CChessStats

Belgian Youth Championships 2026 U20

Open SwissStandard

23 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 16 Feb 2026 to 22 Feb 2026 in Blankenberge, Belgium. 3 titled players from 2 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2068, and top seed was Amir Zouaghi (🇧🇪 BEL, FM, 2319).

Jacob Dreelinck (🇧🇪 BEL, FM, 2306) won with 7.5/9, ahead of Amir Zouaghi (7.5) and Jordan Vermoesen (6.5). Dreelinck shared the lead from round 4, winning on tie-break.

The biggest upset came in round 8: Len Festraerts (1710) beat Niel Dewever (1969), a +259-point gap.

Location
🇧🇪Blankenberge, Belgium
Dates
16 Feb 2026 → 22 Feb 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 9 rounds
Top seed
🇧🇪FMAmir Zouaghi2319
Avg top 10
2,068
Participants
23
Titled players · 3
FM×2
CM×1
Federations · 2 represented
🇧🇪Belgium×22
🇺🇦Ukraine×1
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 9 rounds

Tight race until R3; 2 players tied at 7.5/9, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.

Co-leaders
9
5
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
2.54.579R1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9Dreelinck takes lead
Zouaghi7.5Dreelinck7.5Vermoesen6.5Vanduyfhuys6Carion5.5Naumov5
R6 · LEADER CHANGE19 Feb

FM Jacob Dreelinck takes the sole lead (5.5/6).

R9 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 7.5/9. Dreelinck takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (44.0).

R4 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

FM Amir Zouaghi lost to FM Jacob Dreelinck (Black).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1FMAmir Zouaghi*
0
1
1
2FMJacob Dreelinck
1
*
½
1
3CMJordan Vermoesen
0
½
*
0
4Igor Vanduyfhuys
0
0
1
*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Dreelinck, JacobFM2306BEL+11N+5B=3N+2B+4N+10B+9B+6NF7.544.048.540.752492+23.4
2Zouaghi, AmirFM2319BEL+19B+9N+4B−1N+6B+3B=5N+8N+10B7.544.046.536.252308+2.8
3Vermoesen, JordanCM2186BEL+10B+8N=1B+6N+13B−2N+11B+5N−4B6.545.049.031.752187+6.2
4Vanduyfhuys, Igor2110BEL+16N+23B−2N+5B−1B−9N+7B+13N+3N6.044.545.025.502151+9.2
5Carion, Sebastien1970BEL+15B−1N+14B−4N+17B+13N=2B−3B+12N5.544.048.024.252055+20.8
6Musabayeva, Diana2021BEL+17B+22N=13B−3B−2N+12B+15N−1B=9N5.042.543.517.752028+1.8
7Naumov, Artur1910UKR=14B−13N+15B−8N+20B=11B−4N+16B+18N5.034.537.018.251847-13.8
8Vanhove, Robbie1883BEL+18N−3B=12N+7B−9N+16B+10N−2BF4.544.047.519.251944+11.2
9Dewever, Niel1969BEL+12N−2B+20B−13N+8B+4B−1N−10N=6B4.543.546.020.001969-0.6
10Festraerts, Len1710BEL−3N+18B+23N=11B+12N−1N−8B+9B−2N4.543.043.515.251874+27.2
11Van Hoey, Luca1786BEL−1B=17N+19B=10N+15B=7N−3N+14BF4.538.038.017.251911+23.0
12Roose, Hoara1715BEL−9B+19N=8B+14N−10B−6N+18B+15N−5B4.535.538.016.251821+23.2
13Demeulder, Eliott2007BEL=21N+7B=6N+9B−3N−5B=14N−4B=20N4.039.040.516.001870-28.8
14Noens, Yoran1625BEL=7N+21B−5N−12B=16N+19B=13B−11N=17B4.034.035.512.501794+36.6
15Andre, Robin1729BEL−5N+16B−7N+21B−11N+17N−6B−12B+23N4.034.034.510.001754+2.6
16Roymans, Liese1781BEL−4B−15N+18B+20N=14B−8N=17B−7N+19N4.033.536.012.501754-7.6
17Debunne, Lasse1775BEL−6N=11B=21N+23B−5N−15B=16N+19B=14N4.031.031.510.001726-12.2
18Drakidis, Basile1656BEL−8B−10N−16N=19B+23N+20B−12N+21N−7B3.529.029.55.751640-4.2
19Verelst, Thijs1826BEL−2N−12B−11N=18N+21B−14N+23B−17N−16B2.533.534.03.751540-119.2
20Eloy, Timothee1656BEL−22BF−9N−16B−7N−18N+21B+23N=13B2.524.024.04.001620-7.2
21Danneels, Jarno1767BEL=13B−14N=17B−15N−19N=23B−20N−18BF1.525.025.04.251444-106.0
22Roggen, William1862BEL+20N−6BFFFFFFF1.07.57.52.501839-1.0
23Ulrichs, Nils0BELF−4N−10B−17N−18B=21N−19N−20B−15B0.528.528.50.7513340.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets