CChessStats

Malta Senior Championship 2026

Open SwissStandard

13 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 03 Jan 2026 to 17 Jan 2026 in Qormi, Malta. 3 titled players. Top 10 Elo average was 1719, and top seed was Duncan Vella (🇲🇹 MLT, CM, 1926).

Conrad Thake (🇲🇹 MLT, CM, 1858) won with 5.5/7, ahead of Ian Refalo (5.0) and Mario Psaila (4.5). Thake shared the lead from round 4 and won solo starting round 6.

The biggest upset came in round 6: Ian Refalo (1680) beat Duncan Vella (CM, 1926), a +246-point gap.

Location
🇲🇹Qormi, Malta
Dates
03 Jan 2026 → 17 Jan 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 7 rounds
Top seed
🇲🇹CMDuncan Vella1926
Avg top 10
1,719
Participants
13
Titled players · 3
CM×3
Federations · 1 represented
🇲🇹Malta×13
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 7 rounds

CM Conrad Thake led from R6; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R6.

Co-leaders
5
2
2
2
2
1
1
23.55.57R1R2R3R4R5R6R7
Thake5.5Refalo5Psaila4.5Ibrahim3.5Vella3.5Sammut3
R6–R7 · LEAD HELD

CM Conrad Thake held the sole lead from R6 through R7 without losing it.

R3 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

CM Conrad Thake drew with Ian Refalo (Black).

R1–R7 · UNBEATEN

CM Conrad Thake went unbeaten across 7 games (R1–R7).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1CMConrad Thake*
½
½
—
2Ian Refalo
½
*
½
½
3Mario Psaila
½
½
*—
4Ayman Ibrahim—
½
—*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5R6R7PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Thake, ConradCM1858MLT=7N+12B=2N+4B=3N+10B+8N5.520.522.015.751886+5.4
2Refalo, Ian1680MLT+13B=5N=1B=3N=6B+4N+10N5.022.022.514.251883+32.2
3Psaila, Mario1796MLT+8B+10N=4N=2B=1BF+11B4.521.523.513.501889+12.8
4Vella, DuncanCM1926MLT+11B+6N=3B−1NF−2B+12N3.523.525.08.751790-18.4
5Ibrahim, Ayman1695MLT+9N=2B=7N=8BF+11NF3.518.518.59.751744+7.0
6Richards, John1830MLT+12N−4B=9N+7B=2NFF3.020.020.08.251721-11.4
7Sammut, RonCM1600MLT=1B=13N=5B−6N+9B=12NF3.016.516.58.001644+6.2
8McKellar, John1567MLT−3NF+10B=5N−11B+13N−1B2.518.018.04.251541-5.8
9Vella, Brian1487MLT−5B+11N=6B−10N−7NF+13B2.514.014.04.001645+44.0
10Busuttil Naudi, Stephen0MLTF−3B−8N+9B+13N−1N−2B2.020.520.53.0015110.0
11Gatt, Joseph1658MLT−4N−9BF+12B+8N−5B−3N2.018.018.04.001547-18.0
12Mamo, Albert1576MLT−6B−1N+13B−11NF=7B−4B1.517.517.52.001526-10.0
13Gauci, David1429MLT−2N=7B−12NF−10B−8B−9N0.516.516.51.501213-22.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets