# Maltese Chess Championship

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.
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.

### 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. The youngest player to have won the Preliminaries in Malta is Jack Mizzi.

### Past Winners of Final Stage

    #YearWinner 11923Oscar Serracino-Inglott 21925Oscar Serracino-Inglott 31926Oscar Serracino-Inglott 41927Erin Serracino-Inglott 51928Erin Serracino-Inglott 61930Erin Serracino-Inglott 71934John Soler 81935Carmelo Frisk 91936Richard Soler 101937Frank Ellul 111938Richard Soler 121939Richard Soler 131940Richard Soler 141946Wilfred Attard 151948John Soler 161949Richard Soler 171950Wilfred Attard 181953Wilfred Attard 191954Wilfred Attard 201955Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici 211956John Soler 221957Wilfred Attard 231958Wilfred Attard 241959Wilfred Attard 251960Wilfred Attard 261961Wilfred Attard 271962Claude Sollars 281963Wilfred Attard 291964Wilfred Attard 301965Harry Camilleri 311966Harry Camilleri 321967Harry Camilleri 331968Harry Camilleri 341969Harry Camilleri 351970Harry Camilleri 361971Harry Camilleri 371972Harry Camilleri 381973Adriano Gouder 391974Harry Camilleri 401975Adriano Gouder 411976Harry Camilleri 421977Harry Camilleri 431978Harry Camilleri 441979Harry Camilleri 451980Wilfred Attard 461981Harry Camilleri Joseph Gauci 471982Josef Lauri 481983Geoffrey Borg 491984Geoffrey Borg 501985Geoffrey Borg 511986Geoffrey Borg 521987Geoffrey Borg 531988Conrad Thake 541989Harry Camilleri 551990Harry Camilleri 561991Peter Sammut Briffa 571992Stefan Camilleri 581993Timothy Mifsud 591994Timothy Mifsud 601995Timothy Mifsud 611996Timothy Mifsud 621997Timothy Mifsud 631998Timothy Mifsud 641999Harry Camilleri 652000David Cilia Vincenti 662001Peter Sammut Briffa 672002Peter Sammut Briffa 682003Colin Pace 692004Andrew Borg 702005Harry Camilleri 712006Colin Pace 722007Patrick Zerafa 732008Colin Pace 742009Colin Pace 752010Colin Pace 762011Colin Pace 772012Colin Pace 782013Joseph Gauci 792014Joseph Gauci 802015Colin Pace 812016Robert Zerafa 822017Robert Zerafa 832018Robert Zerafa 842019Robert Zerafa 852020Jake Darmanin 862021Robert Zerafa 872022David Cilia Vincenti 882023Colin Pace 892024Jack 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. The 2022 Malta Rapid champion was Jack Mizzi.
    #YearWinner 12017Jake Darmanin 22018Jake Darmanin 32019Jake Darmanin 42021Jack Mizzi 52022Jack 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. The 2022 and 2023 Malta Blitz champion was Jack Mizzi. Jack Mizzi set a new Malta Chess record when he won the 2023 Blitz championship with a perfect 9-0 score. In 2024 Mizzi won the Malta Blitz Chess Championship for the 4th consecutive time.
    #YearWinner 12017Jake Darmanin 22018Jake Darmanin 32019Matthew Fleri 42021Jack Mizzi 52022Jack Mizzi 62023Jack Mizzi 7 2024 Jack Mizzi

## Malta Junior championships

The first Malta Junior Championship was held in 1946 but the Malta Chess Federation only has records since 1987.
The current Malta junior champion is Jack Mizzi.
    #YearWinner 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 352022Jack Mizzi 362023Jack Mizzi 37 2024 Jack Mizzi