The strongest ever edition of Polish Team Championship – Extraleague finished in Katowice. The local team “WASKO Hetman GKS”, with Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, David Navara, Bartosz Socko, and other stars of Polish and European chess mounted to the very top. They drew only in one match against the eventual bronze-medalists “Wieża Pęgów” and won all other encounters, including the key one against the runner-up “VOTUM SA Polonia Wrocław”.

Red carpet and gala opening had preceded the team championship. The Cesar Hall of Hotel Arsenal Palace Chorzow, the venue of the first half of the championship, hosted all participants, city officials, local artists, and other notable guests. The second part of the competition took place at the Silesian Voivodship Office with the Mayor (President) of Katowice city Marcin Krupa attending both the opening gala and one of the rounds.

Extraleague became the second chess competition to receive the support of Coca-Cola under the cooperation agreement between FIDE and the global brand. The first one was Mikhail Tal Blitz and Rapid Chess Memorial held in Riga at the end of July.

The broadcast in English was provided on FIDE Youtube Channel by European Chess TV, with IM Piotr An Nguyen and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili as commentators.

Official website: https://ekstraliga2019.pzszach.pl