2026 Sydney International Open - Challengers

Open SwissStandard

37 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 08 Apr 2026 to 12 Apr 2026 in Sydney, Australia. 5 titled players from 6 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1899, and top seed was George E Lester (🇦🇺 AUS, 1946).

Shing Hei Li (🇭🇰 HKG, 1897) won with 7.0/9, ahead of Hui Lam Teh (7.0) and Ray Jin Yap (6.5). Li won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 3: Jonathan Si Seng Ong (1645) beat Lorenzo Escalante (1834), a +189-point gap.

Location

🇦🇺Sydney, Australia

Dates

08 Apr 2026 → 12 Apr 2026

Time control

Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 9 rounds

Avg top 10

1,899

Participants

Titled players · 5

CM×3

WCM×2

Federations · 6 represented

🇦🇺Australia×28

🇳🇿New Zealand×4

🇲🇾Malaysia×2

🇳🇵Nepal×1

🇭🇰Hong Kong China×1

🇩🇪Germany×1

Top 3

🥇
Shing Hei Li
🇭🇰HKG·1897
7.0pts·2054perf+34.8
🥈
Hui Lam Teh
🇲🇾MAS·1912
7.0pts·2063perf+33.2
🥉
Ray Jin Yap
🇲🇾MAS·1845
6.5pts·2012perf+76.4

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 9 rounds

Tight race until R9; 2 players tied at 7.0/9, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 4 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.

Co-leaders

Li7Teh7Yap6.5Liu6Warne6Gong5.5

R9 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 7.0/9. Li takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (46.0).

R7 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Shing Hei Li lost to Hui Lam Teh (White).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

