Skalica, 29 August 2026 — The open tournaments of the Chess Slovak Open® festival enter their final ninth round, played on Sunday 30 August from 9:30. In the main Open A event Serbian grandmaster Nikola Sedlák leads by a full point and needs only a draw to take the title. In Open B, played for the Kvarteto Cup, Latvia’s Gustavs Rupais leads a trio of pursuers by half a point.
Open A: Sedlák’s fate is in his own hands
Nikola Sedlák (2358) settled matters in the last two rounds. In round seven he beat co-leader Laertes Neuhoff and in round eight, with the white pieces, top seed Áron Pásti as well. On seven points from eight games he leads Czech FM Jakub Vojta by a full point — Vojta collected a point without play in round eight after Neuhoff failed to appear.
The arithmetic is simple: a draw in the final round guarantees Sedlák the title regardless of other results. Only if he loses and Vojta wins would both finish on seven points, with tie-breaks deciding the winner. Besides €1,300 and the trophy, the Open A winner earns the right to play in next year’s closed Masters tournament.
Five players on 5.5 points will fight for the remaining podium places: Pásti, Vladimír Bochnička, Sergej Berezjuk, Šimon Rybka and Marek Karas of ŠK Osuské, the biggest surprise of the home contingent. Bochnička, who led after five rounds, lost to Pásti in round seven but beat Matyáš Paseka in round eight to get back into the medal race. Neuhoff, Arsenijs Savičevs and David Zvolenský are on five points.
| # | Open A — standings after round 8 (top 10) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | GM Nikola Sedlák (SRB, 2358) | 7 |
| 2. | FM Jakub Vojta (CZE, 2308) | 6 |
| 3. | IM Áron Pásti (HUN, 2439) | 5.5 |
| 4. | IM Vladimír Bochnička (SVK, 2365) | 5.5 |
| 5. | IM Sergej Berezjuk (CZE, 2342) | 5.5 |
| 6. | FM Šimon Rybka (SVK, 2331) | 5.5 |
| 7. | FM Marek Karas (SVK, 2227) | 5.5 |
| 8. | FM Laertes Neuhoff (GER, 2352) | 5 |
| 9. | FM Arsenijs Savičevs (LAT, 2235) | 5 |
| 10. | David Zvolenský (CZE, 2202) | 5 |
Open B: Rupais leads, Lakota, Macošek and Bjolek half a point behind
The Kvarteto Cup offers the tightest race of the whole festival going into the final round. Latvian junior Gustavs Rupais (1896) beat previous co-leader Alex Macošek in round eight and moved to the top on 6.5 points. Half a point behind are three names: Ján Lakota of ŠK Doprastav Bratislava, whose seven-round unbeaten run ended against Jan Bjolek, top seed Bjolek himself, and Alex Macošek. WCM Karin Novomeská of ŠK Štefanov, Michal Ciglian and Miroslav Mandák form the group on 5.5 points.
Only a win guarantees Rupais first place; with a draw, any of the trio can at least catch him by winning. Should the Latvian lose, all three pursuers come into play for the cup. The Open B winner receives the Kvarteto Cup.
| # | Open B (Kvarteto Cup) — standings after round 8 (top 10) | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gustavs Rupais (LAT, 1896) | 6.5 |
| 2. | Ján Lakota (SVK, 1879) | 6 |
| 3. | Alex Macošek (CZE, 1909) | 6 |
| 4. | Jan Bjolek (CZE, 1991) | 6 |
| 5. | WCM Karin Novomeská (SVK, 1945) | 5.5 |
| 6. | AFM Michal Ciglian (SVK, 1783) | 5.5 |
| 7. | Miroslav Mandák (SVK, 1895) | 5.5 |
| 8. | Lukáš Starý (CZE, 1959) | 5 |
| 9. | Alex Rozbořil (SVK, 1804) | 5 |
| 10. | Ernests Strekalovs (LAT, 1779) | 5 |
Final-day programme
Round nine of all tournaments — Masters, Queen Masters, Open A and Open B — starts on Sunday 30 August at 9:30. The prize-giving and closing ceremony of the festival follow the last games. The final-round pairings are available at chess-results.com, and all games are broadcast live at chesstournaments.eu.