CChessStats

Romania Individual Championship Education Through Chess 2026 - Open 15

Open SwissStandard

18 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 23 Feb 2026 to 01 Mar 2026 in Timisoara, Romania. Top 10 Elo average was 1662, and top seed was Zeno-Andrei Ponta-Facalet (🇷🇴 ROU, 1920).

George-Ciprian Cernencu (🇷🇴 ROU, 1903) won with 8.0/9, ahead of Stefan Aurelian Butuza (7.5) and Zeno-Andrei Ponta-Facalet (7.0). Cernencu took the lead from round 5.

The biggest upset came in round 2: Ruben-Daniel Balaceanu (1570) beat Stefan Aurelian Butuza (1913), a +343-point gap.

Location
🇷🇴Timisoara, Romania
Dates
23 Feb 2026 → 01 Mar 2026
Time control
Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 9 rounds
Top seed
🇷🇴Zeno-Andrei Ponta-Facalet1920
Avg top 10
1,662
Participants
18
Federations · 1 represented
🇷🇴Romania×17
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 9 rounds

George-Ciprian Cernencu led from R5; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders
9
5
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2.54.579R1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9Cernencu takes lead
Cernencu8Butuza7.5Ponta-Facalet7Balaceanu6Santimbrean5.5Darau5
R5 · LEADER CHANGE26 Feb

George-Ciprian Cernencu takes the sole lead (4.5/5).

R4 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

George-Ciprian Cernencu drew with Stefan Aurelian Butuza (Black).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

George-Ciprian Cernencu 3+3 wins (R1–R3, R5–R7)Stefan Aurelian Butuza 5 wins (R5–R9)Zeno-Andrei Ponta-Facalet 4+3 wins (R1–R4, R7–R9)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1George-Ciprian Cernencu*
½
1
1
2Stefan Aurelian Butuza
½
*
1
0
3Zeno-Andrei Ponta-Facalet
0
0
*
1
4Ruben-Daniel Balaceanu
0
1
0
*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Cernencu, George-Ciprian1903ROU+16B+7N+8B=2N+3N+4B+13B=5N+11N8.043.545.038.501991+30.4
2Butuza, Stefan Aurelian1913ROU+11N−4B+10N=1B+6N+3B+5N+13B+9N7.545.049.039.001923+17.6
3Ponta-Facalet, Zeno-Andrei1920ROU+9B+12N+5B+4N−1B−2N+8B+7N+10N7.045.049.534.001842-11.6
4Balaceanu, Ruben-Daniel1570ROU+18B+2N+13B−3B+5N−1N+7B+12N−6B6.046.046.526.501782+70.4
5Santimbrean, Bogdan-Iacob1842ROU+17N+6B−3N+15B−4B+7N−2B=1B+13N5.544.045.521.001670-50.4
6Darau, Yanis Andrei1497ROU+15B−5N=7B=12N−2B−9N+16B+18B+4N5.036.036.514.501500-6.8
7Toderescu-Matusz, Bogdan0ROU+10N−1B=6N+9B+8N−5B−4N−3B+17B4.545.046.517.5015650.0
8Dogar, Andrei0ROU+13B+9N−1N+11B−7B=12N−3N−10B+14B4.541.544.017.7516040.0
9Bacanu, Darius-Gabriel1453ROU−3N−8B+18N−7N+17B+6B=11N+14N−2B4.537.037.511.751570+14.0
10Birau, Cristian-Andrei1480ROU−7B+16N−2B−13N=12B+18B+15N+8N−3B4.535.536.010.751380-22.0
11Neag, Raul Ilie1421ROU−2B+18N+16B−8N−13B+14N=9B+17N−1B4.534.034.58.251343-16.8
12Buruian, Alexandru-Alin1483ROU+14N−3B−15N=6B=10N=8B+17N−4B+16N4.533.034.512.501414-17.6
13Beko, Andras1561ROU−8N+14B−4N+10B+11N+15B−1N−2N−5B4.043.045.013.501563-7.2
14Mera, Andrei G.0ROU−12B−13N=17B+16N−15N−11B+18N−9B−8N2.527.027.52.756800.0
15Lovaszi, Kailas-Gabriel0ROU−6NF+12B−5N+14B−13N−10BFF2.027.527.57.0013330.0
16Tomoiaga, Alexandru0ROU−1N−10B−11N−14B+18N=17B−6NF−12B1.532.533.01.257570.0
17Stoian, Darius Cristian0ROU−5BF=14N=18B−9N=16N−12B−11B−7N1.528.028.02.257500.0
18FIDE 422302680—−4N−11B−9B=17N−16B−10N−14B−6NF0.530.030.00.756840.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets