The 35th Open International Chess Tournament of Kavala “Vasilis Theodoridis” concluded at the historic Megali Leschi venue in Kavala, Greece.
Organized by the Kavala Chess Club and the East Macedonia & Thrace Chess Union, the traditional event brought together strong international competitors from July 27 to August 4, 2026.
The main Group A section (open to players rated over 2100) featured a high-caliber field of 145 participants representing 32 national chess federations, including 14 Grandmasters (GMs) competing for top honours and a share of the โฌ12,000 total prize pool.
Polish Grandmaster Milosz Szpar (2518 FIDE) put on a dominant performance to claim clear first place in Group A. After nine rounds of intense classical chess, Szpar finished as the sole champion with 7.5 points out of 9, a half-point ahead of the chasing pack.
Szpar’s victory secured him the โฌ2,500 top prize from the Group A purse.
Venue: Megali Leschi (Great Club), Kavala, Greece
Dates: July 27 โ August 4, 2026
Format: 9-Round FIDE Swiss
Time Control: 90 minutes for 40 moves + 15 minutes to the end, with a 30-second increment per move from move one
Alongside classical play, the festival included popular side activities such as a team blitz tournament, historical excursions to nearby Philippi, and social events by the Aegean shore, continuing Kavala’s long-standing tradition as a premier summer chess destination.
Final standings:
1 GM Szpar Milosz POL 2518 – 7.5
2 WGM Toncheva Nadya BUL 2347 – 7
3 GM Peng Li Min SUI 2529 – 7
4 IM Aaditya Dhingra IND 2404 – 7
5 FM Papadopoulos Georgios GRE 2359 – 6.5
6 IM Krallis Christos GRE 2424 – 6.5
7 GM Tilicheev Viacheslav SRB 2430 – 6.5
8 IM Badelka Olga AUT 2406 – 6.5
9 GM Stefansson Vignir Vatnar ISL 2540 – 6.5
10 IM Aronyak Ghosh IND 2549 – 6.5
11 GM Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis GRE 2570 – 6
12 FM Stamatiou Rodolfos GRE 2324 – 6
13 IM Lopez Rayo Santiago COL 2425 – 6
14 IM Campos Gomez Manuel COL 2421 – 6
15 FM Makridis Dimitrios GRE 2311 – 6
16 FM Virtanen Teemu FIN 2224 – 6
17 WFM Siskou Evangelia GRE 1955 – 6
18 GM Ioannidis Evgenios GRE 2473 – 6
19 IM Favaloro Andrea ITA 2391 – 6
20 GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios GRE 2430 – 6
21 FM Bagwe Gaurang IND 2311 – 6
22 IM Abrahamyan Tatev USA 2365 – 6
23 WGM Yu Jennifer USA 2335 – 6
24 IM Kurmann Oliver SUI 2354 – 6
25 IM Kalogridis Antonios GRE 2399 – 5.5
26 IM Savitha Shri B IND 2368 – 5.5
27 GM Babujian Levon ARM 2337 – 5.5
28 FM Sydoryka Vladyslav UKR 2402 – 5.5
29 CM Oikonomopoulos Filippos GRE 2258 – 5.5
30 FM Vassis Michail GRE 2353 – 5.5
31 FM Stefanou Dimitrios GRE 2358 – 5.5
32 GM Rios Gomez Cristhian Camilo COL 2406 – 5.5
33 GM Krush Irina USA 2401 – 5.5
34 CM Odabasi Ruzgar TUR 2182 – 5.5
35 FM Ashwath Kaushik SGP 2278 – 5.5
36 Serbes Gokay TUR 2069 – 5.5
37 CM Avanesyan Aleksandr ARM 2239 – 5.5
38 Tzortzatos Dimosthenis Panagiot GRE 2143 – 5.5
39 WGM Krasteva Beloslava BUL 2304 – 5.5
40 CM Vihaan Karthikeya N IND 2252 – 5.5
41 IM Carnicelli Valerio ITA 2436 – 5.5
42 FM Noy Eyal ISR 2314 – 5
43 IM Neelash Saha IND 2476 – 5
44 CM Darshan G IND 2173 – 5
45 FM Shaik Sumer Arsh IND 2317 – 5
46 IM Kavutskiy Kostya USA 2315 – 5
47 CM Mnatsakanyan Aren ARM 2201 – 5
48 FM Ciric Pavle SRB 2271 – 5
49 FM Liskiewicz Jakub POL 2235 – 5
50 Yardimci Can TUR 2094 – 5
51 FM Gkavardinas Antonios GRE 2304 – 5
52 WGM Chernyak Viktoria ISR 2203 – 5
53 FM Kouskoutis Georgios-Alexandros GRE 2270 – 5
54 FM Ribeiro Gustavo POR 2217 – 5
55 FM Mora Munoz Alejandro COL 2056 – 5
56 WFM Shen Zhiyuan AUS 2106 – 5
57 Karademir Bugra TUR 2172 – 5
58 CM Naveen Kumar P IND 2040 – 5
59 WFM Naymanova Patricie BUL 2010 – 5
60 FM Tsaknakis Zisis GRE 2292 – 5
61 CM Sahbudak Baris Cinar TUR 2137 – 5
62 Ansh M Shah IND 2259 – 4.5
63 Vardakas Grigorios GRE 2110 – 4.5
64 CM Boutikos Eleftherios GRE 2189 – 4.5
65 CM Karamichos Michail GRE 2205 – 4.5
66 Merkouropoulos Dionysios GRE 2096 – 4.5
67 CM Mamikonyan Artem T ARM 2210 – 4.5
68 CM Fragkos Vasileios GRE 2225 – 4.5
69 Konstantinidis Konstantinos CYP 2115 – 4.5
70 Saine Zachary CAN 2124 – 4.5
71 FM Stefanou Konstantinos GRE 2260 – 4.5
72 CM Papadopoulos Panayotis GRE 2298 – 4.5
73 Suman Saideep IND 2034 – 4.5
74 CM Vivaan Vijay Saraogi IND 2121 – 4.5
75 Stefan Victor GRE 2061 – 4.5
76 Theodoridis Charalampos GRE 2132 – 4.5
77 Ragavan Samarth Rajesh USA 2106 – 4.5
78 Vafiadis Kleanthis GRE 2160 – 4.5
79 CM Matsumura Cocoro JPN 2225 – 4.5
80 CM Dorfanis Ilarion GRE 2117 – 4.5
81 CM Krawczyk Flawian POL 2325 – 4
82 FM Ramirez Garcia Jorge Alberto MEX 2216 – 4
83 Tsarsitalidis Christos GRE 2184 – 4
84 CM Gimenez Menchon Cesar ESP 2159 – 4
85 Pavel Sebastian-Ionut ROU 2168 – 4
86 CM Stoimenidis Dimitrios GRE 2133 – 4
87 Stepanyan Ararat ARM 2041 – 4
88 Palaiologou Apostolos GRE 2133 – 4
89 Lafkidis Apostolos GRE 2125 – 4
90 Midem Ismail Eren TUR 2095 – 4
91 Kiryttopoulos Ioannis GRE 2123 – 4
92 Margaritis Ioannis M GRE 2139 – 4
93 CM Dylong Antoni POL 2105 – 4
94 WIM Zhou Guijue CHN 2149 – 4
95 Isik Tuna TUR 2031 – 4
96 CM Joel Paul Ganta IND 2148 – 3.5
97 FM Veleshnja Zino ALB 2227 – 3.5
98 FM Melikhov Evgeny V. GRE 2136 – 3.5
99 Kosmidis Ioannis GRE 2156 – 3.5
100 Bougas Georgios GRE 2021 – 3.5
101 CM Jagreet Misra IND 2260 – 3.5
102 Paarshva Parmar IND 2063 – 3.5
103 Devnani Kush IND 2209 – 3.5
104 AFM Tsolov Aleksandar BUL 2023 – 3.5
105 Oner Yigit Efe TUR 2047 – 3.5
106 CM Mylonakis Ioannis GRE 2126 – 3.5
107 Zygouris Hristos GRE 2140 – 3.5
108 Khymchenko Maksym UKR 2017 – 3.5
109 WIM Yordanova Svetla BUL 2059 – 3.5
110 Kalinoglu Yagiz TUR 2094 – 3.5
111 Cirkovic Vuk SRB 2011 – 3.5
112 Pintor Simao POR 2104 – 3.5
113 Barranco Cara Francisco Javier ESP 2183 – 3.5
114 Pitsakis Ilias GRE 2028 – 3
115 IM Maksimovic Branimir SRB 2158 – 3
116 Loukopoulos Panagiotis-Athanasi GRE 2091 – 3
117 Stoychev Ognian BUL 2000 – 3
118 Maurstad Astor Moe NOR 2054 – 3
119 Farberov Maxim USA 2113 – 3
120 Betsakos Konstantinos GRE 2137 – 3
121 Velikov Nikola BUL 2057 – 3
122 Zhang Haoxuan CHN 2253 – 3
123 Mixakis Evangelos GRE 2012 – 3
124 Andreev Simeon BUL 2003 – 3
125 Kantekin Baha TUR 2028 – 3
126 Martinez Rubi Alberto ESP 2032 – 3
127 Rychkov Roman USA 2034 – 2.5
128 CM Saksham Wadhwa IND 2189 – 2.5
129 Karakatsanis Nikolaos GRE 2045 – 2.5
130 Goutoufas Christos GRE 2008 – 2.5
131 FM Sirigos Nikolaos GRE 2115 – 2.5
132 IM Alexieva Silvia FRA 2213 – 2.5
133 WFM Radikovic Anamarija CRO 2009 – 2.5
134 FM Kalogridis Themistoklis GRE 2293 – 2.5
135 FM Kochavi Dana ISR 2112 – 2.5
136 Davidsson Oskar Vikingur ISL 2035 – 2
137 Triantafyllakis Dimitrios GRE 2027 – 2
138 Tagkaloglou Savvas Stefanos GRE 2031 – 2
139 CM Weidenhoefer Max GER 2184 – 2
140 FM Markidis Konstantinos GRE 2290 – 2
141 IM Gaal Zsoka HUN 2376 – 2
142 WFM Silva Mariana POR 2045 – 1.5
143 Samaridis Konstantinos GRE 2020 – 1.5
144 Nenova Andzhelika BUL 2121 – 1.5
145 Kyparissopoulos Spyridon GRE 2119 – 1.5
