The 2026 Spanish Chess Championship U18 is set to bring together one of the largest and most competitive fields in recent years, with 150 players registered for the national event. The tournament features a strong mix of experienced titled players, rising juniors, and ambitious regional champions competing for one of Spain’s most prestigious chess titles.
Leading the starting list is International Master Javier Habans Aguerrea from Navarra, who enters as the top seed with a rating of 2433. Habans will face a deep field that includes several strong FIDE Masters and International Masters aiming to challenge for the championship crown.
Close behind the leader are FM Diego Cacheiro Blanco of Galicia (2422) and FM Lionel Sierra Vallina of Asturias (2409), completing the top three seeds.
The 2026 Spanish Chess Championship U18 will take place from August 3 to August 8, featuring a 9-round Swiss-system format designed to test players’ consistency across nearly a week of classical competition. Games will be played with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment added after every move from the start. Live games from the Spanish Chess Championship U18 will be daily live on Chessdom
Top 50 participants of the Spanish Chess Championship U18
| # | Name | Community | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Javier Habans Aguerrea | Navarra | 2433 |
| 2 | Diego Cacheiro Blanco | Galicia | 2422 |
| 3 | Lionel Sierra Vallina | Asturias | 2409 |
| 4 | Alexander Domene Mulyukov | Cataluña | 2399 |
| 5 | Lorenzo Perea Fruet | Andalucía | 2392 |
| 6 | Martin Horcajuelo Rocamora | Comunidad de Madrid | 2368 |
| 7 | Daniel Tabuenca Mendataurigoitia | Cantabria | 2365 |
| 8 | Martin Krauchi Romero | Illes Balears | 2362 |
| 9 | Jose Felix Calvo Gonzalez | Cataluña | 2345 |
| 10 | Daniel Salinas Tomas | Cataluña | 2340 |
| 11 | Juan Alberto Gomez Aguirre | Andorra | 2338 |
| 12 | Ibai Sanz Gorospe | Castilla y León | 2317 |
| 13 | Alejandro Fuentes Guinot | Navarra | 2292 |
| 14 | Nicolas Vioque Gonzalez | Comunidad de Madrid | 2287 |
| 15 | Victor Navarro Martinez | Extremadura | 2271 |
| 16 | Maximo Lorente Melcon | Aragón | 2255 |
| 17 | Yevgeni Sprenger de la Iglesia | Comunidad de Madrid | 2255 |
| 18 | Alejandro Cereijo Suarez | Galicia | 2240 |
| 19 | Victor Tudela Gonzalez | Comunidad Valenciana | 2235 |
| 20 | Nicholas Kowalski Rubiales | Andalucía | 2234 |
| 21 | Nicolas Asensio Asensio | Aragón | 2232 |
| 22 | Iago Fernandez Ramos | Galicia | 2224 |
| 23 | Carlos Pardo Ruiz | Comunidad Valenciana | 2221 |
| 24 | Sergio Atares Buisan | Aragón | 2220 |
| 25 | Yaroslav Sviridenko | Cataluña | 2219 |
| 26 | Andrei Verkholantcev | Comunidad Valenciana | 2200 |
| 27 | Pablo Martinez Soriano | Región de Murcia | 2199 |
| 28 | Eduardo Cabanas Lopez | Galicia | 2186 |
| 29 | Nicolas Martin Cabeza | Asturias | 2183 |
| 30 | Unai Bergaretxe Gavalda | Cataluña | 2180 |
| 31 | Arnau Camps Abadia | Cataluña | 2179 |
| 32 | Raul Marcos Rodriguez | Cataluña | 2166 |
| 33 | Oscar Blazquez Sanz | Comunidad de Madrid | 2155 |
| 34 | Julia Pinyol i Llora | Cataluña | 2146 |
| 35 | Mateo Corchon Granero | Castilla-La Mancha | 2145 |
| 36 | Daniel Clemente Grande | Castilla-La Mancha | 2140 |
| 37 | Catalin Conon | Aragón | 2139 |
| 38 | Hugo Chicote Sagredo | Castilla-La Mancha | 2138 |
| 39 | Vlad Ionut Bercaru | Comunidad Valenciana | 2135 |
| 40 | David Teply Koutsky | Cataluña | 2129 |
| 41 | Aitor Esparza Toni | Navarra | 2127 |
| 42 | Gonzalo Hijarrubia Alvarez-Cuevas | Cataluña | 2117 |
| 43 | Pol Blasco Cardona | Cataluña | 2116 |
| 44 | Cristina Sureda Gonzalez | Illes Balears | 2107 |
| 45 | Lucas Deusa Ballesteros | Comunidad Valenciana | 2107 |
| 46 | David Junquera Guerrero | Asturias | 2102 |
| 47 | Helena Joana Li Chen | Canarias | 2101 |
| 48 | Joan Salord Guillen | Illes Balears | 2092 |
| 49 | Eder Bombin Martinez | País Vasco | 2091 |
| 50 | Diego Galeano Ausin | Comunidad de Madrid | 2084 |
