2026 New Zealand Chess Championships
Open SwissStandard
30 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 02 Jan 2026 to 10 Jan 2026 in Invercargill, New Zealand. 20 titled players from 5 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2196, and top seed was Daniel Howard Fernandez (🇬🇧 ENG, GM, 2527).
Daniel Howard Fernandez (🇬🇧 ENG, GM, 2527) won with 7.5/9, ahead of Jacek Stopa (7.5) and Felix Xie (7.5). Fernandez took the lead from round 5, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Hayden Steele (1853) beat Russell John Dive (IM, 2143), a +290-point gap.
Location
🇳🇿Invercargill, New Zealand
Dates
02 Jan 2026 → 10 Jan 2026
Time control
Standard: 90min/40moves+30min/end+30sec increment per move starting from move 1
System
Swiss · 9 rounds
Titled players · 20
GM×2
IM×3
FM×2
CM×8
WFM×2
WCM×3
Federations · 5 represented
🇳🇿New Zealand×26
🇺🇸United States of America×1
🇵🇱Poland×1
🇦🇺Australia×1
🇬🇧England×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 9 roundsTight race until R9; 3 players tied at 7.5/9, decided on Buchholz.
Co-leaders
10
5
2
1
1
1
1
1
3
R5 · LEADER CHANGE06 Jan
GM Daniel Howard Fernandez takes the sole lead (4.5/5).
R9 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER
3 players finish on 7.5/9. Fernandez takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (47.0).
R6 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
IM Felix Xie drew with GM Jacek Stopa (White).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1IMFelix Xie | * | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 2GMJacek Stopa | ½ | * | 0 | 1 |
| 3GMDaniel Howard Fernandez | ½ | 1 | * | ½ |
| 4CMWilliam Rui Liu | ½ | 0 | ½ | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernandez, Daniel HowardGM | 2527 | ENG | +9B | +16N | =3B | +7N | +2B | +12N | +6B | =4N | =10B | 7.5 | 47.0 | 51.0 | 41.75 | 2458 | -3.5 |
| 2 | Stopa, JacekGM | 2330 | POL | +25N | +11B | +4N | +5B | −1N | =3N | +9B | +13B | +6N | 7.5 | 46.5 | 49.0 | 37.75 | 2386 | +8.5 |
| 3 | Xie, FelixIM | 2379 | NZL | +24B | +10N | =1N | +19B | =4N | =2B | +5N | +8B | +9B | 7.5 | 46.0 | 49.5 | 39.00 | 2386 | +8.4 |
| 4 | Liu, William RuiCM | 2116 | NZL | +30B | +6N | −2B | +21N | =3B | =9N | =13N | =1B | +16N | 6.0 | 45.5 | 45.5 | 25.75 | 2216 | +39.6 |
| 5 | Wang, Justin ZhideCM | 1948 | NZL | +21B | +7N | +12B | −2N | =6B | +8N | −3B | −9N | +14B | 5.5 | 46.0 | 50.0 | 27.25 | 2098 | +59.8 |
| 6 | Steele, Hayden | 1853 | NZL | +13N | −4B | +27N | +18B | =5N | +11B | −1N | +16B | −2B | 5.5 | 44.0 | 46.0 | 22.25 | 2167 | +139.6 |
| 7 | Rains, EdwardCM | 2021 | NZL | +29N | −5B | +10N | −1B | −11B | =23N | +20B | +22B | +13N | 5.5 | 39.0 | 40.0 | 20.25 | 2075 | +11.8 |
| 8 | Salasan, HaranCM | 1989 | AUS | =23N | +14B | −13N | +25B | +17N | −5B | +12B | −3N | +18N | 5.5 | 38.5 | 41.0 | 21.75 | 2072 | +19.4 |
| 9 | Wilson, Dion A | 1966 | NZL | −1N | =28B | +20N | +23B | +13N | =4B | −2N | +5B | −3N | 5.0 | 46.0 | 47.5 | 21.25 | 2127 | +63.2 |
| 10 | Keith, Matthew | 1921 | NZL | +20N | −3B | −7B | −17N | =15B | +28N | +23B | +19N | =1N | 5.0 | 40.5 | 42.0 | 19.00 | 2034 | +43.6 |
| 11 | Yu, ZacharyCM | 2081 | NZL | +17B | −2N | −21B | +15B | +7N | −6N | =19B | =12N | +20B | 5.0 | 40.0 | 44.0 | 22.50 | 2020 | -12.4 |
