Menorca Chess Open 2026: Elite Field Gathers in Ciutadella

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The Menorca Chess Open 2026 returns to Ciutadella from 7–12 April, featuring a dual-format structure of Swiss opens and an elite invitational round-robin event.

The event comprises Open A and Open B tournaments, both to be played in 9 rounds (swiss system), with the classical time control. Simultaneously with two Opens, Menorca will host a six-player round-robin Masters event with confirmed participation of GM Leiner Dominguez Perez (USA, 2738), GM Nihal Sarin (India, 2716), GM Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia, 2708) GM Pentala Harikrishna (India, 2676), former World Champion GM Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 2631), and GM Alexei Shirov (Spain, 2616).

The Open A maintains its reputation for depth, with 400 players and a strong contingent of 37 Grandmasters. Top seeds include GM Sam Shankland (USA, 2651), GM Volodar Murzin (FIDE, 2650), the world’s youngest-ever Grandmaster GM Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 2629), GM Jules Moussard (France, 2602) and GM Anand Pranav (India, 2602). With a total prize fund exceeding €60,000, the event remains one of the premier fixtures on the Mediterranean circuit.

The field also features several of the world’s leading female players, including IM Carissa Yip (USA, 2486), GM Nino Batsiashvili (Georgia, 2472), and IM Leya Garifullina (FIDE, 2454).

Much of the local interest will focus on 12-year-old IM Faustino Oro (Argentina, 2526), who arrives in Menorca seeking his third and final Grandmaster norm. Although he narrowly missed breaking the “youngest-ever” record at the Aeroflot Open last month, the world’s top-ranked Lichess blitz player remains the favourite to secure his title during this week’s play.

As the players converge on Menorca, the quality of the entry list suggests a tournament of the highest order. It remains to be seen whether experience or youthful momentum will dictate the standings by the final round.

Starting list of players – Menorca Chess Open 2026 (Open A):

No.		Name	FED	RtgI
1	GM	Shankland, Sam	USA	2651
2	GM	Murzin, Volodar	FID	2650
3	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	USA	2629
4	GM	Moussard, Jules	FRA	2602
5	GM	Pranav, Anand	IND	2602
6	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	IND	2591
7	GM	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2590
8	GM	Hong, Andrew	USA	2587
9	GM	Gurevich, Mikhail	BEL	2572
10	GM	Vetokhin, Savva	FID	2572
11	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	IND	2571
12	GM	Abdisalimov, Abdimalik	UZB	2569
