Chess player Roman Degtyarev was awarded the "Future of Ukraine" award after winning the European Championship

Seventeen-year-old Ukrainian IM Roman Dehtiarov has made history as both the youngest and lowest-seeded player ever to win the European Individual Chess Championship. He started the event in Katowice, Poland ranked 126th out of 501 players, with a 2452 rating, but took sole first place on 9/11, half a point ahead of Azerbaijani GMs Nijat Abasov, Aydin Suleymanli, and Mahammad Muradli. He won €20,000 (~$23,500), a spot in the 2027 FIDE World Cup, and an instant grandmaster title as the winner of a continental championship.

On his return to Ukraine, he met and was awarded the "Future of Ukraine" award by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The event took place in the football stadium Arena Katowice. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz/European Chess Union.

The 2026 European Championship took place April 7-19 and brought together a record 501 players. It was an 11-round Swiss, with players having 90 minutes for 40 moves then another 30 minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one. At stake was a €100,000 prize fund, but perhaps more importantly for most players, 20 spots in the next World Cup.

No one could have predicted the winner—the first IM ever to win the title since the tournament was first held in 2000.

European Individual Chess Championship 2026: Final Top 30 

Rank Seed Title Name FED Rating Score TB TB2 Perf.

1 126 IM Roman Dehtiarov 2452 9 71 76.5 2781

2 29 GM Nijat Abasov 2586 8.5 73 78 2678

3 4 GM Aydin Suleymanli 2653 8.5 73 77.5 2737

4 20 GM Mahammad Muradli 2605 8.5 70 74.5 2689

5 9 GM Ediz Gurel 2635 8 75 81 2674

6 2 GM David Anton 2656 8 74 80 2647

7 36 GM Eduardo Iturrizaga 2575 8 72 78 2697

8 7 GM Alexander Donchenko 2642 8 71.5 77.5 2653

9 12 GM Robert Hovhannisyan 2621 8 71.5 77 2678

10 86 GM Nikolozi Kacharava 2500 8 71.5 76.5 2691

11 38 GM Valery Kazakouski 2572 8 71 76 2655

12 18 GM Jaime Santos 2610 8 70.5 76 2650

13 10 GM Haik Martirosyan 2633 8 69.5 75 2667

14 11 GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre 2623 8 69 75 2672

15 74 GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson 2512 8 69 74 2656

16 40 GM Gleb Dudin 2566 8 68.5 74 2649

17 19 GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi 2608 8 68 72.5 2640

18 23 GM Daniel Dardha 2596 8 67.5 73 2649

19 254 FM Anton Zlatkov 2299 8 67.5 72 2616

20 17 GM Anton Korobov 2610 8 67 71.5 2654

21 3 GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac 2655 8 66.5 71 2634

22 30 GM Elham Amar 2586 8 65 70 2586

23 142 IM Arsen Davtyan 2430 8 63.5 68 2617

24 14 GM Maxime Lagarde 2621 7.5 73 78 2598

25 59 GM Jan Malek 2533 7.5 72.5 77 2644

26 13 GM Vasyl Ivanchuk 2621 7.5 72 76.5 2608

27 103 GM Emin Ohanyan 2481 7.5 71.5 76 2657

28 5 GM Shant Sargsyan 2647 7.5 71 77.5 2616

29 26 GM Szymon Gumularz 2590 7.5 69.5 74.5 2585

30 88 GM Jan Klimkowski 2498 7.5 69.5 73 2595

Full games and results.

Dehtiarov's result would be remarkable for anyone, but it's even more impressive when you add the backstory. Dehtiarov is from Kharkiv, a city 30 kilometers from the Russian border and therefore in constant danger since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022. Another player from that city, GM Pavel Eljanov, explained that he'd tried to evacuate Dehtiarov's family, but 14-year-old Roman said no, not wanting to abandon his father.

Eljanov ends:

He stayed in one of the most dangerous places in Ukraine. With very limited chances to travel and barely any practice, he still became Ukrainian Champion. Now he’s grown up—and just caused the biggest sensation in the history of the European Championship!

Remember the name: Roman Dehtiarov!

Not for nothing our city Kharkiv is called “reinforced concrete!"

In 2024, at the age of 16 years and five months and already studying at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Dehtiarov became the youngest-ever Ukrainian Champion. He scored 7.5/9 and had better tiebreaks than top-seed GM Mikhailo Oleksienko.

Dehtiarov has steadily climbed the rating list when he's played, but he hasn't been able to play nearly as often as most of his peers.

Dehtiarov has played a fraction of the games of most talented youngsters. Image: FIDE.

Another example of his potential was taking silver in the 2024 European Under 16 Youth Rapid Championship, but nothing could have prepared us for his performance in Katowice.

Roman Dehtiarov won the trophy and much more in Katowice. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz/European Chess Union.

He was the first international master to win the European Championship in its 26 editions, the youngest player to do so (next is 19-year-old GM Ian Nepomniachtchi), and by far the lowest seed—before him, Nepomniachtchi's coach GM Vladimir Potkin held that honor as the 43rd seed in 2011. Dehtiarov was seeded only 126.

Year City Title Winner Name Seeded

2000 Saint-Vincent GM Pavel Tregubov 10 / 120 players

2001 Ohrid GM Emil Sutovsky 35 / 204 players

2002 Batumi GM Bartlomiej Macieja 14 / 101 players

2003 Silivri GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili 3 / 207 players

2004 Antalya GM Vassily Ivanchuk 1 / 74 players

2005 Zegrze GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 11 / 229 players

2006 Kusadasi GM Zdenko Kozul 17 / 138 players

2007 Dresden GM Vladislav Tkachiev 15 / 403 players

2008 Plovdiv GM Sergei Tiviakov 31 / 337 players

2009 Budva GM Evgeny Tomashevsky 17 / 306 players

2010 Rijeka GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 35 / 408 players

2011 Aix-les-Bains GM Vladimir Potkin 43 / 393 players

2012 Plovdiv GM Dmitry Jakovenko 3 / 348 players

2013 Legnica GM Alexander Moiseenko 13 / 286 players

2014 Yerevan GM Alexander Motylev 33 / 259 players

2015 Jerusalem GM Evgeniy Najer 37 / 250 players

2016 Gjakova GM Ernesto Inarkiev 12 / 245 players

2017 Minsk GM Maxim Matlakov 5 / 397 players

2018 Batumi GM Ivan Saric 26 / 302 players

2019 Skopje GM Vladislav Artemiev 1 / 361 players

2021 Reykjavik GM Anton Demchenko 33 / 180 players

2022 Brezice GM Matthias Bluebaum 20 / 317 players

2023 Vrnjacka Banja GM Alexey Sarana 11 / 484 players

2024 Petrovac GM Aleksandar Indjic 33 / 388 players

2025 Eforie GM Matthias Bluebaum 17 / 375 players

2026 Katowice IM Roman Dehtiarov 126 / 501 players

The European Championship is always fiercely competitive—for instance, in round two alone, top-seed GM Igor Kovalenko lost to IM Samuel-Timotei Ghimpu and third-seed GM Bogdan Daniel-Deac lost to IM Alparslan Isik.

Anton Korobov is among the observers as IM Samuel-Timotei Ghimpu beats ratings favorite Igor Kovalenko. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz/European Chess Union.

Dehtiarov's path wasn't always smooth.  

The first sign that this might be a big event for Dehtiarov was perhaps his win over Turkish GM Emre Can in round three. 17.Qa4? stumbled into a killer blow.