The 30th EuroChess took place between May 9th and 10th, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. EuroChess is an annual tournament for European central banks. This year, the tournament was organized by the Hungarian National Bank’s Sports Club and was hosted at ibis Budapest City.
I participated in the tournament representing the Bank of England (BoE) along with my colleague Harley Mason. The tournament was attended by 18 central banks from across Europe. The Bank of England had not participated in the tournament since 2002, so the other players were pleasantly surprised to see us there. We were warmly welcomed by the organizers and other participants. The organisers welcomed us with gifts of signed copies of Judit Polgár’s books, which were highly appreciated. We also got to meet Judit later on when she visited the tournament, which was a very memorable experience.
Left to right: Harley Mason (BoE), Zoran Stanic (EIB), Demet Tamam (EIB), Judit Polgár, Harry Li (BoE).
Rapid Tournament
On Friday 9th May, there was a team rapid chess tournament with a time control of 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move. The rapid tournament featured a total of 18 teams of central banks, each consisting of 4-6 players, competing in an individual Swiss system format over 8 rounds. The sum of the top four scoring players from each team determined the team’s score. Since we were only two players, we merged with the European Investment Bank (EIB) team, which also had only two players; Zoran Stanic and Demet Tamam. This was a great opportunity for us to meet new people and make new friends. Throughout the rapid tournament, there was a restriction that each player could not be paired against another player from the same team. The tournament was played in a friendly atmosphere, with a mix of experienced and novice players.
The BoE and EIB team started strong, scoring 10/12 points in the first three rounds, putting us in first position. However, we were unable to maintain our lead and finished the tournament in 9th place with a total of 17/32 points. The tournament was won by the National Bank of Belgium, who scored 22/32 points, narrowly beating Banque de France on tie-break points.
My personal performance started well, winning the first four rounds. In round five, I lost to the eventual tournament winner after declining a draw offer and over-pressing a slightly better endgame. Then, I was unable to bounce back and scored only 2 points in the last three rounds, finishing with a total of 6/8 points.
Table of individual results from the BoE & EIB Team:
| Final Rank | Seed No. | Name | Classical Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | Harry Li | 2247 | 6/8 |
| 10 | 9 | Zoran Stanic | 2073 | 5/8 |
| 49 | 72 | Harley Mason | 0 | 4/8 |
| 86 | 92 | Demet Tamam | 0 | 2/8 |
Congratulations to the National Bank of Belgium for winning the tournament and to Dirk Michiels from Belgium for winning the best individual prize with 6.5/8 points.
The full tournament results can be found on chess-results. The tournament was not FIDE rated.
Blitz Tournament
On the morning of Saturday 10th May, there was an individual blitz tournament with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move. The blitz tournament had 57 players and was an individual Swiss system format over 11 rounds.
I managed to win the tournament on tie-break with a score of 8.5/11 points. I started strongly, scoring 6.5/7 points in the first seven rounds. I then lost two games in a row unnecessarily by again over-pressing better positions. I was fortunate to win the last two rounds, which allowed me to catch the leader and tie for first place with Kornel Frindt from National Bank of Slovakia. Thanks to my good early performance, I had the better tie-break score, which allowed me to win the tournament.
| Final Rank | Seed No. | Name | Classical Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Harry Li | 2247 | 8.5/11 |
| 47 | 43 | Harley Mason | 0 | 4.5/11 |
The full tournament results can be found on chess-results. The tournament was not FIDE rated.
I won a trophy for winning the blitz tournament:
Judit Polgár
The highlight of the trip came after winning the Blitz tournament. The organisers had arranged for Judit Polgár to visit to give a lecture, followed by a simultaneous exhibition against the 18 central banks. Judit Polgár is widely regarded as the best female chess player of all time, and a former top 10 player in the world.
Judit showed us one of her attacking games in the Sicilian Najdorf against Garry Kasparov from Linares 2001, which was very instructive. She then played a simultaneous exhibition against the 18 central banks. The central banks each nominated one player to make the moves, and were allowed to consult with each other during the game. I was nominated to make the moves for the BoE and EIB team, and I was very excited to play against Judit. We played a Scotch game, and I played a very solid line with the hope of making a draw. We followed a theoretical line that I knew, resulting in an equal endgame. However, Judit made a mistake and allowed us to win an important pawn, and we were able to convert the advantage into a win. I know from experience that giving simultaneous exhibitions is very tiring, and Judit was very gracious in accepting the loss. She congratulated us for being the strongest team. It was a great honour to play against her!
Conclusion
Overall, the EuroChess 2025 tournament was a great experience. It was a pleasure to meet new people and make new friends. The tournament was well organized, and the atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. I would like to thank the organizers for their hard work and dedication in making this event a success. Next year, the tournament will be co-hosted by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank held in Frankfurt, Germany. I look forward to participating in future EuroChess tournaments!