Jan Malek enters final round as sole leader
The 62nd Rubinstein Memorial took place from 15 to 23 August in Polanica-Zdrój, Poland, with the main ALREH GM tournament featuring ten players in a single round-robin. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to the end, with a 30-second increment from move one.
Vladimir Fedoseev was the top seed, followed by Awonder Liang, while Igor Kovalenko and Haik Martirosyan were among the other leading players by rating. The previous two editions had been won by Nodirbek Yakubboev in 2025 and Vincent Keymer in 2024.
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Liang took outright first place with 5½/9, finishing half a point ahead of a four-player group. The American scored three wins, five draws and one defeat. Unusually, none of the ten participants completed the tournament unbeaten. Fedoseev, Jan Malek, Martirosyan and Radoslaw Wojtaszek all ended on 5/9, with Fedoseev and Malek taking second and third respectively on tiebreaks.
The champion had to recover after losing with black to Fedoseev in round three. Liang responded by scoring his three victories with white, against Martirosyan, Jakub Seemann and Szymon Gumularz. His performance earned him 3.3 rating points. The 23-year-old had reached a career-high rating of 2719 in February this year, before losing ground over the following months - mainly in his 12-game match against Hans Niemann in April, which ended in a 7½–4½ defeat.
Awonder Liang will be part of the US lineup in the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Samarkand - Team USA enters the event as the top seed | Photos: Lennart Ootes
An eventful ninth round
The situation remained open until the final day. Jan Malek, the ninth seed in the ten-player field, entered round nine as the sole leader on 5/8. The 18-year-old's run had included upset victories with white over Kovalenko, Gumularz and Martirosyan between rounds three and six. Even after losing to Fedoseev in round seven, the Polish youngster retained enough momentum to reach the last round half a point clear of Liang, Martirosyan and Wojtaszek.
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Jan Malek at the 2025 Dole Trophy | Photo: Shahid Ahmed / ChessBase India
The final round produced three decisive results from five games, and all three had a direct bearing on the battle near the top. Malek's challenge ended when he lost with black to Seemann, the only participant who had started the event with a lower rating. Wojtaszek, meanwhile, drew with black against Pentala Harikrishna, while Martirosyan also drew his game against Kovalenko. Fedoseev defeated Sam Shankland with white to reach 5/9 and eventually claim second place.
Round 9 results
Liang therefore had the opportunity to secure the title outright by beating Gumularz, and he converted it. The eventual champion held only a modest positional edge in a double-rook ending in which both players had six pawns after 29...a4
Liang nevertheless gradually outplayed his Polish opponent and turned the slight advantage into the victory that lifted him to 5½ points.
On the other key board, Seemann had already established a clear positional advantage against Malek, playing with an extra pawn in an ending with two rooks each and opposite-coloured bishops. White's d-pawn was a strong asset, and the breakthrough came with 40.Rxe4
There followed 40...fxe4 41.Ke3 Rh2 42.Kxe4 Re2+ 43.Kf5
Seemann's active king, bishop and connected central pawns proved decisive, bringing Malek's unexpected title bid to an end and, together with Liang's win, settling the tournament in the American's favour.
Final standings
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