Skalica, 29 August 2026 — Round seven of the Chess Slovak Open® festival shook up the standings in the closed Masters tournament. Bottom-placed Ihor Samunenkov defeated Leon Luke Mendonca, until then the sole leader, and with two rounds remaining five grandmasters share first place on four points. In the Queen Masters, Anastasiya Rakhmangulova drew to keep her lead, which grew to a full point after Tihana Iveković’s defeat.
Masters: Samunenkov’s upset leaves five players in front
Seventeen-year-old Ukrainian Ihor Samunenkov came into round seven on the back of three consecutive losses and with just a point and a half to his name. Yet it was he who beat Leon Luke Mendonca with the white pieces — the Indian had been the tournament’s only unbeaten leader after round six, and this was his first defeat in Skalica. It was also Samunenkov’s first win of the event.
The round’s other decisive game went to Alexandr Fier, who beat home favourite Jerguš Pecháč with white — following his wins over Navara and Donchenko, that is already his third victory. The remaining three games — Dardha – Mishra, Mittal – Donchenko and Navara – Korobov — were drawn.
| White | Black | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GM Daniel Dardha | – | GM Abhimanyu Mishra | ½ – ½ |
| GM Alexandr Fier | – | GM Jerguš Pecháč | 1 – 0 |
| GM Ihor Samunenkov | – | GM Leon Luke Mendonca | 1 – 0 |
| GM Aditya Mittal | – | GM Alexander Donchenko | ½ – ½ |
| GM David Navara | – | GM Anton Korobov | ½ – ½ |
With two rounds to go, five players therefore share the lead on four points: Daniel Dardha, Leon Luke Mendonca, Aditya Mittal, Abhimanyu Mishra and Anton Korobov. Dardha, Mittal and Mishra remain unbeaten. Fier has 3.5 points, while Pecháč, Donchenko and Navara are on three.
| # | Masters standings after round 7 | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) | 4 |
| 2. | GM Leon Luke Mendonca (IND) | 4 |
| 3. | GM Aditya Mittal (IND) | 4 |
| 4. | GM Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) | 4 |
| 5. | GM Anton Korobov (UKR) | 4 |
| 6. | GM Alexandr Fier (BRA) | 3.5 |
| 7. | GM Jerguš Pecháč (SVK) | 3 |
| 8. | GM Alexander Donchenko (GER) | 3 |
| 9. | GM David Navara (CZE) | 3 |
| 10. | GM Ihor Samunenkov (UKR) | 2.5 |
Queen Masters: Rakhmangulova a point clear, Markantonaki up to second
Top seed Anastasiya Rakhmangulova drew with black against Sunyuktha C M N and stands on 5.5 points. Her lead nevertheless grew, because previous runner-up Tihana Iveković lost her second game in a row, this time to Anna Lhotská. Greece’s Haritomeni Markantonaki moved up to second place with a second consecutive win, beating Evgeniya Doluhanova with the black pieces. Nataša Richterová defeated local favourite Alena Mrvová and Oľga Sikorová beat Ema Walter.
| White | Black | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| WIM Nataša Richterová | – | WIM Alena Mrvová | 1 – 0 |
| WFM Tihana Iveković | – | WFM Anna Lhotská | 0 – 1 |
| WFM Sunyuktha C M N | – | WGM Anastasiya Rakhmangulova | ½ – ½ |
| WGM Oľga Sikorová | – | WFM Ema Walter | 1 – 0 |
| WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova | – | WFM Haritomeni Markantonaki | 0 – 1 |
| # | Queen Masters standings after round 7 | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | WGM Anastasiya Rakhmangulova (UKR) | 5.5 |
| 2. | WFM Haritomeni Markantonaki (GRE) | 4.5 |
| 3. | WFM Tihana Iveković (CRO) | 4.5 |
| 4. | WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova (UKR) | 4 |
| 5. | WFM Anna Lhotská (CZE) | 4 |
| 6. | WFM Sunyuktha C M N (IND) | 3.5 |
| 7. | WGM Oľga Sikorová (CZE) | 3 |
| 8. | WIM Nataša Richterová (CZE) | 3 |
| 9. | WIM Alena Mrvová (SVK) | 2 |
| 10. | WFM Ema Walter (SVK) | 1 |
Open A and Open B: Sedlák alone in front, Lakota and Macošek level
In the main open tournament, Open A, the two leaders met on board one and Serbian grandmaster Nikola Sedlák beat Laertes Neuhoff with white. On six points from seven games he leads alone, half a point ahead of top seed Áron Pásti, who got the better of Vladimír Bochnička. Jakub Vojta, Neuhoff, Sergej Berezjuk and Marek Karas of ŠK Osuské, who defeated FM Martin Fargač, are on five points.
In Open B, played for the Kvarteto Cup, Ján Lakota (ŠK Doprastav Bratislava) drew with WCM Karin Novomeská and was caught by Alex Macošek, who beat Michal Ciglian — both are on six points. Latvia’s Gustavs Rupais is half a point behind.
What’s next
The festival enters its final weekend. Today, Saturday 29 August, the Rapid tournament is played from 9:00 and the penultimate eighth round starts at 15:00. The Masters features Mendonca – Mittal, Mishra – Korobov and Dardha – Fier, while home hero Pecháč has white against Samunenkov. In the Queen Masters, Rakhmangulova has white against Sikorová and Markantonaki meets Mrvová. All games are broadcast live, with the key battles covered by festival ambassador grandmaster Sergei Movsesian. The final ninth round is played on Sunday 30 August from 9:30, followed by the prize-giving and closing ceremony.
Standings and pairings are available at chess-results.com and www.chessslovakopen.sk, with the live broadcast at chesstournaments.eu.