Maltese Chess Championship

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The Maltese Chess Championship is the yearly chess championship organised by the Malta Chess Federation in Malta which determines the national champion. Initially it consisted of an Open Championship.

Contents

Now the National championships also include the Junior Championships, the Rapid Championships and the Blitz Championships.

The current open National Champion is Jack Mizzi. Jack Mizzi holds the other 3 National titles: National Junior Champion, National Rapid Champion and National Blitz Champion.

Malta Open Championships

The first recorded open championship was held in 1923 and was won by Oscar Serracino-Inglott. Harry Camilleri won the championship a record eighteen times, first in 1965 and last in 2005, at the age of 72.

The current Malta Open Chess Champion is Jack Mizzi.

Candidates phase

To qualify for the Final phase of the Open Championship a player needs to have either placed first or second in the previous year or have placed in the top N of the Candidates phase of that year. N is determined by the number of participants. [1]

Preliminaries Phase

To qualify for the Candidates, a player must have reached an established Elo rating, currently 1700, or have placed in the top N of the Preliminaries. [1] The youngest player to have won the Preliminaries in Malta is Jack Mizzi. [2]

Past Winners of Final Stage

#YearWinner [3]
11923 Oscar Serracino-Inglott
21925 Oscar Serracino-Inglott
31926 Oscar Serracino-Inglott
41927 Erin Serracino-Inglott
51928 Erin Serracino-Inglott
61930 Erin Serracino-Inglott
71934 John Soler
81935 Carmelo Frisk
91936 Richard Soler
101937 Frank Ellul
111938 Richard Soler
121939 Richard Soler
131940 Richard Soler
141946 Wilfred Attard
151948 John Soler
161949 Richard Soler
171950 Wilfred Attard
181953 Wilfred Attard
191954 Wilfred Attard
201955 Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici
211956 John Soler
221957 Wilfred Attard
231958 Wilfred Attard
241959 Wilfred Attard
251960 Wilfred Attard
261961 Wilfred Attard
271962 Claude Sollars
281963 Wilfred Attard
291964 Wilfred Attard
301965 Harry Camilleri
311966 Harry Camilleri
321967 Harry Camilleri
331968 Harry Camilleri
341969 Harry Camilleri
351970 Harry Camilleri
361971 Harry Camilleri
371972 Harry Camilleri
381973 Adriano Gouder
391974 Harry Camilleri
401975 Adriano Gouder
411976 Harry Camilleri
421977 Harry Camilleri
431978 Harry Camilleri
441979 Harry Camilleri
451980 Wilfred Attard
461981 Harry Camilleri
Joseph Gauci
471982 Josef Lauri
481983 Geoffrey Borg
491984 Geoffrey Borg
501985 Geoffrey Borg
511986 Geoffrey Borg
521987 Geoffrey Borg
531988 Conrad Thake
541989 Harry Camilleri
551990 Harry Camilleri
561991 Peter Sammut Briffa
571992 Stefan Camilleri
581993 Timothy Mifsud
591994 Timothy Mifsud
601995 Timothy Mifsud
611996 Timothy Mifsud
621997 Timothy Mifsud
631998 Timothy Mifsud
641999 Harry Camilleri
652000 David Cilia Vincenti
662001 Peter Sammut Briffa
672002 Peter Sammut Briffa
682003 Colin Pace
692004 Andrew Borg
702005 Harry Camilleri
712006 Colin Pace
722007 Patrick Zerafa
732008 Colin Pace
742009 Colin Pace
752010 Colin Pace
762011 Colin Pace
772012 Colin Pace
782013 Joseph Gauci
792014 Joseph Gauci
802015 Colin Pace
812016 Robert Zerafa
822017 Robert Zerafa
832018 Robert Zerafa
842019 Robert Zerafa
852020 Jake Darmanin
862021 Robert Zerafa
872022 David Cilia Vincenti
882023 Colin Pace
892024 Jack Mizzi

Malta Rapid Championships

Since 2017, the Malta Chess Federation started organising the Malta National Rapid Championship.

In 2021 an online Rapid Gran Prix was held and this was won by Jack Mizzi. [4] The 2022 Malta Rapid champion was Jack Mizzi. [5] [6]

#YearWinner
12017 Jake Darmanin
22018 Jake Darmanin
32019 Jake Darmanin
42021 Jack Mizzi [7]
52022 Jack Mizzi

Malta Blitz Championships

Since 2017, the Malta Chess Federation started organising the Malta National Blitz Championship.

In 2021, an online Blitz Gran Prix was held and this was won by Jack Mizzi. [4] The 2022 and 2023 Malta Blitz champion was Jack Mizzi. [6] [5] Jack Mizzi set a new Malta Chess record when he won the 2023 Blitz championship with a perfect 9-0 score. [8]

#YearWinner
12017 Jake Darmanin
22018 Jake Darmanin
32019 Matthew Fleri
42021 Jack Mizzi
52022 Jack Mizzi
62023 Jack Mizzi

Malta Junior championships

The first Malta Junior Championship was held in 1946 but the Malta Chess Federation only has records since 1987. [9]

The current Malta junior champion is Jack Mizzi. [10] [11]

#YearWinner [9]
11987Duncan Vella
21988Joseph Stafrace
31989Joseph Stafrace
41990Joseph Stafrace
51991Duncan Vella
61992Timothy Mifsud
71993Timothy Mifsud
81994Timothy Mifsud
91995Peter Pullicino
101996David Cilia Vincenti
111997Colin Pace
121998Timothy Mifsud
131999Colin Pace
142000Daniel Abela
152001Daniel Abela
162002Daniel Abela
172003Charles Sinn
182004Mark Cardona
192005Mark Cardona
202006Mark Cardona
212007Robert Zerafa
222008Robert Zerafa
232009Robert Zerafa
242010Andre Xuereb
252011Jake Darmanin
262012Jake Darmanin
272013Jake Darmanin
282014Jake Darmanin
292015Jurgen Grima
302016Jamie Farrugia
312017Steve Mizzi
322018Matthew Fleri
332019Cosmin Alexa
342021Matthew Fleri
352022 Jack Mizzi [7]
362023 Jack Mizzi [12]
372024 Jack Mizzi [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 Malta Chess Federation (22 January 2022). "MCF Statute" (PDF). Malta Chess Federation. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. Weenink, Steffie (2019-03-15). "WATCH: This 12-Year-Old Boy Might Be Well On His Way To Becoming Malta's Youngest Chess Champion". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  3. "Past Malta Champions - Malta Chess Federation". 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  4. 1 2 "Jack Mizzi wins Blitz and Rapid Online Grand Prix - Malta Chess Federation". 2021-05-30. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  5. 1 2 "Chess: Jack Mizzi jirbaħ żewġ titli nazzjonali f'ġurnata waħda - ONE". 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  6. 1 2 "Jack Mizzi inkurunat Champion nazzjonali taċ-Chess". NETnews (in Maltese). 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  7. 1 2 "Jack Mizzi", Wikipedija (in Maltese), 2022-12-17, retrieved 2022-12-17
  8. SportsDesk (2023-10-06). "Jack Mizzi in record run at the Malta Blitz Chess Championship". SportsDesk. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  9. 1 2 "Past Malta Junior Champions - Malta Chess Federation". 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  10. "16-year-old Jack Mizzi makes waves at international chess tournament". www.guidememalta.com. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  11. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Malta Junior Championship 2022". chess-results.com. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  12. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Malta Junior Chess Championships 2023". chess-results.com. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  13. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Junior Championships U14-U20s 2024". chess-results.com. Retrieved 2024-03-18.