GM Vitalii Kiselev clinches 55th Mar del Plata Chess Open

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The 55th edition of the Mar del Plata Chess Open concluded on 4 April 2026, further cementing the Argentine coastal city’s status as one of the world’s great chess capitals. This year’s event saw nearly 200 players competing over nine swiss rounds for a prize fund of 6,000,000 Argentine pesos (~€3,750).

The tournament was a masterclass in tension. Entering the final round, GM Vitalii Kiselev (Argentina, 2507) held a narrow half-point lead over the field. However, a draw in his final game opened the door for FM Luca Silva (Argentina, 2277) who seized the opportunity after winning his final-round encounter to pull level with Kiselev at 7.5/9 points.

Ultimately, it was Kiselev who emerged as the champion, clinching the title on superior tiebreak criteria. The battle for the final podium spot was equally intense, with seven players finishing on 7/9. GM Sergio Slipak (Argentina, 2383) secured the bronze medal, heading the chasing pack through the best additional criteria.

Mar del Plata Chess Legacy

Held in a city that once saw a young Bobby Fischer face off against Boris Spassky years before their ‘Match of the Century,’ the Mar del Plata Open sits on a foundation of pure chess history. The coastal venue was a favorite for legends like Tal and Keres, yet its most enduring legacy is the Mar del Plata Variation.

It was during the 1953 edition that the city gave its name to one of the most celebrated and aggressive systems in opening theory: the Mar del Plata Variation of the King’s Indian Defense. Born from a famous clash between Miguel Najdorf and Svetozar Gligoric, the line remains the gold standard for high-stakes, “all-or-nothing” chess and celebrates the Argentine city which hosted prestigious chess events. Decades later, as a new generation gathers on Argentinian coast, the spirit of that grandmaster legacy clearly lives on!

Final standings – Mar del Plata Chess Open 2026:

