Wellington Chess Club Championships 2026 B Grade Rounds 7-9
10 players participated in this 4-round tournament, held from 30 Oct 2025 to 20 Nov 2025 in Wellington, New Zealand. 2 titled players from 2 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1420, and top seed was Toleafoa Edward Tanoi (🇳🇿 NZL, 1884).
Leighton Nicholls (🇳🇿 NZL, CM, 1869) won with 3.5/4, ahead of Edgar Benitez (3.0) and Nenian Bakiyaraj (3.0). Nicholls broke clear in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 3: Lucas Qu (1620) beat Karthik Sethuramalingam (1775), a +155-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 10 · 4 roundsCM Leighton Nicholls led from R4 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight.
CM Leighton Nicholls held the sole lead from R4 through R4 without losing it.
CM Leighton Nicholls drew with Edgar Benitez (White).
Cross-table
| # | Player | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | SB | Bh | Δ Elo | Perf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 🇳🇿CMNicholls, Leighton | 1869 | * | ½ | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | 1 | 3.5 | 4.50 | 6.0 | +11.2 | 2028 |
| 1 | 🇳🇿Benitez, Edgar | 1820 | ½ | * | — | — | ½ | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | 3.0 | 5.50 | 8.5 | +17.4 | 1983 |
| 2 | 🇳🇿Bakiyaraj, Nenian | 0 | — | — | * | ½ | — | ½ | — | 1 | 1 | — | 3.0 | 3.75 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 1738 |
| 8 | 🇳🇿Sethuramalingam, Karthik | 1775 | — | — | ½ | * | 1 | — | — | 0 | — | 1 | 2.5 | 4.00 | 6.5 | -5.2 | 1727 |
| 5 | 🇳🇿CMForster, William | 1834 | — | ½ | — | 0 | * | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 2.5 | 2.50 | 6.5 | -7.4 | 1738 |
| 4 | 🇳🇿Jackson, L. Ross | 1824 | 0 | — | ½ | — | — | * | 1 | — | ½ | — | 2.0 | 3.75 | 9.0 | -3.4 | 1776 |
| 7 | 🇳🇿Tanoi, Toleafoa Edward | 1884 | — | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | * | — | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 0.50 | 5.5 | -20.6 | 1614 |
| 6 | 🇳🇿Qu, Lucas | 1620 | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | * | — | — | 1.0 | 2.50 | 11.5 | +11.6 | 1701 |
| 9 | 🇮🇳Aadhav Dhamodharan | 1574 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | ½ | 0 | — | * | — | 0.5 | 1.00 | 10.0 | -0.8 | 1570 |
| 10 | 🇳🇿Panth, Kishore | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — | * | 0.0 | 0.00 | 10.5 | -17.2 | 1040 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Benitez, EdgarNZL+17.43.0 pts · #1
- 2Qu, LucasNZL+11.61.0 pts · #6
- 3Nicholls, LeightonCMNZL+11.23.5 pts · #3
- 1Tanoi, Toleafoa EdwardNZL-20.62.0 pts · #7
- 2Panth, KishoreNZL-17.20.0 pts · #10
- 3Forster, WilliamCMNZL-7.42.5 pts · #5
- R3+155 Elo gap