Ukrainian teen and chess player Roman Dehtiarov became the first European champion in history without holding a grandmaster title. This happened following the 2026 European Championship in Katowice.

This was reported by Suspilne.

Seventeen-year-old Ukrainian chess player Roman Dehtiarov has made history by becoming the first-ever European champion without holding a Grandmaster title. The breakthrough came at the 2026 European Individual Chess Championship held in Katowice.

Entering the tournament ranked just 126th among more than 500 participants, Dehtiarov was not considered a favorite. He also had not yet achieved the prestigious Grandmaster (GM) title—making his victory even more remarkable.

Dehtiarov opened the tournament with three consecutive wins. He then drew against Nijat Abasov before suffering his only defeat of the event to Isik Can.

He rebounded strongly, securing four wins in the next five rounds, which placed him among the leaders heading into the final round. There, he faced Spanish opponent David Guijarro.

Dehtiarov finished the tournament with 9 points, outperforming all competitors. His closest rival, Abasov, finished half a point behind with 8.5 points.

This victory not only secured Dehtiarov his first major international title, but also set two historic milestones: he became the first non-Grandmaster to win the European Championship and the lowest-seeded champion in the tournament’s history.

The top 20 finishers qualified for the FIDE World Cup. Alongside Dehtiarov, Ukrainian players Anton Korobov and Vasyl Ivanchuk also secured qualification.

Dehtiarov’s performance rating reached 2781 – ranking as the fourth-best performance globally among all players at the time, underscoring the scale of his achievement.

EMPR