13	GM	Li, Di	CHN	2558
14	GM	Xiao, Tong(Qd)	CHN	2555
15	GM	Bogner, Sebastian	SUI	2552
16	GM	Tiglon, Bryce	USA	2550
17	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	IND	2548
18	GM	Ghazarian, Kirk	USA	2544
19	GM	Hardaway, Brewington	USA	2544
20	GM	Edouard, Romain	FRA	2540
21	GM	Nogerbek, Kazybek	KAZ	2537
22	GM	Raja, Rithvik R	IND	2535
23	GM	Sosa, Tomas	ARG	2532
24	GM	Peng, Li Min	SUI	2531
25	IM	Oro, Faustino	ARG	2526
26	GM	Fernandez, Daniel Howard	ENG	2524
27	GM	Suleymenov, Alisher	KAZ	2523
28	GM	Uskov, Artem	FID	2521
29	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	IND	2515
30	GM	Corrales Jimenez, Fidel	USA	2504
31	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly	SWE	2504
32	GM	Szpar, Milosz	POL	2499
33	IM	Dau, Khuong Duy	VIE	2490
34	IM	Yip, Carissa	USA	2486
35	IM	Chen, Qi B	CHN	2484
36	IM	Ansat, Aldiyar	KAZ	2483
37	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2483
38		Zhang, Di	CHN	2481
39	GM	Mamedov, Edgar	KAZ	2478
40	IM	Begmuratov, Khumoyun	UZB	2473
41	GM	Batsiashvili, Nino	GEO	2472
42	GM	Mousavi, Seyed Khalil	IRI	2472
43	IM	Putnam, Liam	USA	2472
44	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	IND	2470
45	IM	Gusain, Himal	IND	2470
46	GM	Almeida Quintana, Omar	CUB	2465
47	IM	Hagner, Bennet	GER	2464
48	IM	Agmanov, Zhandos	KAZ	2463
49	IM	Md, Imran	IND	2462
50	IM	Fernandez Guillen, Ernesto J.	CUB	2460
51	IM	Garcia Ramos, Daniel	ESP	2460
52	IM	Xie, Kaifan	CHN	2460
53	IM	Garifullina, Leya	FID	2454
54	IM	Brodowski, Piotr	POL	2451
55	IM	Song, Yuxin	CHN	2451
56	IM	Ris, Robert	NED	2450
57	IM	Xiang, Zeyu	CHN	2449
58	IM	Maerevoet, Sim	BEL	2445
59	IM	Habans Aguerrea, Javier	ESP	2444
60	IM	Audi, Ameya	IND	2436
61	WGM	Shukhman, Anna	FID	2431
62	IM	Aradhya, Garg	IND	2429
63	IM	Toktomushev, Teimur	SUI	2428
64	IM	Smirnov, Mark	KAZ	2425
65	IM	Vergara Anton, Diego	ESP	2424
66	IM	Vignesh, Advaith Vemula	IND	2424
67	IM	Nurgaliyev, Sauat	KAZ	2423
68	FM	Villa Tornero, Alex	ESP	2423
69	IM	Flores Quillas, Diego Saul Rodri	PER	2421
70	IM	Krishna, C R G	IND	2419
71	GM	Galego, Luis	POR	2416
72	IM	Domingo Nunez, Ruben	ESP	2416
73	IM	Averin, Nikolay	FID	2415
74	IM	Griffith, Kyron	USA	2415
75	IM	Sanchez, Sebastian Felipe	COL	2409
76	WGM	Khamdamova, Afruza	UZB	2408
77	IM	Khusenkhojaev, Mustafokhuja	TJK	2407
78	IM	Aaditya, Dhingra	IND	2405
79	IM	Lohia, Sohum	ENG	2405
80	IM	Martinez Ramirez, Lennis	CUB	2404
81	IM	Jin, Yueheng	CHN	2400
82	FM	Masague Artero, Guerau	ESP	2400
83	IM	Jain, Kashish Manoj	IND	2391
84	FM	Beukema, Jasper	BEL	2389
85	IM	Srihari, L	IND	2387
86	FM	Kuandykuly, Danis	KAZ	2386
87	IM	Avinash, Ramesh	IND	2384
88	IM	Sidhant, Mohapatra	IND	2383
89	IM	Ritviz, Parab	IND	2382
90	IM	Cesar Maestre, Bernardo	ESP	2381
91	WGM	Kairbekova, Amina	KAZ	2379
92	GM	Narciso Dublan, Marc	ESP	2377
93	IM	Sahib, Singh	IND	2376
94	IM	Vantika, Agrawal	IND	2375
95	IM	Katz, Alexander	USA	2371
96	IM	Prado Lobo, Jonas	ESP	2370
97	IM	Gomez Ledo, Roberto Carlos	CUB	2367
98	IM	Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr	USA	2366
99	IM	Dudognon, Thibault	FRA	2364
100	FM	Krishnan, Ritvik	IND	2363
101	FM	Tanenbaum, Zachary	USA	2361
102	FM	Yang, Zilong	CHN	2361
103	IM	Moksh, Amit Doshi	IND	2360
104	FM	Lenaerts, Lennert	BEL	2359
105	FM	Marin Ferragut, Pau	ESP	2359
106	IM	Ilkhomi, Jaloliddin	TJK	2357
107	IM	Ajay Krishna, S	IND	2354
108	IM	Padmini, Rout	IND	2354
109	FM	Zhong, Kangmin	CHN	2348
110	IM	Sanchez Alvarez, Roberto Carlos	PAN	2347
111	IM	Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim	UZB	2347
112	WIM	Omonova, Umida	UZB	2346
113	IM	Tahay, Alexis	FRA	2345
114	FM	Kokol, Peter	SLO	2344
115	FM	Akhilbay, Imangali	KAZ	2343
116	FM	Priansh, Das	IND	2343
117		Singh, Siddharth	USA	2342
118	FM	Domingo Nunez, Alejandro	ESP	2341
119	FM	Fuentes Guinot, Alejandro	ESP	2341
120	IM	Wu, Yixing	CHN	2340
121	IM	Hernandez, Cristian Andres	COL	2339
122	IM	Leiva, Gianmarco	PER	2336
123	FM	Ribera Veganzones, Serni	AND	2335
124		Lad, Mandar Pradip	IND	2334
125	FM	Adharsh, K	IND	2330
126	FM	Barzen, Pascal	GER	2329
127	FM	Daurimbetov, Azamat	UZB	2327
128	FM	Daakshin, Arun	IND	2326
129	FM	Gschiel, Alexander	AUT	2325
130	FM	Salinas Tomas, Daniel	ESP	2325
131	IM	Nugumanov, Bakhtiyar	KAZ	2324
132	WGM	Rakshitta, Ravi	IND	2321
133	WIM	Kaliakhmet, Elnaz	KAZ	2321
134	FM	Uber Gracia, Hugo	ESP	2319
135	FM	Banerjee, Supratit	ENG	2317
136	IM	Lee, Michael	USA	2316
137	FM	Aarav, Sinha	IND	2315
138	FM	Herman Gamazo, Isaac	ESP	2314
139	WCM	Khalilova, Madinabonu	UZB	2314
140	FM	Krauchi Romero, Martin	ESP	2312
141	FM	Jacobsen, Mikkel Manosri	DEN	2310
142	FM	Bagwe, Gaurang	IND	2308
143	WIM	Karimova, Guldona	UZB	2308
144	FM	Adan Bermudez, Sergio	ESP	2306
145	WGM	Nandhidhaa, P V	IND	2302
146	FM	Dinesh, Rajan M	IND	2301
147	FM	Felix, Raphael	RSA	2301
148	WGM	Yu, Jennifer	USA	2299
149	WIM	Nurgaliyeva, Zarina	KAZ	2299
150	FM	Arun, Kataria	IND	2296
151	FM	Guerrero Vargas, Andres Jesus	VEN	2295
152	FM	Castillo Dalmau, Albert	ESP	2294
153	FM	Dorrance, Adam	CAN	2288
154	FM	Martin Rueda, Daniel	ESP	2286
155	FM	Talgatov, Nazar	KAZ	2286
156	FM	Carrascoso Morales, Abel	ESP	2285
157	FM	Cu, Ivan Travis	PHI	2285
158	FM	Labiano Hernandez, Juan	ESP	2284
159	FM	Torres Rebolledo, Alvaro	ESP	2283
160	FM	Ruiz Buendia, Miguel	ESP	2279
161	FM	Borne, Felix	FRA	2274
162	FM	Sanchez Saez, Francisco	ESP	2272
163	CM	Aarit, Kapil	IND	2271
164	FM	Federer, Colin	SUI	2270
165	FM	Nayak, Rajesh	IND	2269
166		Sammons, Evan	USA	2268
167	FM	Cabezas Solano, David Alejandro	CRC	2267
168	FM	Loftgaard, Mikkel Vinh	DEN	2264
169	FM	Ermachenko, Manuel	ESP	2263
170		Saunders, Aron	ENG	2263
171	CM	Advik, Amit Agrawal	IND	2262
172	FM	Zwahr, Paul	GER	2261
173	FM	Sharifov, Mekhriddin	TJK	2259
174	WIM	Aydin, Gulenay	TUR	2259
175	CM	Rychagov, Nikita	EST	2256
176	FM	Karimov, Alisher	TJK	2251
177	FM	Ojas, Kulkarni	IND	2251
178	CM	Molina Carretero, Daniel	ESP	2247
179	CM	Darshan, G	IND	2245
180	IM	Klinova, Masha	ISR	2235
181	WIM	Wang, Chuqiao	CHN	2235
182	FM	Garcia Molina, Jose	ESP	2233
183	WIM	Mahalakshmi, M	IND	2232
184	WFM	Imomkuzieva, Nilufarkhon	UZB	2232
185	FM	Kabilov, Amin	TJK	2231
186		De Groote, Ewoud	NED	2231
187	CM	Yohan, Yadav Tarala	IND	2230
188	FM	Aguado Doncel, Pablo Luis	ESP	2228
189	FM	Dumanuly, Sultanbeibarys	KAZ	2228
190	FM	Schenderowitsch, Michael	GER	2228
191	CM	Bauer, Thomas	AUT	2227
192	CM	Prieb, Robert	GER	2227
193	WFM	Sachi, Jain	IND	2227
194	FM	Sriansh, Das	IND	2223
195	WIM	Orian, Noga	ISR	2219
196		Baitleu, Syrym	KAZ	2214
197		Verheyen, Olivier	BEL	2211
198		Yuste Valenzuela, Alejandro	ESP	2211
199	FM	Nissinen, Niilo Man	HKG	2208
200	FM	Charvi, A	IND	2207
201		Umarov, Bekhruz	UZB	2207
202	WGM	Frayna, Janelle Mae	PHI	2206
203	CM	Jagreet, Misra	IND	2206
204	FM	Lee, Megan	USA	2205
205	FM	Levitan, Judah Nathan	RSA	2205
206		Jihan, Tejas Shah	IND	2205
207	FM	Laurent, Julien G.	FRA	2203
208	IM	Mannion, Stephen R	SCO	2202
209	CM	Conon, Catalin	ESP	2200
210	FM	Tattersall Rodriguez, Lester	ESP	2199
211		Nilsson, Oliver	SWE	2198
212		Silva, Miguel Antonio Neto	POR	2198
213	CM	Sprenger De La Iglesia, Yevgeni	ESP	2195
214		Wang, Aaron	USA	2194
215		Zhou, Shumeng	CHN	2194
216	IM	Levitan, Caleb Levi	RSA	2192
217	CM	Syzdyk, Samir	KAZ	2191
218		Sig Vargas, Marcos	ESP	2189
219	CM	Zhang, Junyi	ENG	2188
220		Asaka, Samuel	AUS	2187
221	IM	Claverie, Raul	ARG	2185
222		Zhang, Jiabao	CHN	2184
223		Kabinazar, Nurmukhammed	KAZ	2183
224	FM	Lyutsinger, Iren	FID	2182
225	CM	Hoffman, Luc	USA	2182
226	CM	Mani, Sarbartho	IND	2176
227		Jin, Ruijun	CHN	2176
228		Onslow, Alfie	ENG	2176
229	CM	Gonzalez Lema, Carlos	ESP	2175
230		Lokesh, N.	IND	2172
231	CM	Maldonado Mena, German	ESP	2167
232	FM	Daulet, Alikhan	KAZ	2166
233	CM	Abdsattar, Alisher	KAZ	2165
234		Lauer, Marius	GER	2165
235		Azatzhan, Adil	KAZ	2160
236		Midoux, Sebastien	FRA	2158
237		Silva Cerda, Mark Valentin	ESP	2157
238	WFM	Sureda Gonzalez, Cristina	ESP	2155
239	ACM	Lishoy Gengis Paratazham, Dildarav	ENG	2148
240		Campins Machado, Francesc	ESP	2144
241	AIM	Benseny Martinez, Guerau	ESP	2142
242		Yessengali, Adizhan	KAZ	2134
243		Ribeiro, Bruno	POR	2131
