CHESS ELEVATION SERIES 3 2026 (Level 4)
Open SwissStandard
8 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 20 Feb 2026 to 21 Feb 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. Top 10 Elo average was 368, and top seed was Waylon Preston (🇿🇦 RSA, 1521).
Rikis Smit (🇿🇦 RSA, 0) won with 4.5/5. Smit won solo starting round 4.
Location
🇿🇦Cape Town, South Africa
Dates
20 Feb 2026 → 21 Feb 2026
Time control
Standard: All Moves in 60 Min. Incr. 10 Sec. / /
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Federations · 1 represented
🇿🇦South Africa×5
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsRikis Smit led from R4; +1.5-point edge over the runner-up.
Co-leaders
4
2
2
1
1
R4–R5 · LEAD HELD
Rikis Smit never relinquished the lead after R4; final gap +1.5 over the runner-up.
R3 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
Rikis Smit drew with FIDE 14378990 (Black).
R1–R5 · UNBEATEN
Rikis Smit went unbeaten across 5 games (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Rikis Smit | * | ½ | 1 | 1 |
| 2FIDE 14378990 | ½ | * | 1 | 0 |
| 3Waylon Preston | 0 | 0 | * | 1 |
| 4Akilan Varadharajan | 0 | 1 | 0 | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smit, Rikis | 0 | RSA | +6N | +4B | =2N | +3B | +?B | 4.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 8.50 | 1541 | 0.0 |
| 2 | FIDE 14378990 | 0 | — | +3N | +?B | =1B | −4N | =5N | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 6.50 | 1491 | 0.0 |
| 3 | Preston, Waylon | 1521 | RSA | −2B | +5N | +4B | −1N | +8B | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 5.50 | 2221 | +14.4 |
| 4 | Varadharajan, Akilan | 0 | RSA | +8B | −1N | −3N | +2B | +6N | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 4.00 | 721 | 0.0 |
| 5 | Woolf, Jessika | 1421 | RSA | −7B | −3B | +8N | +6N | =2B | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.50 | 721 | -14.4 |
| 6 | Varadharajan, Elavarasan | 0 | RSA | −1B | +8N | −?N | −5B | −4B | 1.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.00 | 621 | 0.0 |
| 7 | FIDE 534042814 | 0 | — | +5N | F | F | F | F | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.50 | 1441 | 0.0 |
| 8 | FIDE 534028129 | 0 | — | −4N | −6B | −5B | −?N | −3N | 0.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 671 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Preston, WaylonRSA+14.43.0 pts · #2
- 2FIDE 143789900.03.0 pts · #1
- 3Smit, RikisRSA0.04.5 pts · #4
Top rating losers
- 1Woolf, JessikaRSA-14.42.5 pts · #5
- 2FIDE 143789900.03.0 pts · #1
- 3Smit, RikisRSA0.04.5 pts · #4