| 12 | Ker, Anthony FIM | 2191 | NZL | =22N | +23B | −5N | +14B | +18N | −1B | −8N | =11B | +17N | 5.0 | 40.0 | 43.5 | 20.50 | 2036 | -15.9 |
| 13 | Dive, Russell JohnIM | 2143 | NZL | −6B | +30N | +8B | +16N | −9B | +21N | =4B | −2N | −7B | 4.5 | 43.0 | 43.0 | 16.50 | 1964 | -18.5 |
| 14 | Yu, Weiyang CadenceWCM | 1671 | NZL | =26B | −8N | +24B | −12N | +29B | +27N | −16N | +17B | −5N | 4.5 | 31.5 | 32.5 | 11.50 | 1937 | +114.0 |
| 15 | Thurner, AnyaWFM | 1841 | NZL | =18N | =27B | −16B | −11N | =10N | =25B | +26N | =24B | +23N | 4.5 | 29.5 | 31.5 | 14.00 | 1955 | +51.3 |
| 16 | Lee, Edward S | 1989 | NZL | +28N | −1B | +15N | −13B | F | +22N | +14B | −6N | −4B | 4.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 14.50 | 1968 | -5.4 |
| 17 | Feng, SophiaWCM | 1797 | NZL | −11N | =25B | +22N | +10B | −8B | =19N | +21B | −14N | −12B | 4.0 | 37.0 | 39.5 | 16.25 | 1915 | +48.8 |
| 18 | McNabb, Matthew David | 2040 | NZL | =15B | +26N | =19B | −6N | −12B | −20N | +25B | +21N | −8B | 4.0 | 35.0 | 37.0 | 12.75 | 1903 | -32.0 |
| 19 | Smith, Robert WFM | 2136 | NZL | F | +22B | =18N | −3N | =27B | =17B | =11N | −10B | +24N | 4.0 | 35.0 | 35.0 | 15.00 | 1998 | -27.4 |
| 20 | Gan, Emily CathayWCM | 1832 | NZL | −10B | =24N | −9B | +26N | =23N | +18B | −7N | +27B | −11N | 4.0 | 33.5 | 35.5 | 11.50 | 1920 | +42.8 |
| 21 | Sun, Nathan | 1796 | NZL | −5N | +29B | +11N | −4B | +25N | −13B | −17N | −18B | +26N | 4.0 | 33.5 | 34.5 | 10.50 | 1940 | +62.8 |
| 22 | Liu, Richard Jingjie | 1924 | NZL | =12B | −19N | −17B | +24N | +28N | −16B | +27B | −7N | =25N | 4.0 | 30.5 | 32.0 | 10.75 | 1924 | -0.8 |
| 23 | Braganza, NadiaWFM | 1844 | NZL | =8B | −12N | +26B | −9N | =20B | =7B | −10N | +29N | −15B | 3.5 | 36.5 | 37.5 | 10.50 | 1871 | +4.8 |
| 24 | Nicholls, LeightonCM | 1882 | NZL | −3N | =20B | −14N | −22B | =26B | +29N | +28B | =15N | −19B | 3.5 | 32.0 | 33.0 | 7.75 | 1842 | -12.6 |
| 25 | Van Meter, LesterFM | 1918 | USA | −2B | =17N | +28B | −8N | −21B | =15N | −18N | F | =22B | 2.5 | 35.0 | 35.0 | 7.75 | 1798 | -27.6 |
| 26 | Johnson, Quentin J.F. | 1959 | NZL | =14N | −18B | −23N | −20B | =24N | F | −15B | +28N | −21B | 2.0 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 5.50 | 1646 | -65.0 |
| 27 | Dowden, R.A. TonyCM | 1961 | NZL | F | =15N | −6B | +29B | =19N | −14B | −22N | −20N | F | 2.0 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 5.25 | 1713 | -46.4 |
| 28 | Forster, WilliamCM | 1812 | NZL | −16B | =9N | −25N | F | −22B | −10B | −24N | −26B | +29B | 1.5 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 3.50 | 1674 | -25.8 |
| 29 | Zhou, Ryan Yiheng | 1844 | NZL | −7B | −21N | +30B | −27N | −14N | −24B | F | −23B | −28N | 1.0 | 24.5 | 24.5 | 0.00 | 1054 | -136.0 |
| 30 | Gogate, Ashwin | 0 | NZL | −4N | −13B | −29N | F | F | F | F | F | F | 0.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 0.00 | 1234 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Steele, HaydenNZL+139.65.5 pts · #5
- 2Yu, Weiyang CadenceWCMNZL+114.04.5 pts · #14
- 3Wilson, Dion ANZL+63.25.0 pts · #9
Top rating losers
- 1Zhou, Ryan YihengNZL-136.01.0 pts · #30
- 2Johnson, Quentin J.F.NZL-65.02.0 pts · #27
- 3Dowden, R.A. TonyCMNZL-46.42.0 pts · #26
Biggest upsets
- R1+290 Elo gap
- R6+290 Elo gap
- R3+285 Elo gap