2026 Buffalo City Chess Trials 3 (U18)

Open SwissStandard

24 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held on 21 Feb 2026 in East London, South Africa. Top 10 Elo average was 1088, and top seed was Onako Bambela (🇿🇦 RSA, 1642).

Tatenda Mbewe (🇿🇦 RSA, 1603) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Onako Bambela (4.5) and Asiyolise Nyubatyha (4.0). Mbewe won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.

Location

🇿🇦East London, South Africa

Dates

21 Feb 2026

Time control

Standard: 50 minutes with 10 seconds increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇿🇦Onako Bambela1642

Avg top 10

1,088

Participants

Federations · 1 represented

🇿🇦South Africa×11

Top 3

🥇
Tatenda Mbewe
🇿🇦RSA·1603
4.5pts·1748perf+18.8
🥈
Onako Bambela
🇿🇦RSA·1642
4.5pts·1842perf+27.6
🥉
Asiyolise Nyubatyha
🇿🇦RSA·1616
4.0pts·1555perf-6.4

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Tight race until R5; 2 players tied at 4.5/5, decided on Buchholz.

Co-leaders

Bambela4.5Mbewe4.5Nyubatyha4Brown4Ngqiyana3.5Mjanyana3.5

R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 4.5/5. Mbewe takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (14.5).

R4 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Onako Bambela drew with Tatenda Mbewe (White).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

Onako Bambela 3 wins (R1–R3)Tatenda Mbewe 3 wins (R1–R3)Asiyolise Nyubatyha 4 wins (R1–R4)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Onako Bambela	*	½	1	—
2Tatenda Mbewe	½	*	—	1
3Asiyolise Nyubatyha	0	—	*	—
4Christopher Brown	—	0	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Mbewe, Tatenda	1603	RSA	+23B	+10N	+4B	=2N	+8B	4.5	14.5	14.5	12.25	1748	+18.8
2	Bambela, Onako	1642	RSA	+20N	+6B	+15N	=1B	+3N	4.5	14.0	15.0	12.75	1842	+27.6
3	Nyubatyha, Asiyolise	1616	RSA	+18B	+22N	+8B	+9N	−2B	4.0	12.0	12.5	8.00	1555	-6.4
4	Brown, Christopher	0	RSA	+?B	+?N	−1N	+15B	+11B	4.0	9.5	9.5	5.00	1546	0.0
5	Mjanyana, Kazimla	1608	RSA	+17N	−9B	+13N	=6B	+14N	3.5	11.5	13.5	8.75	2267	+14.0
6	FIDE 534021710	0	—	+?B	−2N	+?B	=5N	+19B	3.5	9.5	9.5	3.25	1420	0.0
7	Ngqiyana, Mbasa	0	RSA	+?B	−8N	=22B	+18N	+15B	3.5	7.0	7.0	3.75	1495	0.0
8	Mayo, Esinaye	1449	RSA	+14N	+7B	−3N	+12B	−1N	3.0	15.0	17.5	9.00	790	-26.4
9	Mazinyo, Lelam	0	RSA	+?B	+5N	+19B	−3B	−10N	3.0	12.0	12.0	5.00	1598	0.0
10	FIDE 534032410	0	—	F	−1B	+?N	+?N	+9B	3.0	11.0	11.0	3.00	764	0.0
11	FIDE 534021612	0	—	−12N	+24B	+?N	+13B	−4N	3.0	9.5	9.5	2.50	1487	0.0
12	FIDE 534021191	0	—	+11B	−?N	+21B	−8N	+16B	3.0	9.0	9.0	6.00	663	0.0
13	Ndumndum, Eyabo	1436	RSA	+16B	=19N	−5B	−11N	+18B	2.5	10.0	11.5	4.25	779	-14.0
14	FIDE 534045180	0	—	−8B	=18N	+?B	+22N	−5B	2.5	8.5	8.5	1.25	721	0.0
15	George, Alaina	1527	RSA	+24B	+21N	−2B	−4N	−7N	2.0	13.0	13.0	1.00	847	-13.6
16	FIDE 534045163	0	—	−13N	+20B	−?B	+?N	−12N	2.0	6.5	6.5	1.00	667	0.0
17	FIDE 534021345	0	—	−5B	−?N	+23B	−19N	+?B	2.0	5.0	5.0	0.00	779	0.0
18	FIDE 14382210	0	—	−3N	=14B	+20N	−7B	−13N	1.5	12.5	13.5	2.25	742	0.0
19	Hutu, Likho	0	RSA	F	=13B	−9N	+17B	−6N	1.5	11.0	11.0	3.25	1467	0.0
20	FIDE 534045961	0	—	−2B	−16N	−18B	−?N	+?B	1.0	8.0	8.0	0.00	847	0.0
21	FIDE 534042180	0	—	F	−15B	−12N	+?N	−?B	1.0	5.0	5.0	0.00	727	0.0
22	FIDE 534021299	0	—	F	−3B	=7N	−14B	F	0.5	10.0	10.0	1.75	816	0.0
23	FIDE 534045953	0	—	−1N	−?B	−17N	F	F	0.0	6.5	6.5	0.00	764	0.0
24	FIDE 534042202	0	—	−15N	−11N	F	−?B	F	0.0	5.5	5.5	0.00	727	0.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Bambela, OnakoRSA
+27.6
4.5 pts · #1
2Mbewe, TatendaRSA
+18.8
4.5 pts · #2
3Mjanyana, KazimlaRSA
+14.0
3.5 pts · #8

Top rating losers

1Mayo, EsinayeRSA
-26.4
3.0 pts · #12
2Ndumndum, EyaboRSA
-14.0
2.5 pts · #20
3George, AlainaRSA
-13.6
2.0 pts · #16