Skalica — When the pairing numbers of the Queen Masters, the women’s closed tournament of the Chess Slovak Open® 2026 festival, were drawn on 22 August, WFM Haritomeni Markantonaki and her 2113 rating belonged to the lowest-rated pair of the ten-player field. Nine days later she left the House of Culture with the silver trophy, a certificate confirming a Woman International Master norm and the biggest rating gain of the entire event.
The start hinted at no sensation. In round one the Greek player lost with the black pieces to top seed Anastasiya Rakhmangulova — the eventual runaway champion. Yet it proved to be her first and last defeat: Markantonaki did not lose again in her remaining eight games.
She answered immediately, beating Anna Lhotská with White in round two, and a run of three draws against Nataša Richterová, Tihana Iveković and Sunyuktha C M N kept her in mid-table. The turning point came in rounds six and seven: first she defeated grandmaster Oľga Sikorová with White, and a day later she took down the field’s other grandmaster, Evgeniya Doluhanova, with Black. Two GM scalps in twenty-four hours lifted her to second place — and suddenly a norm was within reach.
The WIM norm threshold in the tournament was set at 5.5 points. After a solid draw with Black against local favourite Alena Mrvová in round eight, she needed just half a point against Ema Walter in Sunday’s final round. Her nerves held: she steered the game to a calm draw, sealing both the norm and second place — silver ahead of Doluhanova on the better tie-break.
The numbers of the 1987-born player speak for themselves: 5.5 points from nine games (three wins, five draws, a single loss), a performance rating of around 2260 and a gain of 36 rating points — the most of any Queen Masters participant. She received the norm certificate from festival director Milan Roman at the closing ceremony.
Haritomeni Markantonaki’s road through the tournament
| Round | Opponent | Colour | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | WGM Anastasiya Rakhmangulova (2321) | Black | 0 – 1 |
| 2. | WFM Anna Lhotská (2149) | White | 1 – 0 |
| 3. | WIM Nataša Richterová (2204) | Black | ½ – ½ |
| 4. | WFM Tihana Iveković (2139) | White | ½ – ½ |
| 5. | WFM Sunyuktha C M N (2148) | Black | ½ – ½ |
| 6. | WGM Oľga Sikorová (2205) | White | 1 – 0 |
| 7. | WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova (2210) | Black | 1 – 0 |
| 8. | WIM Alena Mrvová (2136) | Black | ½ – ½ |
| 9. | WFM Ema Walter (2105) | White | ½ – ½ |
Queen Masters 2026 — final standings
| # | Queen Masters final standings | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | WGM Anastasiya Rakhmangulova (UKR, 2321) | 7 |
| 2. | WFM Haritomeni Markantonaki (GRE, 2113) | 5.5 |
| 3. | WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova (UKR, 2210) | 5.5 |
| 4. | WFM Tihana Iveković (CRO, 2139) | 5 |
| 5. | WIM Nataša Richterová (CZE, 2204) | 5 |
| 6. | WFM Sunyuktha C M N (IND, 2148) | 4.5 |
| 7. | WFM Anna Lhotská (CZE, 2149) | 4.5 |
| 8. | WGM Oľga Sikorová (CZE, 2205) | 3.5 |
| 9. | WIM Alena Mrvová (SVK, 2136) | 3 |
| 10. | WFM Ema Walter (SVK, 2105) | 1.5 |
The Queen Masters was played on the stage of the House of Culture alongside the Masters and was one of seven tournaments of the Chess Slovak Open® 2026 festival — the strongest chess event in Slovakia’s history. Full results of all tournaments are in our closing report.