Women's Championship 2026
9 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 03 Jan 2026 to 17 Jan 2026 in Qormi, Malta. 5 titled players. Top 10 Elo average was 1692, and top seed was Oana Caruana Pulpan (🇲🇹 MLT, WFM, 1922).
Oana Caruana Pulpan (🇲🇹 MLT, WFM, 1922) won with 7.0/9, ahead of Filipina Thornton (6.0) and Milena Stagno (5.5). Caruana Pulpan shared the lead from round 5 and won solo starting round 7.
The biggest upset came in round 5: Yunlong Wang (1566) beat Elena Ghitza (1825), a +259-point gap.
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 9 · 9 roundsWFM Oana Caruana Pulpan led from R2 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight.
WCM Milena Stagno takes the sole lead (2.5/3).
WFM Oana Caruana Pulpan beat WFM Filipina Thornton (Black).
WFM Oana Caruana Pulpan 7 wins (R1–R9)WFM Filipina Thornton 6 wins (R3–R9)WCM Milena Stagno 3 wins (R6–R9)
Cross-table
| # | Player | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pts | SB | Bh | Δ Elo | Perf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇲🇹WFMCaruana Pulpan, Oana | 1922 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 7.0 | 27.00 | 28.0 | +31.2 | 2490 |
| 2 | 🇲🇹WFMThornton, Filipina | 1752 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.0 | 16.50 | 29.0 | +26.6 | 1879 |
| 3 | 🇲🇹WCMStagno, Milena | 1766 | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | 17.75 | 29.5 | +12.6 | 1825 |
| 4 | 🇲🇹Ghitza, Elena | 1825 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | 10.75 | 30.5 | -19.4 | 1720 |
| 5 | 🇲🇹Wang, Yunlong | 1566 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 11.50 | 31.0 | +56.0 | 1709 |
| 6 | 🇲🇹Miceli-Farrugia, Ella | 1577 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 5.00 | 32.0 | +5.8 | 1621 |
| 7 | 🇲🇹WFMFarrugia, Jamie | 1718 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | 7.25 | 32.5 | -35.6 | 1549 |
| 8 | 🇲🇹WCMPortelli, Martina | 1611 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1.5 | 2.25 | 33.5 | -34.0 | 1451 |
| 9 | 🇲🇹Thornton, Hayley | 1489 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1.0 | 4.00 | 34.0 | -30.4 | 1381 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Wang, YunlongMLT+56.04.0 pts · #5
- 2Caruana Pulpan, OanaWFMMLT+31.27.0 pts · #1
- 3Thornton, FilipinaWFMMLT+26.66.0 pts · #2
- 1Farrugia, JamieWFMMLT-35.62.5 pts · #7
- 2Portelli, MartinaWCMMLT-34.01.5 pts · #8
- 3Thornton, HayleyMLT-30.41.0 pts · #9
- R5+259 Elo gap
- R1+152 Elo gap
- R5+141 Elo gap