Skalica, 29 August 2026 — Saturday morning at the House of Culture belonged to rapid chess. The Rapid tournament of the Chess Slovak Open® festival was won by the event’s ambassador and live-broadcast commentator, grandmaster Sergei Movsesian, who scored 6.5 points from seven games. The sensation of the tournament is second place for Czech player Ondřej Šigut, rated 2019, who left grandmasters and international masters behind him.
Movsesian without a slip, Šigut beats Pecháč and Bochnička
Sergei Movsesian — a former world rapid champion and Olympiad gold medallist with Armenia — lived up to his role as favourite. He won six games and conceded his only draw to Slovak International Master Vladimír Bochnička. In round five he beat his closest pursuer Šigut, and in the final round he defeated Hungarian IM Áron Pásti, the top seed of the main Open A tournament, with the white pieces.
The surprise of the tournament was Ondřej Šigut. The Czech player rated 2019, who is also competing in Open A in Skalica, won his first four games — including victories over grandmaster Jerguš Pecháč and IM Bochnička — and after losing to Movsesian added draws against Mikuláš Maník and Casey Ryan Mészáros. On five points he finished second on tie-break ahead of Pecháč, who beat Bochnička in the last round to take third place.
| # | Rapid — final standings (top 10) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | GM Sergej Movsesian (ARM) | 6.5 |
| 2. | Ondřej Šigut (CZE) | 5 |
| 3. | GM Jerguš Pecháč (SVK) | 5 |
| 4. | GM Mikuláš Maník (SVK) | 4.5 |
| 5. | IM Áron Pásti (HUN) | 4.5 |
| 6. | Jan Bjolek (CZE) | 4.5 |
| 7. | IM Vladimír Bochnička (SVK) | 4 |
| 8. | FM Matyáš Paseka (CZE) | 4 |
| 9. | Zdeněk Vybíral (CZE) | 4 |
| 10. | CM Casey Ryan Mészáros (SVK) | 4 |
The tournament attracted 22 players from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and India. The Rapid prize fund was €1,000, with €300 going to the winner.
Movsesian also won the Chess 960
It is Movsesian’s second title at this year’s festival. On Wednesday evening he won the Chess 960 (Fischer Random) tournament with six points from seven games — he shared first place with Áron Pásti and took the title on tie-break, while grandmaster Anton Korobov, a participant in the closed Masters, finished third.
| # | Chess 960 — final standings (top 6) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | GM Sergej Movsesian (ARM) | 6 |
| 2. | IM Áron Pásti (HUN) | 6 |
| 3. | GM Anton Korobov (UKR) | 5 |
| 4. | FM Matyáš Paseka (CZE) | 4.5 |
| 5. | WGM Julia Movsesian (CZE) | 4.5 |
| 6. | WGM Oľga Sikorová (CZE) | 4.5 |
What’s next
The festival culminates on Sunday 30 August with the final ninth round of the closed Masters and Queen Masters tournaments as well as the Open A and Open B events, starting at 9:30. The prize-giving and closing ceremony follow the last games. All games are broadcast live at chesstournaments.eu, with results at chess-results.com and www.chessslovakopen.sk.