Rk.		Name	FED	Elo	Pts.
1	GM	Kiselev, Vitalii	ARG	2507	7.5
2	FM	Silva, Luca	ARG	2277	7.5
3	GM	Slipak, Sergio	ARG	2383	7
4	IM	Leskovar, Mario	ARG	2169	7
5	FM	Moreno Perez, Tobias Sebastian	ARG	2356	7
6		Petti, Luca Giovanni	ARG	2279	7
7		Ruiz, Juan Ignacio	ARG	2064	7
8	FM	Bentancor, Franco	ARG	2332	7
9	IM	Pierrot, Facundo	ARG	2271	7
10	FM	Perez Candelas, Andres Eloy	VEN	2218	6.5
11	NM	Ocampos, Ian	ARG	2211	6.5
12	NM	Anigstein, Eugenio	ARG	2150	6.5
13	NM	De Lima, Adriano Gaspar	ARG	2100	6.5
14	FM	Mussanti, Diego	ARG	2215	6.5
15		Pereyra, Gabriel Elias	ARG	2059	6.5
16		Saldano, Gonzalo	ARG	2085	6.5
17	NM	Salvati, Diego	ARG	1964	6.5
18	WIM	Scarsi, Anna Laura	ARG	2168	6
19	NM	Siccardi, Pablo Daniel	ARG	2048	6
20		Quezada, Franco	ARG	2228	6
21	FM	Tovillas, Daniel R.	ARG	2088	6
22		Loncharic, Esteban	CHI	1928	6
23		Sipaila, Jorge	ARG	2096	6
24		Martinez, Francisco	ARG	1983	6
25	NM	Wainer, Daniel	ARG	2095	6
26		Echeguren, Martin	ARG	1995	6
27		Ferreyra, Damian	ARG	1833	6
28	NM	Aberbach, Angel	ARG	1861	6
29		Paredes, Ezequiel	ARG	1768	6
30	NM	Pereyra, Horacio	ARG	2125	5.5
31	FM	Tobares, Leandro	ARG	2118	5.5
32	NM	Grillo, Juan Cruz	ARG	2059	5.5
33		Magioncalda, Jorge	ARG	1881	5.5
34	NM	Axarlian, Carlos	ARG	2058	5.5
35	NM	Villordo, Matias	ARG	2052	5.5
36	FM	Montero Martinez, Cristhian	CHI	2029	5.5
37		Fidel, Roberto Oscar	ARG	2041	5.5
38		Gallego, Gonzalo	ARG	2063	5.5
39	NM	Leal, Jorge	ARG	1976	5.5
40		Del Blanco, Eduardo	ARG	1993	5.5
41		Delicio, Felipe Benjamin	ARG	1931	5.5
42		Magarinos, Francisco	ARG	1996	5.5
43	NM	Contessotto, Enrique	ARG	2030	5.5
44		Zambianchi, Santino	ARG	1879	5.5
45	WFM	Tobares Dilascio, Oriana Helena	ARG	2111	5.5
46		Martinez, Tomas	ARG	1825	5.5
47	CM	Orpinas Konig, Claudio Javier	CHI	1909	5.5
48		Cirianni, Alejandro	ARG	1965	5.5
49	NM	Koch, Juan	ARG	2039	5.5
50		Giles, Nestor	ARG	1938	5.5
51		Quiro Diaz, Ignacio	ARG	1756	5.5
52		Vecchio, Raul Antonio	ARG	1823	5.5
53		Ortiz, Jorge	ARG	1817	5.5
54	NM	Zamani, Andres	ARG	2084	5
55	CM	Medero Mino, Leon	ARG	2002	5
56		Heberlein, Lucas	ARG	1906	5
57	FM	Lapicki, Raul	ARG	2152	5
58		Dallura, Juan	ARG	1959	5
59		Dominguez, Diego	ARG	1941	5
60		Pereyra, Mariano Gaston	ARG	1944	5
61		Beer, Carlos	ARG	1897	5
62	WCM	Rueda Nessi, Juana	ARG	1758	5
63		Ojea, Ricardo	ARG	1883	5
64	AFM	Sanchez, Tiago	ARG	1802	5
65		Quiro Diaz, Alejandro Nahuel	ARG	1805	5
66		Yepleue, Angel Omar	ARG	2010	5
67		Rueda Nessi, Francisco	ARG	1882	5
68		Ruiz, Roberto Ruben	ARG	1874	5
69		Sanchez, Gabriel	ARG	1924	5
70	WFM	Quevedo, Andreina	URU	1859	5
71	FM	Suarez, Jose Luis	ARG	1942	5
72		Scarlata, Bruno	ARG	1803	5
73		Migoni Eleicegui, Simon	ARG	1884	5
74		Mayo, Ricardo Antonio	ARG	1994	5
75		Grandez Arevalo, Miguel Angel	ARG	1816	5
76		Volpe, Leonel	ARG	1832	5
77		Federico, Matias	ARG	1809	5
78		Serafino, Emanuel	ARG	1683	5
79		Iribarren, Francisco	ARG	1754	5
80		Torres, Hernan Felix	ARG	1827	5
81		Rakela Rodriguez, Juan	CHI	1906	5
82		Elias, Roberto	ARG	1858	4.5
83		Garcia, Julian	ARG	1894	4.5
84		Baek, Hernan	ARG	0	4.5
85	NM	Jarmoluk, Jorge E.	ARG	1887	4.5
86		Dotti, Fernando	ARG	1817	4.5
87		Guida, Matias	ARG	1774	4.5
88		Vergara, Ramon Antonio	ARG	1856	4.5
89		Echeguren, Gustavo	ARG	1952	4.5
90		Lopez, Javier	ARG	1834	4.5
91		Wolfsdorf, Alexis	ARG	1953	4.5
92		Amarilla, Abril Antonella	ARG	1540	4.5