244	CM	Martinez Piqueras, Carlos	ESP	2129
245		Pattnayak, Nilsu	IND	2128
246		Bals Hernandez, Jordi	ESP	2126
247		Clotet Mas, Dan	ESP	2126
248	CM	Murawski, Jan	ENG	2125
249		Moreto Quintana, Alex	ESP	2124
250		Daksh, Jain	IND	2123
251		Govoreanu, Matei	BEL	2122
252	CM	Harish, Neeraj	USA	2121
253		Hill, Alistair	ENG	2119
254	CM	Joel, Paul Ganta	IND	2114
255	WFM	Abrisqueta Zudaire, Leyre	ESP	2112
256		Ragavan, Samarth Rajesh	USA	2111
257	FM	Cubas Pons, Juan Miguel	ESP	2110
258	CM	Akshit, Kumar J	IND	2110
259	WIM	Ivana Maria, Furtado	IND	2109
260	FM	Ribeiro, Fernando	POR	2106
261		Azizaj, Agim	ESP	2103
262	FM	Rempe, Jonas	GER	2102
263		Verneuil, Pascal	FRA	2102
264	WFM	Kheerthi, Ganta	IND	2097
265		Pranay, Akula	IND	2092
266		Ballo Serrano, Jan	ESP	2087
267		Zhu, Yilun	CHN	2087
268	WIM	Zapata Campos, Lidia Karen	ESP	2084
269		Vedant, Yogesh Kale	IND	2084
270		Leutwyler, Mathias	SUI	2083
271		Salord Guillen, Joan	ESP	2081
272		Zlatolas, Anej	SLO	2078
273	AIM	Arul, Prakash N	IND	2077
274		Sukhodolskyi, Oleksii	UKR	2076
275		Crickmore, Neil E G	ENG	2075
276	WFM	Cramling Bellon, Anna	SWE	2074
277	CM	Bolashakov, Nurali	KAZ	2072
278		Ponseti Lluch, Joan	ESP	2070
279	WFM	Soubirou, Oriane	FRA	2068
280		Halmeenmaki, Tuomo	FIN	2068
281		Manley, Jon P	ENG	2068
282		Vecillas Rey, Daniel	ESP	2068
283		Queirolo Perez, Manuel	ESP	2066
284	CM	Jakhria, Kushal	ENG	2064
285	CM	Patlolla, Indra Reddy	IND	2061
286		Marques Taltavull, Antonio	ESP	2059
287		Vashisht-Pigem, Raman	ENG	2058
288		Montesinos Diaz, Luis	ESP	2054
289		Schenk Papke, Andres	ESP	2050
290		Larkin, Benjamin	ENG	2049
291		Kavin, Vijayakumar	IND	2048
292		Li, Anna Sofie	DEN	2047
293		Munar Rossello, Pedro	ESP	2043
294	WCM	Sharvaanica, A S	IND	2041
295	WCM	Sholpanbek, Zhansaya	KAZ	2041
296		Kodiri, Pairavi	TJK	2038
297		Suman, Saideep	IND	2034
298	CM	Tamizh, Amudhan S	IND	2031
299		White, Stuart A	SCO	2031
300		Ashikmamutov, Saidkhon	UZB	2029
301	AFM	Eman, P D	IND	2028
302	CM	Gonzalez Aguirre, Luis	ESP	2027
303	WCM	Drishtee, Ghosh	IND	2027
304		Moll Gener, Joan	ESP	2027
305		Bagdia, Shourya	IND	2020
306	WFM	Durrfeld, Sofie Bech	DEN	2017
307		Ramdani, Nayati	FRA	2016
308	WCM	Babak, Iuliia	FID	2010
309		Alles Pons, Lluis	ESP	2010
310		Torrent Santonja, Adria	ESP	2010
311		Cros Garcia, Marc	ESP	2007
312		Hamm, Rodrigue	FRA	2005
313		Adilbekuly, Altair	KAZ	2001
314		Advaith, Asokumar	IND	1998
315		Chompas, Vasileios	GRE	1998
316	WFM	Lezhepekova, Veronika	ESP	1996
317		Sarmiento, David Ray	PHI	1996
318		Eche, Sylvain	FRA	1992
319		Fiol Abrines, Antonio	ESP	1985
320		Hamm, Fabien	FRA	1980
321		Nikhil, T L	IND	1978
322		Puerto Fernandez, Eloi	ESP	1978
323		Del Mar, Tristan Isaac	SCO	1977
