Spartan Bishops Inter-Regional Chess Championships 2025 Elite (Championship)
19 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 23 May 2025 to 25 May 2025 in Kimberley, South Africa. Top 10 Elo average was 1778, and top seed was Thabang Mamonyane (🇿🇦 RSA, 1914).
Xolani Cebo Mathebula (🇿🇦 RSA, 1874) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Rannveer Tak (4.5) and Thabang Mamonyane (3.5). Mathebula shared the lead from round 1, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Kiriakos Michalakis (1695) beat Karabo Teeke (1878), a +183-point gap.
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsTight race until R5; 2 players tied at 4.5/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.
2 players finish on 4.5/5. Mathebula takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (13.0).
Xolani Cebo Mathebula drew with Rannveer Tak (Black).
Xolani Cebo Mathebula went unbeaten across 5 games (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Xolani Cebo Mathebula | * | ½ | 1 | — |
| 2Rannveer Tak | ½ | * | — | — |
| 3Thabang Mamonyane | 0 | — | * | — |
| 4THATEGO LEFYEDI | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathebula, Xolani Cebo | 1874 | RSA | +13N | +14B | =2N | +3B | +6N | 4.5 | 13.0 | 15.0 | 12.75 | 2070 | +19.6 |
| 2 | Tak, Rannveer | 1754 | RSA | +16B | +18N | =1B | +5N | +8B | 4.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 8.75 | 1994 | +34.4 |
| 3 | Mamonyane, Thabang | 1914 | RSA | +8B | =5N | +6B | −1N | +11B | 3.5 | 13.5 | 16.0 | 10.00 | 1890 | -1.6 |
| 4 | LEFYEDI, THATEGO | 1792 | RSA | −10N | +12B | +19N | =7B | +13N | 3.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 6.00 | 1899 | +6.0 |
| 5 | Difotso, Tshegofatso | 1676 | RSA | +17N | =3B | +10N | −2B | =7N | 3.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 5.75 | 1723 | +3.4 |
| 6 | Michalakis, Kiriakos | 1695 | RSA | +7N | +15B | −3N | +14B | −1B | 3.0 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 6.00 | 1875 | +47.6 |
| 7 | Teeke, Karabo | 1878 | RSA | −6B | +9N | +11B | =4N | =5B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 15.0 | 8.75 | 1753 | -13.2 |
| 8 | Pillay, Diveshan | 1616 | RSA | −3N | +17B | +15N | +10B | −2N | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 3.50 | 1673 | +7.6 |
| 9 | Nkoana, Mohololo | 0 | RSA | −15N | −7B | +13N | +19B | +14N | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.00 | 1690 | 0.0 |
| 10 | Nqakala, Nkosinathi | 0 | RSA | +4B | =11N | −5B | −8N | +16N | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 5.25 | 1646 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Applegreen, Thato | 1848 | RSA | +12N | =10B | −7N | +15B | −3N | 2.5 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 4.75 | 1714 | -21.6 |
| 12 | Booysen, Vuyani | 0 | RSA | −11B | −4N | =16B | +18N | +17B | 2.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.25 | 1020 | 0.0 |
| 13 | Magagula, Immanuel | 1534 | RSA | −1B | +16N | −9B | +17N | −4B | 2.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 0.50 | 1033 | -6.0 |
| 14 | Rode, Christoph | 1623 | RSA | +19B | −1N | +18B | −6N | −9B | 2.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.00 | 984 | -23.6 |
| 15 | Motsuane, Lucky Mojalefa | 1727 | RSA | +9B | −6N | −8B | −11N | F | 1.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 3.00 | 919 | -30.4 |
| 16 | FIDE 14380226 | 0 | — | −2N | −13B | =12N | F | −10B | 0.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1.25 | 844 | 0.0 |
| 17 | FIDE 534025049 | 0 | — | −5B | −8N | F | −13B | −12N | 0.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.00 | 808 | 0.0 |
| 18 | FIDE 534019405 | 0 | — | F | −2B | −14N | −12B | F | 0.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.00 | 888 | 0.0 |
| 19 | FIDE 534025030 | 0 | — | −14N | F | −4B | −9N | F | 0.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 908 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Michalakis, KiriakosRSA+47.63.0 pts · #3
- 2Tak, RannveerRSA+34.44.5 pts · #4
- 3Mathebula, Xolani CeboRSA+19.64.5 pts · #1
- 1Motsuane, Lucky MojalefaRSA-30.41.0 pts · #19
- 2Rode, ChristophRSA-23.62.0 pts · #17
- 3Applegreen, ThatoRSA-21.62.5 pts · #11
- R1+183 Elo gap
- R3+111 Elo gap