Pultinevicius and Van Foreest triumph at the European Rapid and Blitz Championships

Ivanchuk loses on time in crucial encounter

The European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships were held in Pristina, the capital of the Republic of Kosovo, from 28 to 30 November 2025. The event brought together more than 350 players representing 38 European federations.

The rapid championship followed an 11-round Swiss format played on Friday and Saturday, while the blitz tournament, a 13-round Swiss, took place on Sunday. The top seeds in the rapid were Jaime Santos (Spain), Radosław Wojtaszek (Poland), Baadur Jobava (Georgia), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) and Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine). In the blitz, the leading entrants were Jobava, Van Foreest, Rasmus Svane (Germany), Christian Bauer (France) and Ivanchuk.

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Lithuanian grandmaster Paulius Pultinevicius claimed the rapid title with a strong 10/11 performance. The 24-year-old, who is the third-highest-rated Lithuanian player, made a strong start with three consecutive victories. His only setback came in round four, when he lost to Norway’s Elham Amar. From that point onwards, he produced an exceptional run, scoring seven straight wins to secure outright first place.

Paulius Pultinevicius | Photo: European Chess Union

Pultinevicius’ nearest rivals, Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia and Daniel Dardha of Belgium, finished a full point behind on 9/11. Pantsulaia secured the silver medal on tiebreaks, while Dardha took bronze. Notably, both players remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, contrasting with Pultinevicius’ single loss.

The Lithuanian took over the sole lead in round eight and retained it until the last move of the event. Entering the final round, he was half a point ahead of Ivanchuk, who stood alone in second place and was the only player still capable of overtaking him. Since they had not previously met in the event, they were paired against each other in the deciding round. With the white pieces, Pultinevicius required only a draw to secure outright victory, while Ivanchuk needed a win to claim the title.

Ivanchuk went for the Queen’s Indian Defence and managed to steer the game into an asymmetric structure that eventually led to a rook-and-knight endgame. The Ukrainian grandmaster ultimately reached a position in which he held an extra pawn. The decisive phase was played under time pressure, with both players having less than one minute on their clocks. The struggle came to an unexpected halt when Pultinevicius pointed to the clock, indicating that Ivanchuk had run out of time. Ivanchuk, visibly surprised and rather frustrated, realised only then that the flag had fallen.

Two players who began the final round on 8/11 overtook Ivanchuk after scoring wins. Pantsulaia defeated Igor Kovalenko in an entertaining encounter that showcased strong tactical awareness, while Dardha converted an endgame with an extra pawn against Evgenios Ioannidis. Ivanchuk was one of nine players to finish on 8/11 and ultimately placed fifth after tiebreaks were applied.

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Free video sample: Misplaced Pieces

Ioannidis 0-1 Dardha

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Final standings

…374 players

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Van Foreest grabs blitz title

The blitz tournament was won outright by second seed Jorden van Foreest, the 26-year-old Dutch grandmaster whose most notable career triumph was his victory at the 2021 Tata Steel Masters. Van Foreest delivered a consistent performance throughout the day, finishing on 11/13 with ten wins, two draws and a single defeat – a loss to Croatian GM Ante Saric in the fourth round. His final score was enough to take the title without resorting to tiebreaks.

The final round of the blitz event presented a very different scenario from the rapid competition. Whereas only Pultinevicius and Ivanchuk entered the rapid’s last round with a mathematical chance to win the title, eight players still had title hopes in the blitz.

Van Foreest began the final round tied for first with Turkish GM Cem Kaan Gokerkan, the 56^th seed, who produced one of the standout performances of the tournament. Gokerkan had significantly outperformed his starting rank, collecting notable wins over top players including Wojtaszek and Santos. Six further players were only half a point behind: Eduardo Iturrizaga (Spain), Vojtech Plat (Czechia), Daniel Dardha (Belgium), Igor Kovalenko (Ukraine), Levan Pantsulaia (Georgia) and Baadur Jobava (Georgia).

As Van Foreest had already played Gokerkan earlier in the tournament, they could not be paired against each other in the final round. Van Foreest was paired with Jobava and won with the white pieces, while Gokerkan, playing black against Iturrizaga, lost his final-round game. This combination of results allowed Van Foreest to finish alone at the top of the standings.

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The playing hall during the blitz tournament | Photo: European Chess Union

Among the remaining contenders for the title, the only decisive game besides those involving the top two was Plat’s victory over Kovalenko, which marked a second final-round defeat for the Ukrainian after his loss in the rapid competition on Saturday.

Iturrizaga and Plat both concluded the blitz tournament with 10½/13 points. Thanks to a superior tiebreak score, Iturrizaga took the silver medal, with Plat earning bronze.

Final standings

…370 players

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