IAF Antichess World Championship 2026

Photo credit: insta cvisserphotography
Date event: 6th and 7th of June 2026
(!)Study of the event is still in the making.

Watching from the sidelines, I stood triumphant. No longer a competitor, but as the host. A different perspective, a different adventure. And to be honest, the greatest part started just 24 hours before the first round. After months of back and forth with the media, they said yes! Finally the event would be covered by the news. Not just a small item, but with multiple interviews. AT5 and NHnieuws would report on both TV and radio. Multiple competitors had the chance to give the world an introduction to antichess, an introduction to what we are, an introduction to a game often misunderstood.

Different Challenges

After years of hard work. My dear friend André (@BBLGL) decided to entrust me with the organization. He wished to step down and exchange the formalities to the others that work behind the scenes to make this event succeed each year. "To elevate the event to greater heights, I can't provide what the event truly needs." He said (albeit a rough translation of what he told me in Dutch). It turned out that no longer working with André came with many different challenges. Challenges to overcome, and overcome, they were. It wore me out to be honest, the biggest challenge being myself, unable to accept anything less than perfect. Did the organization succeed? Tell us what you think in the comments!

@Kellogzz with the morning debrief of the event. God was I nervous for this one. Play it cool, play it safe, don't let them know you are about to cave.

@neverplayfastanti (left) and @sudenurk2 (right). The two top rated players of this year's event. Who will emerge victorious?

The Defending Champion

I have to be honest with you. He is no longer the relentless & remorseless player he used to be. Or maybe he still is, but the competition is catching up. The trend from last year continues. Again a tough start for @neverplayfastanti with a draw against @hall03 and losing against @NoPebblesLeft. After that a stellar run with a decent amount of victories. With his head surely in the clouds by now, it all came crashing down at the end of day one. Three consecutive draws saw him slip down the order. Visible frustration etched onto his face. Cracks began to appear in the Bulgarian Bulwark. And with the competition being this strong this year. He was not in control of his fate anymore. Slotting in 4th place after day one. While last year he started even poorer, it was this year that the competition truly had come to life. Determined to take home gold.

Day one

With 5 ASGM's and 3 AGM's present, the ingredients were there to deliver a fierce battle for 1st place. And what a battle it was! With Preslav's poor start. The other contestants smelled blood. @sudenurk2 had an incredibly tough first round where she faced last year's 2nd place @Maxime109. New to the scene of OTB Antichess. She was trembling with nervousness. Toppling over pieces, shaking hands, the adrenaline really got a hold of her. Maxime on the other hand. Calm as ever, but while the rest of her body was shaking, her brain never faltered. Her exceptional positional play proved too much for Maxime, who ran out of time. A very important victory for Sudenur.

@maxoubar (left) vs. @NoPebblesLeft (right). With black to move, still an unclear position.

All the way from India, @cflour was keen on showing his antichess mastery. With even some OTB experience under his belt, the first couple rounds could have granted him a headstart over the competition. But this is 5+8 antichess. Slow, yet too fast to sit back and relax. And the French weren't about to suffer defeat. Both @AlfredDuffyer and @knight-killer started with fireworks. Defeating Sarang, who suffered three losses in the first four rounds.

@AlfredDuffyer turned heads when he continued his run with commanding victories over @sudenurk2 and @UglySwede. Leading the standings after round 6 with 5/6 . He had to share the top spot with Sudenur as she as well delivered on her notorious skills in antichess.

@Bertfighter did not perform well last year. Failing to find rhythm he was at no point in contention of the podium places. Day 1 we saw a glimpse of greatness from the 2-time-runner-up. While @Chaos-lover bested him at the start of the event. After that it was a very solid run by @Bertfighter. With a draw against @neverplayfastanti and excellent victories against the likes of @ma3ter3ky, @NoPebblesLeft and @hall03 .

New to the scene was @ma3ter3ky. Preslav said that he hadn't forgotten how he was pummeled in the LAWC by a well prepared Yaroslav. The audience kept a sharp eye on this dangerous outsider, but day one went so-so for the master from Ukraine. Losing most matches against the top seeds, but delivering against those whom you would expect they would succumb to this man's antichess prowess. Ultimately he had to slot 3 and a half point behind the leader after day one. Making it unlikely he would go home with any silverware.

Ultimately, only one player stood out from the rest, and that was @sudenurk2. While she was very nervous during each match (you almost felt sorry for her). She only suffered one loss and a draw after day one. She was 1 and a half point clear of the competition. A very impressive performance. Slotting behind where places 2 to 8 who only had 1.5 points between them. While Sudenur might have the lead. The others were sure not to lose again on day two.

