A representative of the state institution “Mykolaiv Pre-Trial Detention Center” joined the victory of the Ukraine men’s team at an international chess competition among inmates. This concerns the II Continental Online Chess Championship, which took place on May 19, 2026. This was reported by the South-Central Interregional Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
More than 30 teams from 18 European countries competed in the tournament. Ukraine was represented by several teams, including a men’s team. A detainee from the maintenance unit of the Mykolaiv SIZO was included in that team.
He earned the right to compete at the international level not by chance. Prior to this, the representative of the Mykolaiv facility took third place in the All-Ukrainian mixed in-person and remote chess Olympiad among inmates, which opened the way for his participation in the continental championship.
The competition was held using the Swiss system and consisted of six rounds. The Ukrainian team played against opponents from Greece, Belgium, Romania, Armenia, Serbia and Norway. The tournament lasted more than six hours, so participants needed not only chess skills but also endurance, attentiveness and the ability to maintain concentration until the final game.
As a result of the competition, the Ukraine men’s team took first place and became the winner of the II Continental Online Chess Championship among inmates. The interregional department emphasized that the participation of a representative of the Mykolaiv Pre-Trial Detention Center as part of the winning team served as an example of how discipline, intellectual work and the desire for development can yield results even in closed conditions.
For Mykolaiv this story has a distinct local angle: a person held in the detention center was able to pass the internal selection, demonstrate results at the national level and become part of the team that represented Ukraine on the international chess stage.
Reminder: earlier we wrote:
- Pay or be beaten: a scheme to extort money from prisoners operated in Mykolaiv SIZO
- A Mykolaiv SIZO employee prayed to Putin and called to strike his own detention center
- Criminal traditions in action: money was extorted from inmates in Mykolaiv SIZO
- A shocking day: how first-year Mykolaiv students visited the pre-trial detention center
