Romania Individual Championship Education Through Chess 2026 - Open 9
28 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 23 Feb 2026 to 01 Mar 2026 in Timisoara, Romania. Top 10 Elo average was 1405, and top seed was Luca-Stefan Cioboata (🇷🇴 ROU, 1776).
Alexandru-Mihai Mujat (🇷🇴 ROU, 1719) won with 7.5/9, ahead of Ronaldo Balog (7.5) and Teodor-Nicolas Haimana (7.5). Mujat shared the lead from round 8, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 3: Levin-Filip Table (1502) beat Luca-Stefan Cioboata (1776), a +274-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 9 roundsTight race until R9; 3 players tied at 7.5/9, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 3 at the finish.
3 players finish on 7.5/9. Mujat takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (49.5).
Teodor-Nicolas Haimana drew with Alexandru-Mihai Mujat (White).
Teodor-Nicolas Haimana 4+3 wins (R1–R4, R7–R9)Alexandru-Mihai Mujat 4+3 wins (R1–R4, R7–R9)Ronaldo Balog 3+3 wins (R1–R3, R5–R7)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishersGrille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mujat, Alexandru-Mihai | 1719 | ROU | +28N | +12B | +4N | +2B | =3N | −5B | +8N | +6B | +7N | 7.5 | 49.5 | 50.5 | 40.75 | 1767 | +18.4 |
| 2 | Balog, Ronaldo | 1607 | ROU | +19N | +13B | +8N | −1N | +10B | +3B | +5N | =4B | +9N | 7.5 | 48.5 | 52.5 | 41.75 | 1773 | +48.3 |
| 3 | Haimana, Teodor-Nicolas | 1641 | ROU | +22B | +15N | +10B | +7N | =1B | −2N | +4N | +5B | +8N | 7.5 | 48.0 | 51.5 | 40.25 | 1779 | +43.6 |
| 4 | Bacos, David | 1503 | ROU | +18B | +21N | −1B | +20N | +11B | +7N | −3B | =2N | +10B | 6.5 | 46.5 | 50.5 | 31.75 | 1577 | +20.4 |
| 5 | Cioboata, Luca-Stefan | 1776 | ROU | +26B | +6N | −7B | +12N | +9B | +1N | −2B | −3N | +11B | 6.0 | 49.5 | 51.5 | 31.00 | 1555 | -58.9 |
| 6 | Ionescu, Ioan | 1428 | ROU | +14B | −5B | +9N | −11N | +23B | +19B | +15N | −1N | +16B | 6.0 | 42.0 | 45.0 | 26.50 | 1514 | +9.2 |
| 7 | Table, Levin-Filip | 1502 | ROU | +27N | +16B | +5N | −3B | +19N | −4B | =9N | +17B | −1B | 5.5 | 46.0 | 47.5 | 23.25 | 1462 | -13.6 |
| 8 | FIDE 42254167 | 0 | — | +20B | +26N | −2B | =15N | +21B | +10N | −1B | +11N | −3B | 5.5 | 45.0 | 47.0 | 22.25 | 1403 | 0.0 |
| 9 | Sirbu, Vlad | 1436 | ROU | +23B | +11N | −6B | +21N | −5N | +15B | =7B | +13N | −2B | 5.5 | 43.5 | 46.5 | 24.25 | 1255 | -32.0 |
| 10 | Beldiman, Matei-Ioan | 1433 | ROU | +24N | +25B | −3N | +13B | −2N | −8B | +19N | +12B | −4N | 5.0 | 44.0 | 47.0 | 20.00 | 782 | -34.8 |
| 11 | Palea, Andrei | 0 | ROU | +?N | −9B | +16N | +6B | −4N | +13B | +20N | −8B | −5N | 5.0 | 43.0 | 43.0 | 19.50 | 1340 | 0.0 |
| 12 | FIDE 42224110 | 0 | — | +?B | −1N | +23B | −5B | −15N | +21N | +22B | −10N | +17B | 5.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 15.00 | 835 | 0.0 |