The Community Cup

A new initiative for this year's event came with the Community Cup. Lichess players @devansh2008 and @Gautham_A offered their expertise to judge four nominated games that could be deemed worthy of this trophy. These two masters of the game were put up with the task to rate all nominated games, anonymously of course: judge the game, not the players. This prize was created to involve the community into this event. It is to highlight what this community is capable of. What we created as a family: An event for everyone.

After careful concideration. It was @UDITORIUM and @sudenurk2 who became winners of this award.

While Sudenur delivered her A-game. She still was powerless against Udi's mastercraft. Move by move, the path forward vanished in a haze. Creating an endless dark forest of chess pieces. Lost, bound to a grim fate. No player ever hoped to navigate such suffering. Perdition towered over a frail mind, waiting patiently for another wrong turn. That was the ordeal Sude had to endure throughout the game: an @UDITORIUM masterclass.

Study of all nominated Community Cup games is still in the making.

Who we are

It isn't everyday that you meet people from halfway across the world. Therefore we arrange a place to eat together. Who are the players that play antichess? Having stories to share with one another is often overlooked for what it is, but I daresay it is the greatest part of our event. Rivals today, a brotherhood tomorrow. Playing antichess for an entire day is stressful, let alone organize the entire thing. It is pretty much a necessity that we get to have something where we can unwind.

Joining us for dinner was @Peanutbutter12345. A formidable antichess player who wanted to meet with us on Saturday. He was unable to play in the tournament as he had other obligations. But traveling halfway across the Netherlands to spend the evening with the community, perhaps that says more about this event than any final standing ever would.

You know, dinner is nice all in all, but a double-edged sword is what it is. You let your mind wander off. Your body shuts down. And with such a nice ambiance, this might just turn into a very long evening. Now comes the choice to get a decent night's sleep or rest with limited hours. Every year it turns out the second day is what separates the boys from the men. Fatigue will become your greatest enemy. And when your night becomes especially short because you fail to realize you are with too many people for one cab. Then you might just find yourself stranded on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Yes, dear reader, you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but there are a few individuals at the event that, besides blundering in antichess, also blunder in planning ahead.

Day two

Here we go! @sudenurk2 had to defend a narrow lead. Surely she could continue her dominant run?

Two draws and a loss in her first five matches.

Just like that, the standings folded together like an accordion. With seven rounds still to play, anything could happen. To make matters worse, the round robin phase had come to an end. The tournament now switched to a Swiss system, meaning the top performers would once again have to face one another. Game after game of top-level antichess followed. Complex endgames became the norm, and with fatigue joining the scene, the question remained: Who would succumb first?

Few players look more focused than @Johnny312, or is this expression just the result of seeing the writing on the wall?

With the round robin rounds finished. Wandering through our doorstep was the AT5 News agency. We needed to overhaul the schedule a bit. Now we had 20 minutes of rest between rounds to make room for interviews. Tournament regulars @maxoubar and @NoPebblesLeft took honors and delivered solid interviews. Of course our 4-time-champion @neverplayfastanti said a word, as well as @sudenurk2, who had, at this point in the tournament, given the lead to Preslav due to her poor Sunday start.

Preslav explaining that he is taking it easy this year to give others a (small) chance at victory.

At that Sunday evening the news item premiered and we finally got what we worked for for so long: publicity. Finally a step forward for antichess, for the community. We took the liberty to add English subtitles, you can watch the video in the link below:

AT5 News item of the 2026 IAF Antichess World Championship

So with that out of the way. What to become of the standings? Who would emerge victorious. To be honest, everyone had struggles to find rhythm. While @neverplayfastanti drew yesterday against @sudenurk2. Now he had to admit defeat. A key victory for the challenger from Turkey.

Lurking from the shadows was @Maxime109. He did well yesterday. And where others dropped points left and right on Sunday morning, he continued with a victory against @neverplayfastanti, maybe now was his time to emerge victorious. The stars aligned when @sudenurk2 slipped against @DrunkPolo. But the head to head match between these two would once more prove a bridge too far for the Flying Dutchman.

@Bertfighter started day two tied for 2nd place, but he lost 3 of his first 5 matches and with that fell out of contention for the podium places. Compatriot @UDITORIUM was doing very well. Quietly he dismantled the top seeds one by one, delivering one of the most impressive runs of the tournament. Due to other obligations he had to cut the event short and leave during Sunday's lunch break. Otherwise we might have seen an underdog go home with silverware. Outsiders @Johnny312 and @ma3ter3ky had a lot of ground to cover to get back in contention. With the top seeds dropping points on the Sunday morning and drawing all attention. Both players quietly crawled the rankings. But with the Swiss system to be played now, they would have to face formidable opponents one after the other.

This is it. Two more rounds to go. With a few inaccuracies against lower seeds from the other players, Preslav was able to squeeze a small lead: Preslav leads on 17.5, with Sudenur and Maxime breathing down his neck on 17, and Yaroslav still in striking distance on 16.5.

Preslav had just lost against both Sudenur and Maxime, yet the penultimate round set the stage for a direct confrontation between the two challengers. Sudenur won her match, while Preslav secured victory against a very well-performing @AlfredDuffyer. And then... ...hold on... ...Yaroslav struck as well! He jumped ahead of Maxime into third place, now just a point behind Preslav and half a point behind Sudenur.

It all came down to the final round. But no opening theory could prepare them for the final boss: fatigue.

Preslav had to win against @Bertfighter, but with the black pieces, that was no easy task. Sudenur faced @cflour, who had decided this was the moment to wake up. A dangerous opponent—but Sude had the white pieces. This was her chance to jump Preslav and dethrone him. Yaroslav played his final match against @Johnny312, while Maxime was handed what looked like the best opportunity to pick up the scraps: a pairing against the lowest-rated seed @drooksh.

First to succumb was Sude. The nervousness that had haunted her throughout the entirety of the event proved too much in the final round. Just across the room sat Maxime, who witnessed the defeat first-hand. Yet, unable to capitalize, he too failed to convert and lost his match. Yaroslav won his game in style, briefly pulling himself level with Preslav on points. The audience watched in silence as the final results came in. In the end, the Bulgarian moved the pieces where he should, defeating @Bertfighter and once more proving that he is the undisputed victor.

Preslav Petkov, the 2026 Antichess World Champion.

Conclusion

I lost my cool with this one. The prize ceremony left me overwhelmed with emotions. It means a lot to me that I can make this happen each year.

A big thanks to Tima (left) and Joop (right). During lunchbreak the bar turns into rush hour. And these two make the dreams happen. We owe them a big thanks for being with us all these years.

Five years on from a simple message that sparked it all. The IAF Antichess World Championship has grown into something far beyond what anyone could have expected. What started as a small gathering has become the global meeting point for players who return year after year not only for antichess, but for the people that make it possible. Including you.

The 2026 edition delivered everything that makes this event special: shifting momentum, exhausting battles and a final round that came down to the very last moves. From Sudenur's fearless breakthrough, to Maxime's resilience, to Yaroslav's late surge. The standings remained alive until the very end.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange to lose to win?"
And @maxoubar answered: "Haha, it's strange yeah. But we are strange people, so it does make sense."

I couldn't have said it better myself. It is what we are, and we are winning.

Every edition adds new stories to our shared history. And if 2026 proved anything, it is that the story is still only just beginning.

From left to right: @NoPebblesLeft, @cflour, @maxoubar, @UglySwede, @AlfredDuffyer, @Johnny312, @knight-killer, @drooksh, @Bertfighter, @hall03, @Fufdarr, @DrunkPolo, @marc47 and @Chaos-lover. Bottom: @Kellogzz, @neverplayfastanti, @ma3ter3ky and @sudenurk2

See you all next year on the 5th and 6th of June 2027! Sign up is open until the 1st of June 2027. Details below:

Date & time: 5th and 6th of June 2027
Location: Kattenburgerstraat 150, 1018 JJ Amsterdam
Sign up cost: €25
Sign up deadline: 1st of June 2027

Study link will be here, still in the making.

Final standings

A Final Word

Yeah, hi! It's me, @Kellogzz — or call me Richard, if you will. A lot has happened in these five years of antichess. I could go on and highlight the best of it all... because, damn, I do like to talk. I suppose it was different for everyone, ups and downs, and everything in between. I’ve met some great people along the journey. Sometimes I wish to not play the tournament at all, just to sit down and talk with you over a few beverages.

You guys are amazing, and as we travel through life together, I’m glad we’ve had this moment to share. I cherish the memories, and I hope you do too. And maybe... you know... that’s enough. Because that might just be the greatest gift one friend can give another.

Thank you.

Your friend,
Richard