games.

Fifth seed IM Laura Unuk of Slovenia, who, due to the quirks of the pairings, did not face the champion, finished second on 6/7, and became the best woman in the competition. A group of six players tied for third place with 5½/7, with FM Robert Stein of Germany claiming bronze thanks to a superior Buchholz tiebreak score.

Laura Unuk, NATO Chess Championship 2026

Photo: Vladimir Lionter / @the_lionter

Final standings

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Sanal, Vahap 7 31,5
2 Unuk, Laura 6 31
3 Stein, Robert 5,5 35
4 Van Oosterom, Chiel 5,5 33,5
5 Gulden, Egemen 5,5 32,5
6 Bacak, Muhammed 5,5 31,5
7 Kilic, Efe Mert 5,5 31,5
8 Reizniece, Dana 5,5 25,5
9 Helbig, Mark 5 34,5
10 Norberg, Johan 5 33
11 Lami, Damiano 5 32
12 Meskenas, Paulius 5 29,5
13 Greicius, Pijus 5 29
14 Alainis, Artis 5 26,5
15 Randall, Gordon 5 26
16 Schnabel, Bennett 5 26
17 Ostling, Hakan 5 24
18 Timmermans, Mark 4,5 32
19 Bjorkman, Filip 4,5 31,5
20 Lundin, Jan 4,5 29,5

...136 players

All available games

Team competition

Türkiye won the team competition with 23½ points (calculated from the sum of the four best scores by players representing a particular country), while Germany finished second with 20 points. Sweden and Latvia shared third place with 19 points each, with Sweden edging out the host nation on tiebreaks.

NATO Chess Championship 2026

Photo: Vladimir Lionter / @the_lionter

Final team standings

1 Türkiye 23,5 127 90,5 0
1 GM Sanal, Vahap 7 31,5 23 0
2 CM Gulden, Egemen 5,5 32,5 23,5 0
3 CM Bacak, Muhammed Kaan 5,5 31,5 22 0
4 FM Kilic, Efe Mert 5,5 31,5 22 0
2 Germany 20 124 85,5 0
1 FM Stein, Robert 5,5 35 24 0
2 FM Helbig, Mark 5 34,5 24 0
3 Schnabel, Bennett 5 26 18 0
4 Andersen, Hans-Christoph 4,5 28,5 19,5 0
3 Sweden 19 118 81 0
1 FM Norberg, Johan 5 33 22,5 0
2 Ostling, Hakan 5 24 17 0
3 Bjorkman, Filip 4,5 31,5 22 0
4 FM Lundin, Jan 4,5 29,5 19,5 0
4 Latvia 19 104 73,5 0
1 WGM Reizniece, Dana 5,5 25,5 18 0
2 Alainis, Artis 5 26,5 19 0
3 Ivbulis, Martins 4,5 29 21 0
4 Koops, Janis 4 23 15,5 0
5 Netherlands 18 116,5 82,5 0
1 IM Van Oosterom, Chiel 5,5 33,5 24,5 0
2 IM Timmermans, Mark 4,5 32 22 0
3 Casteleijn, Diederick 4,5 26 18 0
4 Cheung, Jan 3,5 25 18 0

...27 teams

Blitz tournament

The event also featured a nine-round blitz tournament, which was won by IM Mark Timmermans of the Netherlands with 7½/9. Timmermans secured the title in a very close race with FM Robert Stein and FM Efe Mert Kılıç of Türkiye. All three players scored the same number of points, but Timmermans claimed first place, with Stein and Kılıç finishing second and third, respectively, due to inferior Buchholz scores.

NATO Chess Championship 2026

Photo: Website

Final blitz standings

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Timmermans, Mark 7,5 54
2 Stein, Robert 7,5 53,5
3 Kilic, Efe Mert 7,5 49,5
4 Lami, Damiano 7 53
5 Van Oosterom, Chiel 7 53
6 Unuk, Laura 7 51,5
7 Helbig, Mark 7 44,5
8 Reizniece, Dana 6,5 51
9 Pedersen, Finn 6,5 44
10 Sanal, Vahap 6 57
11 Kersic, Matej 6 52
12 Greicius, Pijus 6 51,5
13 Koops, Janis 6 49,5
14 Norberg, Johan 6 49
15 Ivbulis, Martins 6 48
16 Stahlberg, Adam 6 48
17 Meskenas, Paulius 6 48
18 Peraino, Andrew 6 47
19 Bacak, Muhammed Kaan 6 47
20 Pirs, Matjaz 6 46

...107 players

Official website: https://www.natochess.com/2026/index.html

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