2026 University of Sydney Chess Club Major

Open SwissStandard

80 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 12 Jan 2026 to 15 Jan 2026 in Sydney, Australia. 1 titled players from 5 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1883, and top seed was Austin Chen (🇦🇺 AUS, CM, 1953).

Austin Chen (🇦🇺 AUS, CM, 1953) won with 6.5/7, ahead of Abigail Rowe (6.0) and James Bayliss (5.5). Chen took the lead from round 6.

The biggest upset came in round 1: Matthew Lin (1584) beat Ben Gordon (1900), a +316-point gap.

Location

🇦🇺Sydney, Australia

Dates

12 Jan 2026 → 15 Jan 2026

Time control

Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 7 rounds

Top seed

🇦🇺CMAustin Chen1953

Avg top 10

1,883

Participants

Titled players · 1

CM×1

Federations · 5 represented

🇦🇺Australia×74

🇳🇵Nepal×1

🇮🇩Indonesia×1

🇿🇦South Africa×1

🇳🇿New Zealand×1

Top 3

🥇
CMAustin Chen
🇦🇺AUS·1953
6.5pts·2141perf+38.0
🥈
Abigail Rowe
🇳🇿NZL·1732
6.0pts·2139perf+137.2
🥉
James Bayliss
🇦🇺AUS·1802
5.5pts·1919perf+18.2

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 7 rounds

CM Austin Chen led from R6; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 3 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R6.

Co-leaders

Chen6.5Rowe6Brown5.5Bayliss5.5Goel5.5Cantafio5.5

R6 · LEADER CHANGE14 Jan

CM Austin Chen takes the sole lead (5.5/6).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

CM Austin Chen 6 wins (R2–R7)Abigail Rowe 5 wins (R3–R7)Joshua Brown 4 wins (R4–R7)

R4 · LATE SURGE

Joshua Brown was #20 at R4, climbed to #3 over the final stretch.

