2025 South African Open Chess Championships (U14 Girls)
26 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 28 Jun 2025 to 05 Jul 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Top 10 Elo average was 1195, and top seed was Thandoluhle Zulu (🇿🇦 RSA, 1551).
Lillith Jacobs (🇿🇦 RSA, 1491) won with 5.0/5, ahead of Kaylee Budhram (4.0) and Aditi Maharaj (4.0). Jacobs broke clear in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 4: Aditi Maharaj (1442) beat Thandoluhle Zulu (1551), a +109-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsLillith Jacobs led from R5; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R5.
Lillith Jacobs never relinquished the lead after R5; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.
Lillith Jacobs beat Kaylee Budhram (White).
Lillith Jacobs 5 wins (R1–R5)Kaylee Budhram 3 wins (R1–R3)Ciara ADAMS 4 wins (R1–R4)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Lillith Jacobs | * | 1 | 1 | — |
| 2Kaylee Budhram | 0 | * | — | — |
| 3Ciara ADAMS | 0 | — | * | — |
| 4Mila Papanicolaou | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacobs, Lillith | 1491 | RSA | +21N | +10B | +3N | +2B | +4N | 5.0 | 15.0 | 17.0 | 17.00 | 2269 | +56.4 |
| 2 | Budhram, Kaylee | 1541 | RSA | +15B | +6N | +9B | −1N | +8B | 4.0 | 15.0 | 17.5 | 12.50 | 1646 | +16.4 |
| 3 | Maharaj, Aditi | 1442 | RSA | +12B | +5N | −1B | +9N | +17B | 4.0 | 15.0 | 17.5 | 12.50 | 1521 | +8.8 |
| 4 | ADAMS, Ciara | 1422 | RSA | +18B | +22N | +8B | +16N | −1B | 4.0 | 12.5 | 14.5 | 9.50 | 1506 | +9.2 |
| 5 | Papanicolaou, Mila | 0 | RSA | +?N | −3B | +?N | +10B | +11N | 4.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 6.00 | 1435 | 0.0 |
| 6 | Mulholland, Emmy Rida | 0 | RSA | +?N | −2B | +18N | +13B | +?N | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 5.00 | 1505 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Monamatha, Diteboho | 1513 | RSA | +23B | +14N | =16B | −8N | +15B | 3.5 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 8.75 | 722 | -19.6 |
| 8 | Hagen, Gina Sophia | 1522 | RSA | +20N | +11B | −4N | +7B | −2N | 3.0 | 14.5 | 16.5 | 8.50 | 1477 | -10.0 |
| 9 | Zulu, Thandoluhle | 1551 | RSA | +25N | +13B | −2N | −3B | +20N | 3.0 | 13.0 | 15.0 | 7.00 | 692 | -46.4 |
| 10 | FIDE 14371901 | 0 | — | +?B | −1N | +19B | −5N | +23B | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 4.00 | 690 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Swanepoel, Leja | 1468 | RSA | +19B | −8N | +26B | +24N | −5B | 3.0 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 5.50 | 722 | -14.8 |
| 12 | FIDE 534028765 | 0 | — | −3N | +21B | +22B | −15N | +24B | 3.0 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 6.00 | 642 | 0.0 |
| 13 | FIDE 534024280 | 0 | — | +?B | −9N | +?B | −6N | +19B | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.00 | 751 | 0.0 |
| 14 | Van Der Schyff, Charlize | 0 | RSA | +?N | −7B | +?N | −?B | +18N | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.00 | 693 | 0.0 |
| 15 | FIDE 14399784 | 0 | — | −2N | =?B | +?N | +12B | −7N | 2.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 3.00 | 729 | 0.0 |
| 16 | Van Dyk, Tayla | 0 | RSA | +?N | +?B | =7N | −4B | −?N | 2.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.75 | 1469 | 0.0 |
| 17 | FIDE 534028781 | 0 | — | =?N | +20B | −?N | +?B | −3N | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.00 | 655 | 0.0 |
| 18 | FIDE 534011951 | 0 | — | −4N | +?B | −6B | +26N | −14B | 2.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 1.50 | 623 | 0.0 |
| 19 | FIDE 534019995 | 0 | — | −11N | +?B | −10N | +25B | −13N | 2.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 2.00 | 628 | 0.0 |
| 20 | Molefe, Tshegofatso | 0 | RSA | −8B | −17N | +?B | +?N | −9B | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 737 | 0.0 |
| 21 | FIDE 534028749 | 0 | — | −1B | −12N | −?N | +?B | +?N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.00 | 690 | 0.0 |
| 22 | FIDE 534006060 | 0 | — | +?N | −4B | −12N | −?B | +?N | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.00 | 623 | 0.0 |
| 23 | FIDE 14394570 | 0 | — | −7N | −?B | +?N | +?B | −10N | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 717 | 0.0 |
| 24 | FIDE 534028730 | 0 | — | +?N | −?B | +?N | −11B | −12N | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 628 | 0.0 |
| 25 | FIDE 534028757 | 0 | — | −9B | −?N | +?B | −19N | +?B | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 751 | 0.0 |
| 26 | De Villiers, Lene | 0 | RSA | −?N | +?B | −11N | −18B | =?N | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 648 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Jacobs, LillithRSA+56.45.0 pts · #1
- 2Budhram, KayleeRSA+16.44.0 pts · #2
- 3ADAMS, CiaraRSA+9.24.0 pts · #5
- 1Zulu, ThandoluhleRSA-46.43.0 pts · #15
- 2Monamatha, DitebohoRSA-19.63.5 pts · #21
- 3Swanepoel, LejaRSA-14.83.0 pts · #24
- R4+109 Elo gap