2026 Chess Excellence Open Rounds 4-6
31 players participated in this 6-round tournament, held from 31 May 2026 to 28 Jun 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. 3 titled players from 2 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1826, and top seed was Kai Jie Soo (🇦🇺 AUS, FM, 2248).
Kai Jie Soo (🇦🇺 AUS, FM, 2248) won with 3.0/6, ahead of John Beckman (3.0) and Tony J Davis (2.5). Soo shared the lead from round 1, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 4: Geoff L Cook (1593) beat Aden Buhagiar (1787), a +194-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 6 roundsTight race until R6; 2 players tied at 3.0/6, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 12 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.
2 players finish on 3.0/6. Soo takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (4.0).
FM Kai Jie Soo 3 wins (R4–R6)John Beckman 3 wins (R4–R6)
CM Tony J Davis was #13 at R4, climbed to #3 over the final stretch.
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1FMKai Jie Soo | * | — | — | 1 |
| 2John Beckman | — | * | — | — |
| 3CMTony J Davis | — | — | * | — |
| 4Daniel Solomontchik | 0 | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soo, Kai JieFM | 2248 | AUS | F | F | F | +23N | +5B | +4N | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.00 | 2675 | +5.8 |
| 2 | Beckman, John | 1514 | AUS | F | F | F | +15B | +13N | +6N | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.00 | 2277 | +26.8 |
| 3 | Davis, Tony JCM | 1799 | AUS | F | F | F | =8B | +14N | +21B | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.25 | 1907 | +6.8 |
| 4 | O`brien, Ned | 1666 | AUS | F | F | F | +24B | +7N | −1B | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.00 | 1800 | +9.6 |
| 5 | Solomontchik, Daniel | 1930 | AUS | F | F | F | +27B | −1N | +8B | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.50 | 1988 | +9.2 |
| 6 | Akok, Benjamin | 1531 | AUS | F | F | F | +16B | +24N | −2B | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.00 | 1503 | -1.6 |
| 7 | Fan, Licheng | 1533 | AUS | F | F | F | +25N | −4B | +11N | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.50 | 1556 | +1.2 |
| 8 | Milic, James | 1627 | AUS | F | F | F | =3N | +23B | −5N | 1.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.25 | 1828 | +15.2 |
| 9 | Cook, Geoff L | 1593 | AUS | F | F | F | +28B | =10N | F | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.75 | 1910 | +16.4 |
| 10 | Bambridge, Greg | 1646 | AUS | F | F | F | +17N | =9B | F | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.75 | 1829 | +9.4 |
| 11 | Zuo, Sarah | 1445 | AUS | F | F | F | +26B | =22N | −7B | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.25 | 1470 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Savige, Colin B | 1775 | AUS | F | F | F | =21N | +30B | F | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.25 | 1778 | +0.2 |
| 13 | Bongrain, Herve | 1472 | AUS | F | F | F | −18B | −2B | +16N | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.00 | 1503 | +3.6 |
| 14 | Qi, Jaden | 1625 | AUS | F | F | F | +22N | −3B | F | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.50 | 999 | -10.8 |
| 15 | Zhang, Nathan | 1428 | AUS | F | F | F | −2N | +26N | F | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 1461 | +3.6 |
| 16 | Finlay, Ross | 1491 | AUS | F | F | F | −6N | +25B | −13B | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 702 | -38.8 |
| 17 | Xia, Bella | 1678 | AUS | F | F | F | −10B | +18N | F | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.00 | 846 | -21.6 |
| 18 | FIDE 3299694 | 0 | — | F | F | F | +13N | −17B | F | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.00 | 1575 | 0.0 |
| 19 | Zhou, Teng | 1597 | AUS | F | F | F | +29B | F | F | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2371 | +18.4 |
| 20 | Thurner, AnyaWFM | 1905 | NZL | F | F | F | F | +31B | F | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2405 | +6.0 |
| 21 | Rehill, Paul | 1651 | AUS | F | F | F | =12B | F | −3N | 0.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.75 | 1594 | -2.6 |
| 22 | Rajan, Viaan | 0 | AUS | F | F | F | −14B | =11B | F | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.75 | 1342 | 0.0 |
| 23 | Fan, Aiden | 1754 | AUS | F | F | F | −1B | −8N | F | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.00 | 1091 | -30.0 |
| 24 | Chen, Wenzhi | 0 | AUS | F | F | F | −4N | −6B | F | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 799 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Efron, Luca | 0 | AUS | F | F | F | −7B | −16N | F | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 712 | 0.0 |
| 26 | Pabla, Arya | 1407 | AUS | F | F | F | −11N | −15B | F | 0.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.00 | 637 | 0.0 |
| 27 | Zhou, Emma | 1713 | AUS | F | F | F | −5N | F | F | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 1130 | -8.8 |
| 28 | Buhagiar, Aden | 1787 | AUS | F | F | F | −9N | F | F | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 793 | -15.0 |
| 29 | Macmillan, Jonathan | 1571 | AUS | F | F | F | −19N | F | F | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 797 | -9.2 |
| 30 | Fais, Ariana | 1518 | AUS | F | F | F | F | −12N | F | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 975 | -7.2 |
| 31 | Wang, Adelyn | 1605 | AUS | F | F | F | F | −20N | F | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.00 | 1105 | -6.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Beckman, JohnAUS+26.83.0 pts · #2
- 2Zhou, TengAUS+18.41.0 pts · #9
- 3Cook, Geoff LAUS+16.41.5 pts · #6
- 1Finlay, RossAUS-38.81.0 pts · #20
- 2Fan, AidenAUS-30.00.0 pts · #26
- 3Xia, BellaAUS-21.61.0 pts · #31
- R4+194 Elo gap
- R5+127 Elo gap