2026 Chess Artists Club Championship Rounds 1-3
Open SwissStandard
25 players participated in this 3-round tournament, held from 01 Feb 2026 to 22 Feb 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. 4 titled players from 2 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1934, and top seed was Kai Jie Soo (🇦🇺 AUS, FM, 2276).
Bella Xia (🇦🇺 AUS, 1494) won with 2.5/3, ahead of Tony J Davis (2.5) and Colin B Savige (2.0). Xia won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 3: Bella Xia (1494) beat Daniel Solomontchik (2051), a +557-point gap.
Location
🇦🇺Melbourne, Australia
Dates
01 Feb 2026 → 22 Feb 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 3 rounds
Titled players · 4
IM×1
FM×1
CM×2
Federations · 2 represented
🇦🇺Australia×24
🇨🇦Canada×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 3 roundsTight race until R3; 2 players tied at 2.5/3, decided on Buchholz.
Co-leaders
8
2
2
R3 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER
2 players finish on 2.5/3. Xia takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (3.0).
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xia, Bella | 1494 | AUS | =3N | +17B | +14N | 2.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.00 | 1988 | +64.4 |
| 2 | Davis, Tony JCM | 1888 | AUS | +20N | +21B | =8N | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.75 | 1894 | +1.6 |
| 3 | Savige, Colin B | 1782 | AUS | =1B | +24N | =4B | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.25 | 1574 | -10.8 |
| 4 | Zhou, Emma | 1570 | AUS | =13N | +7B | =3N | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 3.75 | 1910 | +45.6 |
| 5 | Soo, Kai JieFM | 2276 | AUS | +10N | F | +6B | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.50 | 2705 | +3.2 |
| 6 | Kalisch, Tom | 1745 | AUS | +22N | +9B | −5N | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.50 | 2007 | +18.6 |
| 7 | Rehill, Paul | 1723 | AUS | +23B | −4N | +22B | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 1673 | -3.8 |
| 8 | Buhagiar, Aden | 1813 | AUS | +15N | F | =2B | 1.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 2.25 | 1921 | +6.8 |
| 9 | Hain, AnthonyCM | 2014 | AUS | +18B | −6N | =12B | 1.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 1.75 | 1658 | -23.4 |
| 10 | Milic, James | 1674 | AUS | −5B | +20N | =11B | 1.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.75 | 1878 | +15.2 |
| 11 | Rujevic, MirkoIM | 2068 | AUS | +16B | F | =10N | 1.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.75 | 1861 | -6.8 |
| 12 | Lopata, Felix | 1600 | AUS | −14B | +23N | =9N | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.75 | 1826 | +28.8 |
| 13 | Pitono, Abraham | 1830 | CAN | =4B | F | +21N | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.00 | 1725 | -4.0 |
| 14 | Solomontchik, Daniel | 2051 | AUS | +12N | F | −1B | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.50 | 1573 | -32.4 |
| 15 | Macmillan, Jonathan | 1562 | AUS | −8B | +16N | −19B | 1.0 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 1.00 | 1649 | +5.4 |
| 16 | Bambridge, Greg | 1649 | AUS | −11N | −15B | +20B | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.00 | 1604 | -6.2 |
| 17 | Efron, Luca | 0 | AUS | F | −1N | +24B | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.00 | 725 | -14.8 |
| 18 | Akok, Benjamin | 1575 | AUS | −9N | F | +25B | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 1683 | +4.4 |
| 19 | Harris, Anthony | 1870 | AUS | F | F | +15N | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.00 | 2362 | +2.8 |
| 20 | Beckman, John | 1575 | AUS | −2B | −10B | −16N | 0.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 925 | -18.8 |
| 21 | Zhou, Teng | 1416 | AUS | F | −2N | −13B | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 1014 | -6.4 |
| 22 | Finlay, Ross | 1486 | AUS | −6B | F | −7N | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 935 | -15.2 |
| 23 | Wang, Adelyn | 1478 | AUS | −7N | −12B | F | 0.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.00 | 862 | -26.4 |
| 24 | Zhao, Oscar | 0 | AUS | F | −3B | −17N | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 810 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Chen, Wenzhi | 1417 | AUS | F | F | −18N | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.00 | 759 | -12.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Xia, BellaAUS+64.42.5 pts · #2
- 2Zhou, EmmaAUS+45.62.0 pts · #6
- 3Lopata, FelixAUS+28.81.5 pts · #11
Top rating losers
- 1Solomontchik, DanielAUS-32.41.0 pts · #15
- 2Wang, AdelynAUS-26.40.0 pts · #23
- 3Hain, AnthonyCMAUS-23.41.5 pts · #9
Biggest upsets
- R3+557 Elo gap
- R2+269 Elo gap
- R2+153 Elo gap