2026 Spring under 1850 Major

Open SwissStandard

24 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 07 Mar 2026 to 08 Mar 2026 in Cardiff, Wales. Top 10 Elo average was 1721, and top seed was Ian Hayes (🇬🇧 WLS, 1769).

Robert Muza (🇬🇧 WLS, 1658) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Peter Quinn (4.0) and Steve Jones (3.5). Muza won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 1: Ellis Tudor Jones (1511) beat Simon Blackmore (1716), a +205-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

Top seed

🇬🇧Ian Hayes1769

Avg top 10

1,721

Participants

Federations · 1 represented

🇬🇧Wales×22

Top 3

🥇
Robert Muza
🇬🇧WLS·1658
4.0pts·1825perf+26.8
🥈
Peter Quinn
🇬🇧WLS·1715
4.0pts·1882perf+17.6
🥉
Steve Jones
🇬🇧WLS·1752
3.5pts·2036perf+24.2

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Tight race until R4; 2 players tied at 4.0/5, decided on Buchholz.

Co-leaders

Quinn4Muza4Jones3.5Thomas3.5Hayes3Williams3

R4–R5 · LEAD HELD

Peter Quinn held the sole lead from R4 through R5 without losing it.

R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 4.0/5. Muza takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (9.5).

WIN STREAKS · 2 top finishers

Robert Muza 4 wins (R2–R5)Steve Jones 3 wins (R2–R4)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Peter Quinn	*	—	½	½
2Robert Muza	—	*	—	—
3Steve Jones	½	—	*	1
4Roy Thomas	½	—	0	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Muza, Robert	1658	WLS	−5B	+16N	+23N	+10B	+7B	4.0	9.5	9.5	6.50	1825	+26.8
2	Quinn, Peter	1715	WLS	+24N	+23B	=4N	+9B	=3B	4.0	9.5	9.5	6.00	1882	+17.6
3	Jones, Steve	1752	WLS	F	+11B	+6N	+4B	=2N	3.5	12.5	12.5	10.50	2036	+24.2
4	Thomas, Roy	1751	WLS	+20B	+8N	=2B	−3N	+11B	3.5	12.0	13.0	7.50	1711	-3.4
5	Hayes, Ian	1769	WLS	+1N	−6B	=14N	=8N	+12B	3.0	11.5	13.5	8.25	1738	-6.4
6	Hammett, Scott	1668	WLS	F	+5N	−3B	+15N	+13B	3.0	10.5	10.5	7.00	1760	+5.2
7	Williams, Stephen	1660	WLS	+13N	=18B	=10N	+12B	−1N	3.0	10.0	11.5	5.75	1701	+4.8
8	Jones, Ellis Tudor	1511	WLS	+12N	−4B	−11N	=5B	+21B	2.5	10.5	11.5	4.50	1700	0.0
9	Thomas, Kevin	1744	WLS	=14N	+21B	F	−2N	+10B	2.5	9.0	9.0	4.00	1723	-4.8
10	Hurn, Robert AJ	1671	WLS	=17B	+15N	=7B	−1N	−9N	2.0	11.5	13.0	4.25	1442	-23.8
11	Powell-Jones, Liam	1666	WLS	+16B	−3N	+8B	F	−4N	2.0	11.0	11.0	4.00	952	-15.2
12	Blackmore, Simon	1716	WLS	−8B	+17N	+19B	−7N	−5N	2.0	10.0	11.5	3.00	1639	-8.0
13	Dudley-Price, Josh	1368	WLS	−7B	+20N	+17B	F	−6N	2.0	9.0	10.0	2.50	1476	0.0
14	Stannard, Mike	1529	WLS	=9B	=22N	=5B	F	=16N	2.0	8.0	8.0	4.00	1712	+14.2
15	Zimmer, Luc	0	WLS	F	−10B	+21N	−6B	+19N	2.0	7.5	7.5	2.50	1647	0.0
16	Hoosein, Sami	1417	WLS	−11N	−1B	F	+20N	=14B	1.5	9.0	9.0	2.00	1344	0.0
17	Liu, Yimo	1476	WLS	=10N	−12B	−13N	F	+20B	1.5	7.0	7.0	2.00	1501	+2.0
18	Gibiec, Mateusz	1760	WLS	+19B	=7N	F	F	F	1.5	6.5	6.5	3.00	1849	+8.4
19	Richards, Benjamin James	1652	WLS	−18N	+24B	−12N	=22B	−15B	1.5	6.5	6.5	0.50	1565	-19.6
20	FIDE 1808125	1547	—	−4N	−13B	+24N	−16B	−17N	1.0	8.5	8.5	0.00	1454	0.0
21	Enoch, Stuart	1598	WLS	F	−9N	−15B	+24B	−8N	1.0	7.0	7.0	0.00	1627	+3.2
22	Reckless, Mark	1624	WLS	F	=14B	F	=19N	F	1.0	3.5	3.5	1.75	1590	-3.6
23	FIDE 1810685	1345	—	F	−2N	−1B	F	F	0.0	10.0	10.0	0.00	887	0.0
24	Thompson, Chris	1509	WLS	−2B	−19N	−20B	−21N	F	0.0	7.5	7.5	0.00	855	-37.2

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Muza, RobertWLS
+26.8
4.0 pts · #9
2Jones, SteveWLS
+24.2
3.5 pts · #1
3Quinn, PeterWLS
+17.6
4.0 pts · #2

Top rating losers

1Thompson, ChrisWLS
-37.2
0.0 pts · #23
2Hurn, Robert AJWLS
-23.8
2.0 pts · #14
3Richards, Benjamin JamesWLS
-19.6
1.5 pts · #11

Biggest upsets

R1+205 Elo gap
Jones, Ellis Tudor1511 beat Blackmore, Simon1716
R2+179 Elo gap
Dudley-Price, Josh1368 beat 1547
R4+130 Elo gap
Hoosein, Sami1417 beat 1547