About the win

Rafał Blechacz won the fifteenth edition in 2005 so convincingly that the jury awarded no second prize at all, and he also swept every special award. He was the first Polish winner since Krystian Zimerman in 1975.

Key facts

• Won so decisively in 2005 that no second prize was awarded.
• Also took all the special prizes — mazurka, polonaise, concerto and sonata.
• First Polish winner since Krystian Zimerman in 1975.
• A Deutsche Grammophon artist; later received the Gilmore Artist Award in 2014.