CChessStats

2026 New Zealand Junior and Age Group Chess Championships

Open SwissStandard

30 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 03 Jan 2026 to 09 Jan 2026 in Invercargill, New Zealand. 2 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1733, and top seed was Dion A Wilson (🇳🇿 NZL, 1966).

Richard Jingjie Liu (🇳🇿 NZL, 1924) won with 6.0/7, ahead of Ethan Harrison (5.5) and Dion A Wilson (5.5). Liu won solo starting round 4.

The biggest upset came in round 4: Sean Balbalin (1428) beat Misha Zernov (1668), a +240-point gap.

Location
🇳🇿Invercargill, New Zealand
Dates
03 Jan 2026 → 09 Jan 2026
Time control
Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 7 rounds
Top seed
🇳🇿Dion A Wilson1966
Avg top 10
1,733
Participants
30
Federations · 2 represented
🇳🇿New Zealand×23
🇺🇸United States of America×2
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 7 rounds

Richard Jingjie Liu led from R4; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders
14
7
2
1
1
1
1
23.55.57R1R2R3R4R5R6R7
Liu6Harrison5.5Wilson5.5Harrison5Tan4.5Wang4.5
R4–R7 · LEAD HELD

Richard Jingjie Liu held the sole lead from R4 through R7 without losing it.

R5 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Richard Jingjie Liu drew with Ethan Harrison (Black).

WIN STREAKS · 2 top finishers

Richard Jingjie Liu 4 wins (R1–R4)Dion A Wilson 3 wins (R1–R3)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1Richard Jingjie Liu*
½
1
½
2Ethan Harrison
½
*
½
½
3Dion A Wilson
0
½
*—
4Jesse Harrison
½
½
—*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5R6R7PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Liu, Richard Jingjie1924NZL+23B+7N+14B+3B=2N+9B=4N6.028.031.025.752116+38.4
2Harrison, Ethan1805USA+24N+9B=4N+10B=1B=3N+5B5.529.031.523.252039+48.4
3Wilson, Dion A1966NZL+16B+15N+10B−1N+5B=2B+9N5.527.531.022.251901-12.8
4Harrison, Jesse0USA+20B+17N=2B−5N+11B+6N=1B5.028.031.020.7518000.0
5Tan, Jin0NZL+22N+19B=6N+4B−3N+7B−2N4.528.031.017.7516780.0
6Tang, Tracy1647NZL=11B+16N=5B=7N+20B−4B+12N4.525.528.517.001687+4.4
7Wang, Ethan Zhirui1539NZL+26N−1B+22N=6B+19N−5N+14B4.524.527.014.251775+44.4
8Babaranda, Hasanli0NZL−12N+28B=19N=13B+15B=14N+17B4.521.523.013.7515650.0
9Hwang, Ryan1711NZL+27B−2N+11B+14N+12B−1N−3B4.028.530.513.501700-4.0
10Zhou, Martin1786NZL+13N+18B−3N−2N−16B+24B+20N4.025.027.513.001649-20.8
11Mackey, Adam0NZL=6N+24B−9N+18B−4N=13B+19N4.024.026.513.2516040.0
12Miriyala, Sreenikesh1458NZL+8B−14N+21B+15N−9N+16B−6B4.023.526.514.50893-22.8
13Liu, Chuyang0NZL−10B+29N−15B=8N+25B=11N+21B4.021.523.011.259840.0
14MacDonald, Caleb1724NZL+28N+12B−1N−9B+22N=8B−7N3.526.027.510.751462-53.2
15Coleman, Samantha0NZL+25N−3B+13N−12B−8N+26B=16N3.524.026.510.759030.0
16Gudoy, Paul0NZL−3N−6B+27N+28B+10N−12N=15B3.523.525.09.2515160.0
17Zernov, Misha1668NZL+21N−4B=25N−19B+26N+18B−8N3.521.524.010.251490-18.4
18Zhou, Adele1560NZL+29B−10N=20B−11N+21B−17N+25B3.520.021.58.50926-22.0
19Balbalin, Sean1428NZL+30B−5N=8B+17N−7B=20N−11B3.024.024.07.251608+18.4
20Babaranda, Okitha0NZL−4N+26B=18N+25B−6N=19B−10B3.022.525.08.2514090.0
21Zhou, Guangzhao (allison)0NZL−17B+27N−12N+24B−18N+22B−13N3.020.522.57.507530.0
22Pelayo, Rundell0NZL−5B+30N−7B+23N−14B−21N+27B3.020.520.55.008360.0
23FIDE 43310870—−1N−25B=26N−22B+27N+28N=24B3.018.520.06.0011230.0
24Ravi, Vrajesh0NZL−2B−11N+29B−21N+28B−10N=23N2.521.022.54.509950.0
25Manathunge, Ranuga0NZL−15B+23N=17B−20N−13N+30B−18N2.520.520.54.7514170.0
26Tang, Ava0NZL−7B−20N=23B+29N−17B−15N+30B2.519.019.03.008080.0
27FIDE 43335510—−9N−21B−16B+30N−23B+29N−22N2.018.018.01.509100.0
28FIDE 43335350—−14B−8N+30B−16N−24N−23B=29B1.518.518.50.759240.0
29FIDE 43322610—−18N−13B−24N−26B+30N−27B=28N1.516.016.00.757510.0
30FIDE 43311170—−19N−22B−28N−27B−29B−25N−26N0.014.516.00.006280.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets