2026 Welsh Spring Open
Open SwissStandard
37 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 07 Mar 2026 to 08 Mar 2026 in Cardiff, Wales. 4 titled players from 4 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1985, and top seed was Ifan Rathbone-Jones (🇬🇧 WLS, CM, 2162).
James Tapp (🇬🇧 ENG, 2016) won with 5.0/5, ahead of Joshua McKenna (4.0) and Tim Kett (4.0). Tapp won solo starting round 4.
The biggest upset came in round 5: Lachlan Baly Hughes Tyrrell (1508) beat Wutong Chen (1815), a +307-point gap.
Location
🇬🇧Cardiff, Wales
Dates
07 Mar 2026 → 08 Mar 2026
Time control
Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Titled players · 4
FM×1
CM×3
Federations · 4 represented
🇬🇧Wales×28
🇬🇧England×5
🇭🇰Hong Kong China×1
🇨🇳China×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsJames Tapp led from R4; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up.
Co-leaders
15
5
2
1
1
R4–R5 · LEAD HELD
James Tapp never relinquished the lead after R4; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.
R1–R5 · WIN STREAK
James Tapp won 5 in a row (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1James Tapp | * | — | — | 1 |
| 2Joshua McKenna | — | * | — | 0 |
| 3FMTim Kett | — | — | * | ½ |
| 4CMAlex Bullen | 0 | 1 | ½ | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tapp, James | 2016 | ENG | +24N | +10B | +20N | +4B | +25N | 5.0 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 12.50 | 2715 | +38.6 |
| 2 | McKenna, Joshua | 1739 | WLS | +29N | +5B | −4N | +17B | +9N | 4.0 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 10.50 | 2106 | +45.4 |
| 3 | Kett, TimFM | 2117 | WLS | +37N | =8B | +9N | +15B | =4N | 4.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 8.75 | 2121 | +1.4 |
| 4 | Bullen, AlexCM | 2093 | WLS | +26B | +16N | +2B | −1N | =3B | 3.5 | 15.5 | 17.5 | 10.50 | 2034 | -3.6 |
| 5 | Fathallah, Joe | 1932 | WLS | +18B | −2N | +14B | +11N | =6B | 3.5 | 13.5 | 16.0 | 10.25 | 1869 | -5.6 |
| 6 | Hewitt, William | 1940 | WLS | +22N | =21B | =8N | +10B | =5N | 3.5 | 11.5 | 13.5 | 9.25 | 1929 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Tyrrell, Lachlan Baly Hughes | 1508 | HKG | =32N | +37B | −15N | +30B | +8N | 3.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 5.00 | 1886 | +74.0 |
| 8 | Chen, Wutong | 1815 | CHN | +36B | =3N | =6B | +12N | −7B | 3.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 7.25 | 1875 | +18.4 |
| 9 | Van Noorden, Nicolas | 1950 | WLS | +19B | +11N | −3B | +16N | −2B | 3.0 | 13.5 | 16.0 | 8.00 | 1906 | -8.8 |
| 10 | Turner, Joseph David | 1806 | WLS | +35B | −1N | +19B | −6N | +23B | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.5 | 5.00 | 1802 | -0.4 |
| 11 | Di-Vetta, Andrew | 1798 | WLS | +31N | −9B | +28N | −5B | +27N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 4.50 | 1805 | +1.0 |
| 12 | Jukes, Sam | 1905 | WLS | +23N | −20B | +24N | −8B | +21N | 3.0 | 9.0 | 11.0 | 6.00 | 1863 | -4.0 |
| 13 | Shevchenko, Danylo | 1687 | WLS | −20N | +23B | =17N | +32B | =15N | 3.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 5.50 | 1904 | +54.0 |
| 14 | Tompkins-Coll, Owen | 1812 | ENG | =33N | +32B | −5N | =27B | +22N | 3.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 4.25 | 1789 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Binks, Michael | 1853 | WLS | F | +27N | +7B | −3N | =13B | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 6.50 | 1771 | -5.8 |
