Sergejs Fiļipovs becomes EU youth chess champion in U12 category
At the European Union youth chess championship in the Czech Republic, Latvian player Sergejs Fiļipovs won first place in the U12 category, while Artjoms Bakašs finished 15th in U10.
The European Union youth chess championship took place in late August in the Czech town of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, featuring competitors in the U8, U10, U12 and U14 age groups. Latvia was represented by two young players - Artjoms Bakašs in the U10 category and Sergejs Fiļipovs in the U12 category.
Fiļipovs' road to victory
Sergejs Fiļipovs entered the tournament as the rating favorite but suffered a surprising loss in the very first round. Despite this setback, he recovered strongly, winning seven consecutive games afterward. In the final round, Fiļipovs secured a draw from a position of strength, which was enough to claim first place overall among 24 participants in the U12 group.
Bakašs' performance
Artjoms Bakašs started the tournament seeded 17th by rating. Two opening wins were followed by three consecutive losses, but he found his form again toward the end, picking up three points in the final four rounds. In total, Bakašs collected five points out of nine possible, finishing 15th.
Both young players rank among the strongest chess talents of their age in Latvia - Bakašs took second place in the U10 category at this year's Latvian youth championship, while Fiļipovs became Latvia's U12 champion.
The European Union championship has been a fruitful event for young Latvian chess players in recent years - in 2025, Krišjānis Lāzars won third place in the U12 boys' category, and in 2022, Daniels Beniosevs took third place in U10.
Latvian young chess players still have two major international tournaments ahead this year - the World Championship for U7-U17 age groups in Spain and the European Youth Championship for U8-U18 age groups in Greece.
