CChessStats

2025-26 IOMCA Manx Candidates Round 5 - 7

Round-RobinStandard

8 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 03 Mar 2026 to 24 Mar 2026 in Douglas, Isle of Man. Top 10 Elo average was 1683, and top seed was John Costello (🇮🇲 IOM, 1801).

Sandor Talas (🇮🇲 IOM, 1778) won with 2.5/7, ahead of Kyle Cross (2.0) and Paul Smith (2.0). Talas shared the lead from round 6 and broke clear in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 5: David Dunkley (1413) beat Antony Jackson (1647), a +234-point gap.

Location
🇮🇲Douglas, Isle of Man
Dates
03 Mar 2026 → 24 Mar 2026
Time control
Standard: 75 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Round-robin · 7 rounds
Top seed
🇮🇲John Costello1801
Avg top 10
1,683
Participants
8
Federations · 1 represented
🇮🇲Unknown (IOM)×8
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 8 · 7 rounds

Sandor Talas led from R7 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight. Title race converged from 8 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R7.

Co-leaders
8
8
8
8
2
3
1
#1#2#4#8R1R2R3R4R5R6R7
Talas#1Cross#2Smith#3Watkinson#4Quayle#5Costello#6Dunkley#7Jackson#8
R7–R7 · LEAD HELD

Sandor Talas held the sole lead from R7 through R7 without losing it.

R5 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Sandor Talas drew with Kyle Cross (White).

Cross-table

#PlayerElo12345678PtsSBBhΔ EloPerf
1🇮🇲Talas, Sandor1778*½—1—1——2.54.005.0+14.61984
2🇮🇲Cross, Kyle1723½*1—½———2.04.006.0+25.61881
3🇮🇲Smith, Paul1790—0*—1—1—2.02.504.5-2.41737
4🇮🇲Watkinson, Colin16070——*—½1—1.51.755.0+4.41664
5🇮🇲Quayle, Harry1701—½0—*——11.51.004.0+2.81720
6🇮🇲Costello, John18010——½—*—11.50.754.0-9.81678
7🇮🇲Dunkley, David1413——00——*11.00.003.5+18.01557
8🇮🇲Jackson, Antony1647————000*0.00.004.0-30.0838

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets