Held between 11 and 17 October at the Baltic Beach Hotel & SPA in Jūrmala, Latvia, the 36th NATO Chess Championship witnessed a historic double triumph for Türkiye. The seven-round Swiss tournament brought together 148 military chess players representing 18 NATO member nations, culminating in a dominant showing by Grandmaster (GM) Vahap Şanal and Team Türkiye.

Flawless Victory by GM Vahap Şanal

Entering the field as the top seed and the sole Grandmaster in the competition, GM Vahap Şanal fully justified his status as the pre-tournament favourite. Delivering an immaculate performance, Şanal cruised to the individual title by winning all seven games to finish with an unblemished 7/7 score. Slovenia's International Master (IM) Laura Unuk, seeded fifth, avoided facing the eventual champion due to pairing circumstances and secured second place with 6/7, claiming the best woman award. In a tightly contested battle for third place involving six players tied on 5.5/7, Germany's FIDE Master (FM) Robert Stein clinched the bronze medal courtesy of a superior Buchholz tiebreak score.

Team Türkiye Dominates the Team Standings

Alongside individual honours, the team standings—calculated by combining the top four scores of players representing each nation—concluded with a convincing victory for Team Türkiye. Amassing a total of 23.5 points, Türkiye secured first place ahead of Germany, who claimed the runner-up spot with 20 points. Sweden and host nation Latvia tied on 19 points each, with Sweden edging out Latvia on tiebreak criteria to claim third place.

High Drama in the Blitz Championship

The championship program also featured an intense nine-round blitz side tournament that came down to the wire. Dutch IM Mark Timmermans took top honours with 7.5/9 points, prevailing in a three-way tiebreak against FM Robert Stein of Germany and FM Efe Mert Kılıç of Türkiye, who finished second and third respectively after scoring the same tally.