Rapport, born on 25 March 1996 in Szombathely, was considered a child prodigy. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of just 13 years, six months and 11 days, breaking the record set by Peter Leko and becoming the youngest Hungarian grandmaster ever.
However, it was not his early successes that made Rapport famous, but rather his unusual play and creative ideas in all phases of the game.
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He did not lose a single game in Batumi and, together with Peter Leko, was a mainstay of the Hungarian team. Leko, who had a long break from tournament chess, drew all his games and also remained undefeated. This consistency on the top boards helped Hungary to a shared seventh to eleventh place.
Throughout the European Team Championship Rapport showed good form and in the last round he won a fine game against Maksim Chigaev.
Maksim Chigaev at the European Championship 2024 | Photo: ECU
Chigaev used to play for Russia, but he switched to the Spanish Chess Federation after Russia invaded Ukraine. In March 2022, he was one of 44 Russian chess players to sign an open letter protesting against the invasion of Ukraine addressed to President Putin.