324		Planas Gene, Juan	ESP	1977
325	AIM	Zhang, Ying Jun Xiong	ESP	1973
326		Fernandez Kalinov, Rodrigo	ESP	1973
327		Serra Villafranca, Felix	ESP	1973
328		Urbansky, Jan	GER	1972
329	CM	Nimay, Agrawal	IND	1971
330		Setien Solar, Enrique	ESP	1970
331		Lascar, Radoslawa	BEL	1968
332		Karthick, Raja P	IND	1967
333		Liu, Bei	CHN	1963
334		Javet, Blaise	SUI	1962
335		Li, Yucheng Robinson	HKG	1959
336		Olcina Monells, Jordi	ESP	1959
337		Prohens Lopez, Aitor	ESP	1959
338		Francois-Haugrin, Said	FRA	1955
339		Garcia Martinez, Josep	ESP	1953
340		Moraes, Antonio Jose Oliveira	POR	1953
341		Alcindor, Samuel	FRA	1951
342		Krisha, Tamhant Jain	IND	1951
343		Morant Amezaga, Elies	ESP	1948
344		Colin, Peter	BEL	1945
345		Abdulazizov, Asilbek	UZB	1942
346		Fraga Pons, Albert Borja	ESP	1942
347		Sanchez Rodriguez, Jaime	ESP	1940
348		Suez-Panama, Gilles	FRA	1938
349		Vicente Bessen, Kirian	ESP	1936
350		Hu, Junyan	ENG	1930
351		Munoz Ferreira, Ibon	ESP	1929
352		Cirer Garcia, Antoni	ESP	1921
353		De Andres Gonalons, Fernando	ESP	1918
354		Arguimbau Burgos, Roger	ESP	1917
355		Aadhya, V	IND	1916
356		Sureda Gonzalez, Miquel	ESP	1914
357		Meyer, Juergen	GER	1909
358		Adilbek, Adinur	KAZ	1905
359		Li, Harvey	ENG	1902
360		Rossello Sanchez, Bartolome	ESP	1900
361		Bricard, Herve	FRA	1899
362		Urena Casacuberta, Lluis	ESP	1898
363		Escribano Rodriguez, Pedro	ESP	1893
364		Goncalves, Goncalo Cravo Jesus	POR	1891
365	CM	Dauren, Darmen	KAZ	1889
366		Roques, Pascal	FRA	1888
367		Prudent, Sylvio	FRA	1886
368		Moyse, Nigel John	WLS	1880
369		Schafer, Guillermo	ESP	1880
370		Ramirez Leyva, Freddy	MEX	1879
371		Dizdar, Orkun	TUR	1877
372		Frutuoso, Tiago	POR	1877
373	ACM	Blasco Roca, Roger	ESP	1874
374		De Coninck, Nelles	BEL	1867
375		Meneses Arenas, Mikel	ESP	1866
376	AIM	Godinho Marques, Pedro	POR	1863
377		Anguas Fanlo, Sergio	ESP	1861
378		Nookala, Nikhil Sriram	IND	1860
379		White, Nicole	IRL	1859
380		Abdelkader Garstka, Adam	ESP	1852
381		Len, Thomas	ESP	1847
382		Abadia Pascual, Lluis	ESP	1846
383		Costa, Tomas Pereira	POR	1845
384		Casimir, Sarah	FRA	1839
385		Khairova, Evelina	ISR	1834
386		Matias, Luis Miguel Rodrigues	POR	1830
387		Parera Sanchez, Jordi	ESP	1829
388		Mercadal Benejam, Josep	ESP	1828
389		Pujol Zoilo, Eudald	ESP	1816
390		Mccallum, Elliot	CAN	1812
391		Cyprienne Fonsat, Ethan	FRA	1806
392		Conradie, Dirk Cornelis Uys	RSA	1801
393		Ribon Calabia, Mariano	ESP	1798
394		Magzumov, Damirali	KAZ	1782
395		Zhou, Tony	HKG	1780
396		Ibanez Zanetti, Sebastian Andres	PAN	1754
397		Mehmedov, Antonio	ESP	1747
398		Raffin-Sumyk, Piermael	FRA	1737
399		Weil, Francois	FRA	1731
400		Alles Moll, Eloi	ESP	1724