Evgeny Romanov won the Montenegro Open – Mediterranean Championship in Budva, finishing ahead of Nikita Petrov, Lorenzo Lodici, and Olga Badelka on tiebreaks. The nine-round Swiss tournament ran from July 4-11 and drew over 250 players competing across multiple events.
This was a serious field. Badelka, the top-ranked woman in the tournament, pushed Romanov hard but couldn't overtake him. Petrov and Lodici finished alongside them on identical scores, making the tiebreak details the difference between first and the others. That's how tight the competition played out.
The Montenegro Open isn't just one event. The organizers ran Open A as the main tournament alongside Open B for a wider field. They also held rapid championships for under-20 and under-14 players, plus an open blitz tournament, turning the whole thing into a proper chess festival.
FIDE backed the tournament financially through its Open Aid Project, which funds classical events that might otherwise struggle to happen. This matters because it keeps strong opens accessible and keeps players traveling to compete at serious time controls.
Romanov's win marks a solid result on the Mediterranean circuit. With top female and male players in the same tournament, the strength of field was legitimate. Tiebreaks can be cruel, but Romanov held on.