| 16 | Davis, LeeCM | 1862 | WLS | +28N | −4B | +22N | −9B | =18N | 2.5 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 4.75 | 1772 | -10.6 |
| 17 | Kong, Emma Zihan | 1873 | WLS | −27B | +36N | =13B | −2N | +28B | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.5 | 3.50 | 1731 | -26.0 |
| 18 | Bartlett-Davis, Otto | 1618 | WLS | −5N | +29B | =30N | =21B | =16B | 2.5 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 4.50 | 1749 | +32.0 |
| 19 | Williams, John A | 1656 | WLS | −9N | +31B | −10N | =28B | +37N | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.25 | 1687 | +1.6 |
| 20 | Rathbone-Jones, IfanCM | 2162 | WLS | +13B | +12N | −1B | F | F | 2.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 6.00 | 2019 | -8.8 |
| 21 | Anandkumar, Govind | 1722 | WLS | +34B | =6N | −25B | =18N | −12B | 2.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 4.00 | 1636 | -18.0 |
| 22 | Richards, Gareth | 1625 | WLS | −6B | +34N | −16B | +26N | −14B | 2.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 3.00 | 1697 | +4.4 |
| 23 | Moore, John | 1596 | ENG | −12B | −13N | +34B | +24B | −10N | 2.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 3.00 | 1572 | -3.2 |
| 24 | Zheng, Lucas | 1661 | WLS | −1B | +35N | −12B | −23N | +33B | 2.0 | 11.0 | 11.5 | 1.50 | 1039 | -36.0 |
| 25 | Bani Hani, Madged | 1852 | WLS | F | +33B | +21N | F | −1B | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 3.00 | 1869 | +2.0 |
| 26 | Murthy, Arush | 1665 | WLS | −4N | −28B | +33N | −22B | +34N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 2.00 | 955 | -50.4 |
| 27 | Bowkett, George | 1595 | ENG | +17N | −15B | F | =14N | −11B | 1.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 4.00 | 1716 | 0.0 |
| 28 | Burton, Henry | 1577 | WLS | −16B | +26N | −11B | =19N | −17N | 1.5 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 3.25 | 1622 | +8.0 |
| 29 | Are, Jai Hrithvik Adithya | 1481 | WLS | −2B | −18N | +35B | =33N | −30N | 1.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 1.00 | 902 | -27.2 |
| 30 | McGrath, Ethan | 1747 | WLS | F | F | =18B | −7N | +29B | 1.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 2.75 | 1536 | -32.0 |
| 31 | Lewis, David | 1762 | WLS | −11B | −19N | +36B | F | =32N | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.00 | 1600 | -35.6 |
| 32 | Prabhu, Vismith | 1748 | WLS | =7B | −14N | F | −13N | =31B | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 2.50 | 1527 | -34.8 |
| 33 | Wu, Nathaniel | 1517 | ENG | =14B | −25N | −26B | =29B | −24N | 1.0 | 9.0 | 10.5 | 2.25 | 1343 | 0.0 |
| 34 | Srivastava, Angel | 1365 | WLS | −21N | −22B | −23N | +35N | −26B | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 0.50 | 852 | 0.0 |
| 35 | FIDE 1810502 | 1511 | — | −10N | −24B | −29N | −34B | =36N | 0.5 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 0.25 | 1301 | 0.0 |
| 36 | Daniel, Elijah | 1542 | WLS | −8N | −17B | −31N | F | =35B | 0.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.25 | 1016 | -20.4 |
| 37 | FIDE 1809156 | 1310 | — | −3B | −7N | F | F | −19B | 0.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.00 | 960 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Tyrrell, Lachlan Baly HughesHKG+74.03.5 pts · #12
- 2Shevchenko, DanyloWLS+54.03.0 pts · #6
- 3McKenna, JoshuaWLS+45.44.0 pts · #2
Top rating losers
- 1Murthy, ArushWLS-50.42.0 pts · #37
- 2Zheng, LucasWLS-36.02.0 pts · #35
- 3Lewis, DavidWLS-35.61.5 pts · #22
Biggest upsets
- R5+307 Elo gap
- R1+278 Elo gap
- R4+239 Elo gap