Malta National Junior Rapid and Blitz Championships 2026: Round-Up
The inaugural Malta National Junior Rapid and Blitz Championships have come to a successful conclusion, bringing together 46 players for the Rapid Championship and 36 players for the Blitz Championship.
Throughout the weekend, nine boards from each tournament were broadcast live on Lichess, allowing spectators to follow the action online.
Players competed for overall podium places as well as category prizes across U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8, together with a Best Female Player prize in the Rapid Championship.
Malta National Junior Rapid Championship:
The Malta National Junior Rapid Championship took place on Saturday and was played over six rounds.
Matthew Portelli continued his strong run of form by becoming Malta National Junior Rapid Champion with a perfect 6/6 score.
Jack Mizzi finished second with an impressive 5 points, while Gabriel Gauci completed the podium with 5 points.
Elias Aquilina marked his return to competitive chess with a strong performance, finishing fourth overall on 4½ points and securing the Best U16 prize. Francesco Catania also scored 4½ points, finishing fifth overall and winning the Best U14 category.
Hayley Thornton finished sixth overall with 4½ points and claimed the Best Female Player prize.
U12 Junior Champion Thomas Azzopardi scored 4 points to win the Best U12 category. Nikol Borg secured the Best U10 prize with 3 points, while seven-year-old Timmy Debono won the Best U8 category with 2 points.
Rapid Category Winners
Best Female – Hayley Thornton, 4½ points
Best U16 – Elias Aquilina, 4½ points
Best U14 – Francesco Catania, 4½ points
Best U12 – Thomas Azzopardi, 4 points
Best U10 – Nikol Borg, 3 points
Best U8 – Timmy Debono, 2 points
Full Rapid results and tournament details can be found here:
https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1454792.aspx?lan=1&SNode=S0
Malta National Junior Blitz Championship
The action continued on Sunday with the Malta National Junior Blitz Championship, played over nine rounds.
Matthew Portelli completed an exceptional weekend by also becoming Malta National Junior Blitz Champion, once again achieving a perfect score, this time 9/9.
Jack Mizzi finished second with 8 points, while 13-year-old John Refalo produced an impressive performance to take third overall with 6½ points.
Thomas Caruana finished fourth overall on 6 points and secured the Best U16 prize.
One of the most important encounters of the final round saw nine-year-olds Thomas Azzopardi and Nikol Borg face each other in a game that would help decide the U14 and U12 category prizes. Thomas won the game to finish on 6 points and take the Best U14 prize, while Nikol finished on 5 points to secure the Best U12 category.
Brenton Schembri won the Best U10 category with 4½ points, while seven-year-old Nathan Bartolo claimed the Best U8 prize with 3 points.
Blitz Category Winners
Best U16 – Thomas Caruana, 6 points
Best U14 – Thomas Azzopardi, 6 points
Best U12 – Nikol Borg, 5 points
Best U10 – Brenton Schembri, 4½ points
Best U8 – Nathan Bartolo, 3 points
Full Blitz results and tournament details can be found here:
https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1454794.aspx?lan=1&SNode=S0
Congratulations to Matthew Portelli on completing both Championships with perfect scores of 6/6 in the Malta National Junior Rapid Championship and 9/9 in the Malta National Junior Blitz Championship.
The Malta Chess Federation also congratulates all winners and participants who took part across the weekend and helped make the Championships such a positive event for junior chess in Malta.
A special thank you goes to MCAST for supporting the Malta Chess Federation and providing the venue for both Championships.
The Federation looks forward to seeing Malta’s young players continue to develop, compete and make their move in future events.