93		Gomez, Roberto Carlos	ARG	1821	4.5
94		Yantorno, Jorge	ARG	1824	4.5
95		Merlo, Carlos	ARG	1853	4.5
96		Pallone, Tatiana	ARG	0	4.5
97		Jasper, Nicolas	ARG	1882	4.5
98		Amadeo, Pablo	ARG	1925	4.5
99		Fischer, Pablo	ARG	1959	4
100		Acosta, Cristian	ARG	2064	4
101		Fernandez, Antonio Omar	ARG	1624	4
102		Quinteros, Omar	ARG	1795	4
103		Mayo, Raul	ARG	2043	4
104		Capitanio Lippo, Facundo	ARG	1642	4
105		Materia, Guido	ARG	1616	4
106		San Martin, Daniel	ARG	1796	4
107		Fernandes, Martin	ARG	2000	4
108		Basso, Santiago Andres	FRA	1523	4
109		Dominguez, Leon	ARG	1769	4
110		Barreira Vesco, Ulises	ARG	1813	4
111		Martinez, Javier Nicolas	ARG	1780	4
112		Aciar, Felipe	ARG	1707	4
113		Herrera, Raquel	ARG	1684	4
114		Poci, Pedro	ARG	1706	4
115		Ripa, Julio Martin	ARG	1770	4
116		Gonetti, Eduardo Osvaldo	ARG	1632	4
117		Santiso, Daniel	ARG	1875	4
118		Nola, Facundo	ARG	1560	4
119		Chan, Daniel	ARG	1853	4
120		Conil, Alexis	ARG	0	4
121		Villarreal, Dante	ARG	1673	4
122		Gutierrez, Marcelo Enrique	ARG	1916	4
123		Bayinay, Juan Santiago	ARG	1873	4
124		Bossero, Ingrid	ARG	1667	4
125		Rodriguez., Julio	ARG	1780	4
126		Gorga Bustos, Nicoles Donato	ARG	1503	4
127		Olmos, Cesar	ARG	1790	4
128		Ruiz, Pablo Horacio	ARG	1767	3.5
129		Polero, Nahuel	ARG	1758	3.5
130		Quadri, Silvio	ARG	1762	3.5
131		Maucci, Marcelo	ARG	1696	3.5
132		Miranda Romo, Daniel	CHI	1811	3.5
133		Cunsolo, Luciano	ARG	1590	3.5
134		Cobelo, Nicolas	ARG	1673	3.5
135		Rugiero, Pablo Anibal	ARG	1624	3.5
136		Herrera, Bautista Santino	ARG	1724	3.5
137		Villar, Ruben	ARG	0	3.5
138		Alquezar, Juan Manuel	ARG	1607	3.5
139		Specogna, Marcos Ezequiel	ARG	1633	3.5
140		Hernandez, Edgardo	ARG	1736	3.5
141		Salaberry, Valentino	ARG	0	3.5
142		Saenz, Sebastian Agustin	ARG	1763	3.5
143		Pujovich, Nicolas	ARG	1500	3.5
144		Moccero, Eduardo	URU	1744	3.5
145		Salguero, Javier	ARG	1639	3.5
146	CM	Restuccia, Francisco	ARG	2047	3.5
147		Cassagne, Ruben Alberto	ARG	1607	3.5
148		Roldan, Julio Cesar	ARG	1599	3.5
149		Alfaro, Hector Luis	ARG	1842	3.5
150		Mazza, Guillermo	ARG	1752	3.5
151		Etchevest, Marcelo	ARG	1863	3.5
152		Arce, Pablo	ARG	1662	3.5
153		Sampaoli, Lautaro	ARG	0	3
154		Grosso, Fabricio	ARG	1691	3
155		Ponti, Enrique	ARG	1869	3
156		Garcia, Alejandro	ARG	1563	3
157		Ciganda, Juan Eduardo	ARG	1749	3
158		Beron, Ricardo	ARG	1665	3
159		Terc, Jorge	ARG	1654	3
160		Gallegos, Manuel	ARG	1610	3
161		Barreira Vesco, Aquiles	ARG	1435	3
162		Minnoni, Martin	ARG	0	3
163		Kontos, Theodoro Damian	ARG	1466	3
164		Oliva, Joaquin	ARG	0	3
165		Diaz, Ruben Joaquin	ARG	0	2.5
166		Borthiry, Pablo	ARG	1580	2.5
167		Iniguez, Miguel Angel	ARG	1631	2.5
168		Borghetti, Domingo Jorge	ARG	1515	2.5
169		Pose, Mateo	ARG	0	2.5
170		Isa, Juan Carlos	ARG	0	2.5
171		Cavilla, Julio Cesar	ARG	1410	2
172		Zaslavsky, Boris	ARG	1762	2
173		Juarez, Luis	ARG	1435	2
174		Medero, Hildo Rodrigo	ARG	1441	2
175		Jorge Mazza, Valentino	ARG	0	2
176		Sanchez, Roberto	ARG	1427	2
177		Rodriguez, Evelyn	ARG	0	2
178		Elena, Ricardo	ARG	0	1.5
179		Martin, Maria De Los Angeles	ARG	1410	1
180		Kontos, Jorge Mario	ARG	0	1
181		Luluaga Goñi, Santiago	ARG	0	0.5
182		Martinez, Daniel Fabian	ARG	1542	0
183		Scaparro, Ariel	ARG	1773	0
184		Adarnow, Fernando	ARG	0	0
185		Camisassa, Ivana	ARG	0	0
186		Ruiz, Dylan	ARG	0	0