In August 2026, Skalica will welcome a chess star with a deeply personal connection to the town. Indian grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca will be one of the six confirmed players in the closed Chess Slovak Masters tournament, part of the international Chess Slovak Open® 2026 festival.
A homecoming — six years later
Skalica is no stranger to Leon Luke Mendonca. On the contrary. In 2020, as a 13-year-old boy, he won the Skalica Chess Festival — the tournament that launched his meteoric career. At the time he was only an International Master (IM), with no grandmaster norms and the whole chess world ahead of him.
Less than a year later, everything changed. In January 2021 Leon became India’s 67th grandmaster at the age of 14 years and 9 months — one of the youngest GMs in history, and the second ever from the Indian state of Goa.
The road to the world elite
Mendonca earned the IM title at just 12 — completing all three IM norms in Serbia in an astonishing 17 days. That exceptional rise caught the attention of former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who personally selected Leon for his elite training camp for young Indian talents.
His grandmaster norms came in record time: the first at the Rigochess GM tournament in Hungary (October 2020), the second in Budapest 21 days later, and the third at the Vergani Cup in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, in December 2020.
Triumph in Wijk aan Zee and an elite debut
The greatest success of his career so far came in January 2024. At the prestigious Tata Steel Challengers in Wijk aan Zee, Leon Mendonca won the entire tournament with a stunning 2742 performance, scoring an incredible 6.5/7 in the second half — a triumph that secured his place among the world’s best.
A year later, in January 2025, he made his debut at the Tata Steel Masters, facing World Champion Gukesh D., Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer and other members of the world’s top ten. His peak FIDE rating reached 2643 (March 2025); his current rating is 2605.
The strongest tournament ever held in Slovakia
Chess Slovak Masters 2026 is set to rewrite the history of Slovak chess. This closed GM tournament with an average rating above 2600 will be the strongest chess tournament ever played on Slovak soil. Alongside Leon Mendonca, the field features five more world-class grandmasters: Alexander Donchenko (Germany, 2640), David Navara (Czechia, 2639), Anton Korobov (Ukraine, 2608), Aditya Mittal (India, 2599) and Daniel Dardha (Belgium, 2587).
A complete timeline of achievements
- 2019 — IM title at 12 years and 11 months (3 norms in 17 days in Serbia)
- 2020 — Winner of the Skalica Chess Festival at age 13
- 2021 — Grandmaster title at 14 years and 9 months, India’s 67th GM
- 2024 — Winner of Tata Steel Challengers with a 2742 performance
- 2025 — Played the Tata Steel Masters against the world elite
- Ongoing — Trained under former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik
Chess Slovak Open® 2026 — information and registration
The international chess festival Chess Slovak Open® 2026 takes place 22–30 August 2026 at the House of Culture in Skalica. The festival’s total prize fund is €15,000. Alongside the closed Chess Slovak Masters, the programme includes the open Open A and Open B tournaments, the women’s Queen Masters and accompanying events.
The tournament commentators will be GM Sergej Movsesian and GM Ján Plachetka, festival ambassadors.
Registration for Chess Slovak Open® 2026 is open at chessslovakopen.sk/registration-2026.