After six rounds at the European Individual Chess Championship 2026, GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (ISL, 2512; pictured above, left) emerged as the sole leader with an impressive score of 5.5/6.
Round 6 featured clashes on the top boards among six players on 4.5/5. The round was ceremonially opened by FIDE Deputy Chair and ECU Deputy President Dana Reizniece and the Mayor of Gliwice, Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Budka, who made the first move on the top board in the game between GMs Robert Hovhannisyan and Can Işık.
While the games on boards one and two ended in draws, Stefansson defeated GM Lorenzo Lodici (ITA, 2601) in a very tense encounter. Following a balanced opening, Lodici overpressed and lost a pawn, handing Stefansson a clear advantage in a complex queen endgame. Although the opponents exchanged mistakes in the final portion of the game, causing the evaluation to fluctuate, Lodici was the last to err and capitulated on move 71.
With this victory, Stefansson moved a half a point ahead of a tightly packed group of 16 players sharing second place on 5/6: GMs Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM, 2621), Can Işık (TUR, 2563), Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN, 2623), Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2653), Eduardo Bonelli Iturrizaga (ESP, 2575), Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2596), Jan Malek (POL, 2533), Nikolozi Kacharava (GEO, 2500), David Antón Guijarro (ESP, 2656), Nikita Meshkovs (LAT, 2532), Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP, 2610), Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2633), Maxime Lagarde (FRA, 2621), Jakub Kosakowski (POL, 2533), Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2642), and IM Teodora Injac (SRB, 2410).
With five rounds to go, the event remains wide open.
Pairings, results & standings can be found [HERE].
Official website: https://eicc2026.eu/
Text: European Chess Union
Photos: ECU & Rafal Oleksiewicz