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1CMAustin Chen	*	—	—	—
2Abigail Rowe	—	*	1	—
3Joshua Brown	—	0	*	—
4James Bayliss	—	—	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Chen, AustinCM	1953	AUS	=25B	+70N	+58B	+33N	+12N	+7B	+10N	6.5	24.5	26.5	24.50	2141	+38.0
2	Rowe, Abigail	1732	NZL	+5B	−13N	+44B	+65N	+23B	+9N	+8B	6.0	27.0	29.0	24.50	2139	+137.2
3	Bayliss, James	1802	AUS	+48B	+24N	+21B	−8N	+49B	=4N	+15B	5.5	26.0	29.0	21.25	1919	+18.2
4	Goel, Vayum	1780	AUS	+61N	+45B	+41N	−7B	+29N	=3B	+17N	5.5	25.0	27.5	19.75	1893	+30.0
5	Brown, Joshua	1870	AUS	−2N	+43B	=56N	+57B	+45N	+27B	+7N	5.5	23.5	26.0	18.75	1953	+13.6
6	Cantafio, Alexander	1882	AUS	=43N	+42B	+73N	−12B	+64N	+31B	+14N	5.5	21.0	22.5	16.50	2048	+26.4
7	Choi, Edwin	1926	AUS	+36B	+16N	+13B	+4N	+8B	−1N	−5B	5.0	31.5	35.0	23.00	1971	+18.0
8	Luchtmeijer, Anthonie Pieter	1935	AUS	+32N	+29B	+28N	+3B	−7N	+14B	−2N	5.0	29.0	33.0	22.00	1915	-1.6
9	Anup Kumar, Vihaan	1827	AUS	+60B	=11N	+20B	+23N	=14N	−2B	+26N	5.0	28.0	30.5	19.75	1886	+23.2
10	Welch, Ian	1780	AUS	+77B	=30N	=69B	+24N	+16B	+21N	−1B	5.0	25.0	26.0	16.50	1805	+4.8
11	Lin, Xianzhe	1733	AUS	+78N	=9B	−12N	+73B	=34N	+47B	+22B	5.0	21.5	22.0	13.25	1986	+65.2
12	Wu, Simon	0	AUS	+39B	=69N	+11B	+6N	−1B	−15N	+21B	4.5	29.0	31.0	19.00	1789	0.0
13	Wong, Benjamin	1747	AUS	+50N	+2B	−7N	−26B	+39N	+24B	=18N	4.5	27.0	30.0	18.75	1817	+13.8
14	Chen, Martin	1680	AUS	+44B	+15N	+65B	+22N	=9B	−8N	−6B	4.5	27.0	29.0	16.00	1922	+91.2
15	Cameron, William	1740	AUS	+66N	−14B	+67N	+41B	=26N	+12B	−3N	4.5	23.5	25.5	13.50	1675	-8.2
16	Simic, Filip	1717	AUS	+59N	−7B	+75N	+34B	−10N	=28B	+47N	4.5	23.0	24.5	12.50	1831	+19.0
17	Syed, Abdullah	0	AUS	=35N	−58B	+32N	+56B	+33B	+53N	−4B	4.5	22.0	24.5	14.75	1743	0.0
18	Fedrick Fernando Simarmata	1660	INA	−41N	+66B	−34N	+52B	+37N	+29B	=13B	4.5	21.5	23.5	14.75	1836	+54.8
19	Ou, Dominic	1806	AUS	=57N	−35B	+43N	−21N	+51B	+56B	+33N	4.5	19.5	22.0	13.25	1864	+17.2
20	Zhai, Lucas	1695	AUS	+71N	=73B	−9N	=42B	+55N	+41B	=36N	4.5	19.5	21.0	12.00	1696	+2.8
21	Gurung, Bibek	0	NEP	+56N	+27B	−3N	+19B	+28N	−10B	−12N	4.0	27.5	30.0	15.00	1804	0.0
22	Rowlison, Colin N	1792	AUS	+67N	+38B	+37N	−14B	=27N	=26B	−11N	4.0	24.5	26.5	13.00	1754	-6.0
23	Siva Sankaran, Anup Kumar	1864	AUS	=42N	+57B	+35N	−9B	−2N	+64B	=28N	4.0	24.0	26.0	11.50	1700	-25.2
24	Hemsley, Steven E	1620	AUS	+64N	−3B	+54N	−10B	+44B	−13N	+46B	4.0	24.0	26.0	11.00	1755	+21.4
25	Zhang, Oliver	1645	AUS	=1N	=53B	+47N	−29B	+38N	−33B	+45N	4.0	23.5	26.5	14.25	1829	+67.6
26	Warne, Alexander	1789	AUS	+46B	−65N	+68B	+13N	=15B	=22N	−9B	4.0	23.0	25.0	13.75	1750	-13.2