| 13 | FIDE 42251044 | 0 | — | +?B | −2N | +14B | −10N | +?B | −11N | +18B | −9B | +20N | 5.0 | 36.5 | 36.5 | 13.50 | 688 | 0.0 |
| 14 | FIDE 42263794 | 0 | — | −6N | +28B | −13N | =16B | +24N | +23B | −17N | =20B | +19N | 5.0 | 34.0 | 35.0 | 15.25 | 628 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Gherman, Mihai | 0 | ROU | +?N | −3B | +?N | =8B | +12B | −9N | −6B | −16N | +22B | 4.5 | 37.5 | 37.5 | 11.25 | 700 | 0.0 |
| 16 | FIDE 42259517 | 0 | — | +17B | −7N | −11B | =14N | +27B | −18N | +?B | +15B | −6N | 4.5 | 36.5 | 36.5 | 13.00 | 666 | 0.0 |
| 17 | FIDE 42263840 | 0 | — | −16N | +27B | −19N | +?B | +18B | =20N | +14B | −7N | −12N | 4.5 | 34.0 | 34.0 | 13.00 | 704 | 0.0 |
| 18 | FIDE 42263751 | 0 | — | −4N | −?B | +?N | +?B | −17N | +16B | −13N | =22N | +23B | 4.5 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 9.25 | 699 | 0.0 |
| 19 | FIDE 42263743 | 0 | — | −2B | +?N | +17B | +22N | −7B | −6N | −10B | +21N | −14B | 4.0 | 41.0 | 41.0 | 12.00 | 691 | 0.0 |
| 20 | Panici, Mihailo | 0 | ROU | −8N | +24B | +25N | −4B | +?N | =17B | −11B | =14N | −13B | 4.0 | 37.5 | 37.5 | 10.75 | 699 | 0.0 |
| 21 | FIDE 42263859 | 0 | — | +?N | −4B | +?N | −9B | −8N | −12B | +24N | −19B | +?N | 4.0 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 3.00 | 667 | 0.0 |
| 22 | FIDE 42263735 | 0 | — | −3N | −?B | +?N | −19B | +25N | +?B | −12N | =18B | −15N | 3.5 | 28.5 | 28.5 | 5.25 | 838 | 0.0 |
| 23 | FIDE 42263778 | 0 | — | −9N | +?B | −12N | +25B | −6N | −14N | +?B | −?B | −18N | 3.0 | 29.0 | 29.0 | 3.00 | 632 | 0.0 |
| 24 | FIDE 42263786 | 0 | — | −10B | −20N | +26B | −?N | −14B | +28N | −21B | +?N | −?B | 3.0 | 21.0 | 21.0 | 3.00 | 622 | 0.0 |
| 25 | FIDE 42263824 | 0 | — | +?B | −10N | −20B | −23N | −22B | −26N | +28B | −?N | +27N | 3.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 2.50 | 622 | 0.0 |
| 26 | FIDE 42263719 | 0 | — | −5N | −8B | −24N | −?B | +?N | +25B | −?N | −?B | −?N | 2.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 3.00 | 969 | 0.0 |
| 27 | FIDE 42263760 | 0 | — | −7B | −17N | +?N | −?B | −16N | =?B | −?N | −28N | −25B | 1.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 0.00 | 704 | 0.0 |
| 28 | FIDE 42263727 | 0 | — | −1B | −14N | −?B | −?N | −?N | −24B | −25N | +27B | −?N | 1.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 1.50 | 914 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Balog, RonaldoROU+48.37.5 pts · #3
- 2Haimana, Teodor-NicolasROU+43.67.5 pts · #1
- 3Bacos, DavidROU+20.46.5 pts · #5
- 1Cioboata, Luca-StefanROU-58.96.0 pts · #4
- 2Beldiman, Matei-IoanROU-34.85.0 pts · #22
- 3Sirbu, VladROU-32.05.5 pts · #10
- R3+274 Elo gap
- R7+169 Elo gap
- R8+135 Elo gap