CChessStats

Winter 2026 Haifa-Nesher B

Open SwissStandard

18 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 11 Jan 2026 to 22 Feb 2026 in Nesher, Israel. Top 10 Elo average was 1374, and top seed was Alex Benzger (🇮🇱 ISR, 1679).

Alex Benzger (🇮🇱 ISR, 1679) won with 5.5/7, ahead of Ghazal Watad (5.5) and Ilay Ganoni (5.0). Benzger shared the lead from round 1, winning on tie-break.

The biggest upset came in round 1: Yonatan Akushsky (1409) beat Rebeka Frumin (1607), a +198-point gap.

Location
🇮🇱Nesher, Israel
Dates
11 Jan 2026 → 22 Feb 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 7 rounds
Top seed
🇮🇱Alex Benzger1679
Avg top 10
1,374
Participants
18
Federations · 1 represented
🇮🇱Israel×16
Top 3
  • 🥇
    Alex Benzger
    🇮🇱ISR·1679
    5.5pts·1529perf-23.2
  • 🥈
    Ghazal Watad
    🇮🇱ISR·1600
    5.5pts·1726perf+26.0
  • 🥉
    Ilay Ganoni
    🇮🇱ISR
    5.0pts·1535perf0.0

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 7 rounds

Tight race until R7; 2 players tied at 5.5/7, decided on Buchholz.

Co-leaders
8
2
1
1
1
1
2
23.55.57R1R2R3R4R5R6R7
Watad5.5Benzger5.5Ganoni5Politansky4.5Eakob4.5Lubelski4.5— ex-leaders:Benzgerled R3–R6, #9
R7 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 5.5/7. Benzger takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (28.0).

R4 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Ghazal Watad drew with Alex Benzger (Black).

WIN STREAKS · 2 top finishers

Alex Benzger 3 wins (R1–R3)Ilay Ganoni 3 wins (R2–R4)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1Ghazal Watad*
½
—
1
2Alex Benzger
½
*
1
0
3Ilay Ganoni—
0
*—
4Haim Politansky
0
1
—*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5R6R7PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Benzger, Alex1679ISR+4N+6B+7N=2B+3N+9B−5N5.528.031.524.251529-23.2
2Watad, Ghazal1600ISR+17N=14B+5N=1N+11B=7B+4N5.524.525.519.501726+26.0
3Ganoni, Ilay0ISR−9B+12N+15B+13N−1B+8B+7N5.023.526.017.0015350.0
4Eakob, Botros0ISR−1B+18N+16B+5N=7N+6B−2B4.526.526.513.5015590.0
5Politansky, Haim1564ISR+12B=8N−2B−4B+15N+13N+1B4.526.028.516.501634+7.4
6Lubelski, Denis0ISR+18B−1N=9B+11B+10N−4N+13B4.523.523.511.7516030.0
7Watted, Aya1423ISR+13B+9N−1B+8N=4B=2N−3B4.028.031.015.501563+20.8
8Akushsky, Yonatan1409ISR+10N=5B+14N−7B=9B−3N+16B4.023.025.512.501626+45.6
9Ghara, Kinan0ISR+3N−7B=6N+14B=8N−1N=10B3.526.529.013.5013370.0
10Frumin, Rebeka1607ISR−8B+15N−13B+16N−6B+14N=9N3.520.022.59.251470-7.2
11Bahous, Natali1461ISR=15B−13N+12B−6N−2N+17B+18B3.520.020.05.751533+7.2
12Avital, Itay1467ISR−5N−3B−11N+18B+17N=16N+15B3.519.019.04.751246-31.2
13Zarorah, Abdallah0ISR−7N+11B+10N−3B+14N−5B−6N3.025.027.59.5015150.0
14Timerman, Ron0ISR+16B=2N−8B−9N−13B−10B+17N2.522.023.06.2514490.0
15Gabrielly, Yaly0ISR=11N−10B−3N+17B−5B+18N−12N2.521.021.02.7512040.0
16Likhobabenko, Shay1529ISR−14N+17B−4N−10B+18N=12B−8N2.519.019.02.751222-45.6
17FIDE 28617710—−2B−16N+18B−15N−12B−11N−14B1.020.020.00.007150.0
18FIDE 28945050—−6N−4B−17N−12N−16B−15B−11N0.021.022.00.006870.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets
Winter 2026 Haifa-Nesher B — Nesher, Israel | Chess Tournament Results | ChessStats