Format
BS
Bulelani, Stephen
🇿🇦FIDE 14368595· Male· South Africa· Born in 2009
Follow Stephen BulelaniTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
Stephen Bulelani, a 17-year-old South African player, is rated 1980 — his current career high and ranked 6th among South African players under 18. He is on a breakout run, having gained +171 Elo over the past 12 months. 71 rated games in the past year (≈67/year long-term). Recent standard appearances include 2026 South African Junior Closed (U18 Boys), 2026 Tshwane Chess Open Registration Tournament (A), and 16th AFRICAN YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 UNDER 16 OPEN. Also played 1 rapid (including FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2025) and 1 blitz events (including Torneo Mundialista de Blitz 2025) recently. He reached South African #61 in Jun 2026.
At junior level, he reached #6, #7 and #11 nationally in U18, U16 and U14.
Current rating
1980
Standard
Rpd1852·Blz1935
All-time high
1980
at best
Jun 2026 · age 17
Jun 2026 · age 17
Activity
66
games / yr avg. · ≈6/mo
62 past 12 mo · ≈5/mo
classical only
Active
classical only
Active
Signature stat
#6
#6 · South African players under 18 · of 307
Career timeline
10 entries2026
Peak South African rank: #61
at age 17 · rated 1980
Jun 2026
6th South African U18 player
at age 17 · rated 1980
Jun 2026
All-time peak 1980
at age 17
Jun 2026
2025
7th South African U16 player
at age 16 · rated 1890
Nov 2025
Re-crossed 1800
at age 16
May 2025
100 career games
at age 16
Apr 2025
Standard rating history
Peak
FIDE title
Threshold
First rated
FIDE recal.
Activity & highlights
Evolution
+149
1831 → 1980
Tournaments
10
100 games
Score
50.5/ 10050.5%
67W10D23L
Top 3 wins
Top 3 losses
Last 12 months — tournaments
10 events| Event | Date | Score | Rank | Perf | Δ Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Open Swiss | Apr 2026 | 6/9 | #18 | 1990 | +43.2 |
Open Swiss | Mar 2026 | 6.5/9 | #3 | 1957 | +30.0 |
Swiss | Jan 2026 | 4/4 | #10 | — | +25.2 |
Open Swiss | Dec 2025 | 6/4 | #10 | 2426 | -7.2 |
Team | Dec 2025 | 4.5/3 | #5 | 2401 | +0.4 |
Swiss | Oct 2025 | 4/5 | #3 | 2152 | +87.2 |
Swiss | Sep 2025 | 2/5 | #14 | 1679 | -34.8 |
Swiss | Aug 2025 | 6/6 | #1 | 2336 | -4.4 |
Open Swiss | Jun 2025 | 7/10 | #22 | 1899 | +10.8 |
Swiss | Jun 2025 | 4.5/7 | #6 | 1865 | +23.2 |
Rankings
/
South Africa
#61
out of 1,876 players
Africa
#765
in continent
World
#30,786
out of 400,000+
National ranking
Europe & World
Europe
World
South Africa
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