Shing Hei Li 3 wins (R4–R6)Hui Lam Teh 3 wins (R1–R3)Ray Jin Yap 5 wins (R3–R7)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Shing Hei Li	*	0	1	½
2Hui Lam Teh	1	*	½	½
3Ray Jin Yap	0	½	*	1
4Josh Liu	½	½	0	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Li, Shing Hei	1897	HKG	+27B	=11N	=4N	+13B	+5B	+6N	−2B	+15B	+3N	7.0	46.0	49.5	37.00	2054	+34.8
2	Teh, Hui Lam	1912	MAS	+12B	+8N	+32B	=6N	+11N	=4B	+1N	=3B	=7N	7.0	46.0	47.5	35.75	2063	+33.2
3	Yap, Ray Jin	1845	MAS	+19B	−32N	+12B	+10N	+7B	+15B	+4N	=2N	−1B	6.5	45.0	46.5	34.50	2012	+76.4
4	Liu, Josh	1815	AUS	+23B	+7N	=1B	+26N	+6B	=2N	−3B	=5N	=8B	6.0	47.0	50.5	31.25	1993	+86.0
5	Warne, Alexander	1776	AUS	−20N	+17N	+29B	+8B	−1N	+19B	=7N	=4B	+11N	6.0	41.5	44.5	27.75	1974	+96.0
6	Gong, Leo	1911	AUS	+18B	+25N	+9B	=2B	−4N	−1B	=11N	=12N	+14B	5.5	45.0	49.0	27.50	1919	+4.4
7	Horikawa, Masaki	1893	AUS	+34N	−4B	+16N	+28B	−3N	+11B	=5B	=8N	=2B	5.5	43.5	44.5	22.75	1894	+0.8
8	Lim, Jongmin	1841	AUS	+14B	−2B	=19N	−5N	+24B	+27N	+9B	=7B	=4N	5.5	43.0	46.5	25.75	1914	+18.2
9	Lee, Daniel	1920	AUS	+16N	+13B	−6N	−11B	=10N	+28B	−8N	+19B	+21N	5.5	39.0	42.0	23.25	1886	-7.0
10	Thuaux, Alexander	1841	AUS	=24N	+37B	=22N	−3B	=9B	=17N	+32N	=21B	+26N	5.5	33.5	34.0	16.50	1886	+20.5
11	Gao, Terry	1815	AUS	+30B	=1B	+20N	+9N	−2B	−7N	=6B	+22N	−5B	5.0	44.5	47.0	22.25	1900	+40.0
12	Goel, Vayum	1745	AUS	−2N	+34B	−3N	+30B	+13N	=21B	=20N	=6B	=18N	5.0	39.0	40.0	17.50	1854	+51.6
13	Malcolm, Aidan	1803	NZL	+31B	−9N	+27B	−1N	−12B	+23N	=26N	=16B	+20N	5.0	37.0	39.0	17.50	1868	+15.4
14	Liu, Haoqian (William)	1841	AUS	−8N	−16B	+31N	+37B	+36N	+26B	−15N	+20B	−6N	5.0	31.0	31.5	11.00	1858	+7.6
15	Kebbedies, Frank	1850	GER	=37N	=21B	+30N	+22B	+32B	−3N	+14B	−1N	F	5.0	31.0	31.0	15.25	1890	+8.2
16	Ha, Timothy Huy Minh	1776	NZL	−9B	+14N	−7B	−17N	+31B	=24N	+25B	=13N	=22B	4.5	37.5	39.5	17.50	1817	+9.8
17	Parsonage, Ian PCM	1920	AUS	−22N	−5B	+37N	+16B	=28N	=10B	=19N	−18B	+27N	4.5	35.0	35.5	14.75	1791	-31.2
18	Parker, Trent	1769	AUS	−6N	−23N	+33B	F	−25B	+37N	+34B	+17N	=12B	4.5	25.5	25.5	9.50	1865	+21.2
19	Guan, IsabellaWCM	1831	AUS	−3N	+31B	=8B	=20N	+23B	−5N	=17B	−9N	=29B	4.0	39.0	41.0	14.50	1793	-18.0
20	Chek, Adrian CarlCM	1906	AUS	+5B	=26N	−11B	=19B	=22N	+25N	=12B	−14N	−13B	4.0	38.0	41.5	18.25	1756	-36.0
21	Ong, Jonathan Si Seng	1645	AUS	=29B	=15N	+25B	=32N	=26B	=12N	F	=10N	−9B	4.0	33.0	33.0	15.75	1818	+71.2
22	Liu, JoyWCM	1741	AUS	+17B	=29N	=10B	−15N	=20B	+34N	F	−11B	=16N	4.0	32.5	32.5	14.00	1824	+35.2
23	Munkhbat, Anand	1936	AUS	−4N	+18B	−28N	+24B	−19N	−13B	+31N	−26B	+33B	4.0	32.0	33.0	11.50	1721	-99.6
24	Ramanathan, Ashwin	1744	AUS	=10B	+36N	−26B	−23N	−8N	=16B	=30N	=25B	+31N	4.0	31.5	32.5	11.25	1760	+6.0
25	Escalante, Lorenzo	1834	AUS	+33N	−6B	−21N	=27B	+18N	−20B	−16N	=24N	+35B	4.0	31.0	32.0	10.25	1723	-26.6
26	Chisholm, Tom R	1803	AUS	F	=20B	+24N	−4B	=21N	−14N	=13B	+23N	−10B	3.5	37.5	37.5	14.50	1773	-7.0
27	Wong, Benjamin	1779	AUS	−1N	+33B	−13N	=25N	+29B	−8B	=28N	=35N	−17B	3.5	33.0	34.0	8.00	1716	-15.8
28	Zara, Baraa	1790	NZL	F	F	+23B	−7N	=17B	−9N	=27B	=29N	=30N	3.0	28.5	28.5	10.75	1797	+1.2
29	Jin, Owen	1723	NZL	=21N	=22B	−5N	F	−27N	F	+33B	=28B	=19N	3.0	25.5	25.5	8.50	1696	-5.4
30	Xie, Leo	1756	AUS	−11N	F	−15B	−12N	=35B	−33N	=24B	+34N	=28B	2.5	25.0	25.0	5.00	1616	-52.5
31	Pavlidis, Alexi	1657	AUS	−13N	−19N	−14B	+35B	−16N	F	−23B	+33N	−24B	2.0	28.5	28.5	2.00	1593	-13.6
32	Cabilin, JeffCM	1823	AUS	F	+3B	−2N	=21B	−15N	F	−10B	F	F	1.5	29.0	29.0	8.50	1670	-20.2
33	Threlfall, Leo	1662	AUS	−25B	−27N	−18N	F	−34B	+30B	−29N	−31B	−23N	1.0	24.5	24.5	2.50	1455	-71.6
34	Pearce, Tim	1754	AUS	−7B	−12N	F	F	+33N	−22B	−18N	−30B	F	1.0	22.5	22.5	1.00	1489	-39.0
35	Huang, Andy	1699	AUS	F	F	−36B	−31N	=30N	F	F	=27B	−25N	1.0	14.5	14.5	3.00	1521	-43.2
36	Garner, Stephen J	1776	AUS	F	−24B	+35N	F	−14B	F	F	F	F	1.0	10.0	10.0	1.00	1636	-11.4
37	Gurung, Bibek	1812	NEP	=15B	−10N	−17B	−14N	F	−18B	F	F	F	0.5	24.5	24.5	2.50	1479	-35.6

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Warne, AlexanderAUS
+96.0
6.0 pts · #5
2Liu, JoshAUS
+86.0
6.0 pts · #4
3Yap, Ray JinMAS
+76.4
6.5 pts · #3

Top rating losers

1Munkhbat, AnandAUS
-99.6
4.0 pts · #23
2Threlfall, LeoAUS
-71.6
1.0 pts · #33
3Xie, LeoAUS
-52.5
2.5 pts · #30

Biggest upsets

R3+189 Elo gap
Ong, Jonathan Si Seng1645 beat Escalante, Lorenzo1834
R1+179 Elo gap
WCMLiu, Joy1741 beat CMParsonage, Ian P1920
R8+151 Elo gap
Parker, Trent1769 beat CMParsonage, Ian P1920