{"id":43414,"date":"2026-02-04T12:58:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=43414"},"modified":"2026-02-05T21:32:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T21:32:44","slug":"from-local-vision-to-european-stage-the-new-zagreb-classics-remarkable-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/from-local-vision-to-european-stage-the-new-zagreb-classics-remarkable-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"From local vision to European stage: The New Zagreb Classic’s remarkable rise"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Launched two years ago the New Zagreb Classic has grown into one of the biggest open tournaments in Europe. Here\u2019s what makes it special.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

When, in 2024, a group of four people, colloquially known as Chess Dads, set out to build an international tournament from scratch, their main motivation was giving their children, talented players from SK Novi Zagreb, a taste of chess on the \u201cbig stage\u201d: a well-organized, \u2018proper\u2019 competition where they could face not only peers but also adults at comparable skill levels \u2013 something that previously required traveling outside Zagreb and Croatia.<\/p>

They envisioned a tournament where everyone \u2013 regardless of their age, gender, nationality or rating \u2013 would feel welcome and valued. They called it the New Zagreb Classic, reflecting not only their club\u2019s name but also their aspiration to set new standards while respecting the local rich tradition.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two years later, the New Zagreb Classic 2026, held from January 30\u00a0 to February 1 in one of the city\u2019s best hotels, the Sheraton, brought together 506 players from 36 federations compete on the chess board. That makes it not only the biggest Open tournament with classic time control (90+30) in Croatia, but now also one of top 10 in Europe by participation.\u00a0<\/p>

The compact format proved a big hit: players were divided into five rating\u2011based sections of approximately 100 participants each, with all five rounds condensed into a single weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday evening). This structure made the event accessible to players who could not take extended time away from work or school.\u00a0<\/p>

The New Zagreb Classic 2026 had it all \u2013 from beginners and pure enthusiasts to FIDE Masters, International Masters and even Grandmasters. Rather than aiming for elite players, the organizers made an extra effort to attract Croatia’s strongest cadets, talents from neighboring countries, and promising juniors from across Europe. These young players provided some of the tournament’s most memorable moments.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Samuel Bro Jacobsen<\/strong>, a player from Denmark (born in 2014), scored the biggest upset in the top-tier group, defeating the Croatian-French veteran GM Darko Anic<\/strong>, while CM Andras Ilko-Toth<\/strong> (also born in 2014) of Hungary held Avinash Ramesh<\/strong>, a strong, up-and-coming Indian IM, to a draw and completed the event unbeaten. Ilko-Toth tied on points with 14-year-old Erik Golubovic, Croatia\u2019s youngest FIDE Master, who came fifth in the final ranking as the highest-placed among these stars of the future.<\/p>

IM Vladyslav Larkin<\/strong> of Ukraine won the Open A tournament, ahead of FM Vinko Malada<\/strong> (Croatia) and FM Nicolas Perossa<\/strong> (Italy). WFM Elizaveta Dorokhina<\/strong>, competing under FIDE flag, was the top-scoring female player, followed by WFM Barbara Skuhala<\/strong> and WFM Petra Kejzar<\/strong>, both from Slovenia.<\/p>

Every group and every player had their own unique story \u2013 be it a breakthrough achievement, a crushing disappointment or just pure joy of play. The tournament’s growing significance in the local chess community was evident in the roughly 30 unrated adults who chose the New Zagreb Classic for their competitive debuts \u2013 many playing in their first official tournament or returning to competitive chess after years away.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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And probably the most heartening sight came after the final round: players of vastly different ages, backgrounds, and strengths mingled freely and, while awaiting the awards ceremony, spontaneously launched into friendly blitz games.\u00a0<\/p>

It is exactly this kind of diversity and the instant bond chess can provide that embody the \u2018Gens una sumus\u2019 motto and make the New Zagreb Classic truly special.<\/p>

Complete results (chess-results)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Official tournament website: newzgclassic.com\/<\/a><\/strong>

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Launched two years ago the New Zagreb Classic has grown into one of the biggest open tournaments in Europe. Here\u2019s what makes it special. When, in 2024, a group of four people, colloquially known as Chess Dads, set out to build an international tournament from scratch, their main motivation was giving their children, talented players from SK Novi Zagreb, a taste of chess on the \u201cbig stage\u201d: a well-organized, \u2018proper\u2019 competition where they could face not only peers but also adults at comparable skill levels \u2013 something that previously required traveling outside Zagreb and Croatia. They envisioned a tournament where everyone \u2013 regardless of their age, gender, nationality or rating \u2013 would feel welcome and valued. They called it the New Zagreb Classic, reflecting not only their club\u2019s name but also their aspiration to set new standards while respecting the local rich tradition. Two years later, the New Zagreb Classic 2026, held from January 30\u00a0 to February 1 in one of the city\u2019s best hotels, the Sheraton, brought together 506 players from 36 federations compete on the chess board. That makes it not only the biggest Open tournament with classic time control (90+30) in Croatia, but now also one of top 10 in Europe by participation.\u00a0 The compact format proved a big hit: players were divided into five rating\u2011based sections of approximately 100 participants each, with all five rounds condensed into a single weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday evening). This structure made the event accessible to players who could not take extended time away from work or school.\u00a0 The New Zagreb Classic 2026 had it all \u2013 from beginners and pure enthusiasts to FIDE Masters, International Masters and even Grandmasters. Rather than aiming for elite players, the organizers made an extra effort to attract Croatia’s strongest cadets, talents from neighboring countries, and promising juniors from across Europe. These young players provided some of the tournament’s most memorable moments. Samuel Bro Jacobsen, a player from Denmark (born in 2014), scored the biggest upset in the top-tier group, defeating the Croatian-French veteran GM Darko Anic, while CM Andras Ilko-Toth (also born in 2014) of Hungary held Avinash Ramesh, a strong, up-and-coming Indian IM, to a draw and completed the event unbeaten. Ilko-Toth tied on points with 14-year-old Erik Golubovic, Croatia\u2019s youngest FIDE Master, who came fifth in the final ranking as the highest-placed among these stars of the future. IM Vladyslav Larkin of Ukraine won the Open A tournament, ahead of FM Vinko Malada (Croatia) and FM Nicolas Perossa (Italy). WFM Elizaveta Dorokhina, competing under FIDE flag, was the top-scoring female player, followed by WFM Barbara Skuhala and WFM Petra Kejzar, both from Slovenia. Every group and every player had their own unique story \u2013 be it a breakthrough achievement, a crushing disappointment or just pure joy of play. The tournament’s growing significance in the local chess community was evident in the roughly 30 unrated adults who chose the New Zagreb Classic for their competitive debuts \u2013 many playing in their first official tournament or returning to competitive chess after years away. And probably the most heartening sight came after the final round: players of vastly different ages, backgrounds, and strengths mingled freely and, while awaiting the awards ceremony, spontaneously launched into friendly blitz games.\u00a0 It is exactly this kind of diversity and the instant bond chess can provide that embody the \u2018Gens una sumus\u2019 motto and make the New Zagreb Classic truly special. Complete results (chess-results) Official tournament website: newzgclassic.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[219,41],"regular":[361],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-43414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-croatia","tag-tournaments","regular-regular"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43414"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43425,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43414\/revisions\/43425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43414"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=43414"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=43414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}