27	Yang, Corey	1777	AUS	+72B	−21N	+48B	+36N	=22B	−5N	=53B	4.0	23.0	25.0	12.00	1795	+8.4
28	Gui, Yiting	1760	AUS	+63B	+51N	−8B	+69N	−21B	=16N	=23B	4.0	23.0	25.0	11.75	1844	+13.6
29	Tay, Mason	1695	AUS	+76B	−8N	+77B	+25N	−4B	−18N	+42B	4.0	23.0	24.0	9.00	1684	-3.1
30	Yuan, Winson	1708	AUS	+34N	=10B	−33N	=38B	−31N	+66B	+50N	4.0	22.5	24.5	12.75	1798	+35.2
31	Gordon, Ben	1900	AUS	−37B	+72N	−36B	+77N	+30B	−6N	+55B	4.0	21.5	22.5	10.00	1684	-65.2
32	Pan, Jason	1704	AUS	−8B	−46N	−17B	+76N	+74B	+48N	+41B	4.0	20.0	21.0	8.50	1649	-6.2
33	He, Nathan	1804	AUS	=70B	+62N	+30B	−1B	−17N	+25N	−19B	3.5	26.0	28.0	11.50	1750	-14.8
34	To, Himson	1847	RSA	−30B	+63N	+18B	−16N	=11B	+60N	F	3.5	24.0	26.5	12.00	1718	-36.4
35	Pavlidis, Alexi	1641	AUS	=17B	+19N	−23B	+46N	−53B	−40N	+59B	3.5	22.5	25.0	12.25	1710	+10.2
36	Xia, ChengYi	1687	AUS	−7N	+71B	+31N	−27B	F	+49N	=20B	3.5	22.5	24.5	11.25	1799	+38.0
37	Lin, Matthew	1584	AUS	+31N	+47B	−22B	−49N	−18B	+54N	=38N	3.5	22.0	25.0	11.75	1779	+68.8
38	Ye, Austin	1789	AUS	+68B	−22N	=46B	=30N	−25B	+67N	=37B	3.5	20.5	22.5	9.25	1600	-61.6
39	Li, Austin	1692	AUS	−12N	−59B	+71N	+66B	−13B	=61N	+62B	3.5	18.5	20.5	7.75	1559	-33.6
40	Sheng, Ray	1759	AUS	−73N	=50B	=52N	+61B	=42N	+35B	F	3.5	18.5	20.0	10.50	1727	-6.0
41	Goldman, Benjamin	0	AUS	+18B	+49N	−4B	−15N	+69B	−20N	−32N	3.0	26.0	28.0	9.50	1653	0.0
42	Zhu, Alex	1604	AUS	=23B	−6N	+62B	=20N	=40B	=44N	−29N	3.0	24.5	27.0	10.00	1659	+11.6
43	Wang, Isaac (Yijun)	1661	AUS	=6B	−5N	−19B	=63N	+68B	=58N	=44B	3.0	23.5	25.5	8.75	1633	-7.9
44	Kabar, Basem	1807	AUS	−14N	+61B	−2N	+67B	−24N	=42B	=43N	3.0	23.0	25.0	7.50	1589	-81.2
45	Ding, Daniel (yulin)	1692	AUS	+79B	−4N	=64B	+60N	−5B	=46N	−25B	3.0	22.5	22.5	5.00	1558	-34.6
46	Wang, Iris	1635	AUS	−26N	+32B	=38N	−35B	+57N	=45B	−24N	3.0	22.0	24.5	9.75	1644	+3.2
47	Drogemuller, Mathew	1822	AUS	+74B	−37N	−25B	+68N	+48B	−11N	−16B	3.0	22.0	23.5	6.50	1493	-50.0
48	Williams, Elizabeth	1548	AUS	−3N	+78B	−27N	+54B	−47N	−32B	+68N	3.0	21.5	22.0	5.50	1594	+10.8
49	Doan, Peter	1729	AUS	+52N	−41B	+59N	+37B	−3N	−36B	F	3.0	21.0	21.0	9.00	1678	-5.4
50	Koike, Akito	1580	AUS	−13B	=40N	−60B	+62N	=58B	+69N	−30B	3.0	19.5	21.5	7.50	1554	-8.4
51	Wang, Caleb	1642	AUS	+54N	−28B	−53N	=75B	−19N	+52B	=64N	3.0	19.5	21.0	7.75	1623	-7.2
52	Xi, Cheng	1454	AUS	−49B	=60N	=40B	−18N	+63B	−51N	+67B	3.0	19.0	21.0	7.50	1595	+46.8
53	Shaw, Robin A	1694	AUS	F	=25N	+51B	F	+35N	−17B	=27N	3.0	19.0	19.0	10.50	1873	+18.4
54	Peers, Lachlan	1761	AUS	−51B	+74N	−24B	−48N	+73N	−37B	+66N	3.0	17.0	18.5	5.00	1444	-98.8
55	Xie, Leo	1561	AUS	−65B	−68N	+72B	+74N	−20B	+71N	−31N	3.0	16.5	18.0	5.50	1613	+9.2
56	Quek, Alex	1652	AUS	−21B	+76N	=5B	−17N	+59B	−19N	−61B	2.5	23.5	24.5	6.25	1607	-11.6
57	Dimitropoulos, Nick	1621	AUS	=19B	−23N	+70B	−5N	−46B	−62N	+71B	2.5	21.5	23.5	6.25	1647	+2.6
58	He, Angela	1642	AUS	=62B	+17N	−1N	−64B	=50N	=43B	F	2.5	21.5	23.0	8.75	1605	-4.2
59	Chen, Bryce	1523	AUS	−16B	+39N	−49B	=70N	−56N	+73B	−35N	2.5	19.0	20.5	6.00	1485	-4.4
60	Madan, Kyra	1608	AUS	−9N	=52B	+50N	−45B	+75N	−34B	F	2.5	19.0	19.0	6.00	1531	-21.6
61	Lin, Xianchen (Mason)	1589	AUS	−4B	−44N	+76B	−40N	F	=39B	+56N	2.5	19.0	19.0	5.25	1589	-2.8
62	Chow, Ethan	0	AUS	=58N	−33B	−42N	−50B	+78N	+57B	−39N	2.5	18.0	18.5	4.25	1527	0.0
63	Mahajan, Zariya	1536	AUS	−28N	−34B	=78N	=43B	−52N	=76B	+73N	2.5	16.0	16.5	3.75	1392	-37.6
64	Sridhar, Aditya	0	AUS	−24B	F	=45N	+58N	−6B	−23N	=51B	2.0	22.0	22.0	5.50	1600	0.0
65	Chen, Matthew	1758	AUS	+55N	+26B	−14N	−2B	F	F	F	2.0	21.0	21.0	7.00	1693	-14.0
66	Chen, Marlon	1529	AUS	−15B	−18N	+79B	−39N	+77B	−30N	−54B	2.0	20.5	20.5	1.00	1398	-36.4
67	Nisha Raj, Taran	1565	AUS	−22B	+79N	−15B	−44N	+72B	−38B	−52N	2.0	20.0	20.0	2.00	1395	-46.8
68	Abuelyamen, Aymen	0	AUS	−38N	+55B	−26N	−47B	−43N	+74N	−48B	2.0	19.5	21.0	4.50	1507	0.0
69	Yendluri, Rithvik Chowdary	1609	AUS	+80N	=12B	=10N	−28B	−41N	−50B	F	2.0	19.5	19.5	4.75	1434	-24.8
70	Wang, Jonathan	1637	AUS	=33N	−1B	−57N	=59B	−71N	=72B	=76N	2.0	19.0	20.0	4.50	1428	-65.6
71	Lakshman, Emmanuel	1421	AUS	−20B	−36N	−39B	+79N	+70B	−55B	−57N	2.0	19.0	19.0	2.00	1377	-10.6
72	Campos Wagner, Fulvio Alberto	1427	AUS	−27N	−31B	−55N	+78B	−67N	=70N	=74B	2.0	16.5	17.0	2.25	1458	+2.8
73	Chandler, Luke	0	AUS	+40B	=20N	−6B	−11N	−54B	−59N	−63B	1.5	24.0	26.5	5.75	1466	0.0
74	Balaji, Kishan Sai	1479	AUS	−47N	−54B	+80N	−55B	−32N	−68B	=72N	1.5	17.0	17.0	1.00	1292	-37.2
75	Hou, Kevin	0	AUS	F	F	−16B	=51N	−60B	+77N	F	1.5	13.5	13.5	2.50	1523	0.0
76	Zhu, Nicholas	0	AUS	−29N	−56B	−61N	−32B	F	=63N	=70B	1.0	17.5	17.5	2.25	1364	0.0
77	Ross, Bill	1479	AUS	−10N	+80B	−29N	−31B	−66N	−75B	F	1.0	16.5	16.5	0.00	918	-16.6
78	Moses, Nathan	1443	AUS	−11B	−48N	=63B	−72N	−62B	F	F	0.5	15.0	15.0	1.25	1240	-36.0
79	FIDE 573000132	0	—	−45N	−67B	−66N	−71B	F	F	F	0.0	10.0	10.0	0.00	754	0.0
80	FIDE 573000124	0	—	−69B	−77N	−74B	F	F	F	F	0.0	7.0	7.0	0.00	718	0.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Rowe, AbigailNZL
+137.2
6.0 pts · #1
2Chen, MartinAUS
+91.2
4.5 pts · #11
3Lin, MatthewAUS
+68.8
3.5 pts · #26

Top rating losers

1Peers, LachlanAUS
-98.8
3.0 pts · #56
2Kabar, BasemAUS
-81.2
3.0 pts · #30
3Wang, JonathanAUS
-65.6
2.0 pts · #68

Biggest upsets

R1+316 Elo gap
Lin, Matthew1584 beat Gordon, Ben1900
R2+238 Elo gap
Lin, Matthew1584 beat Drogemuller, Mathew1822
R5+216 Elo gap
Lakshman, Emmanuel1421 beat Wang, Jonathan1637