EC Open 2026 (U8-U14 Boys)
28 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 10 Apr 2026 to 12 Apr 2026 in East London, South Africa. Top 10 Elo average was 785, and top seed was Samuel DRISCOLL (🇿🇦 RSA, 1722).
Samuel DRISCOLL (🇿🇦 RSA, 1722) won with 6.0/7, ahead of Jaden CHIPUNZA (6.0) and Yifan Lin (6.0). DRISCOLL won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 5: Jaden CHIPUNZA (1547) beat Samuel DRISCOLL (1722), a +175-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 7 roundsTight race until R5; 3 players tied at 6.0/7, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 4 co-leaders at R4 to 3 at the finish.
Jaden CHIPUNZA held the sole lead from R5 through R7 without losing it.
3 players finish on 6.0/7. DRISCOLL takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (30.0).
Jaden CHIPUNZA beat Samuel DRISCOLL (White).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Jaden CHIPUNZA | * | 1 | — | — |
| 2Samuel DRISCOLL | 0 | * | — | 1 |
| 3Yifan Lin | — | — | * | 0 |
| 4Matthew Koutsouvelis | — | 0 | 1 | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DRISCOLL, Samuel | 1722 | RSA | +22N | +10B | +13N | +17B | −2N | +5B | +7N | 6.0 | 30.0 | 34.0 | 28.00 | 1594 | -13.6 |
| 2 | CHIPUNZA, Jaden | 1547 | RSA | +25B | +23N | +12B | +8N | +1B | +6N | −4B | 6.0 | 30.0 | 33.0 | 27.50 | 1680 | +20.8 |
| 3 | Lin, Yifan | 0 | RSA | +?N | +?B | +?N | −5B | +15N | +13B | +?N | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 8.50 | 841 | 0.0 |
| 4 | Masoeu, Senogo | 1488 | RSA | +28N | +18B | +9N | +7B | =5N | +11B | −2N | 5.5 | 30.5 | 32.5 | 23.75 | 1401 | -8.8 |
| 5 | Koutsouvelis, Matthew | 1640 | RSA | +26B | +21N | +20B | +3N | =4B | −1N | +24N | 5.5 | 29.0 | 32.0 | 23.25 | 1413 | -23.6 |
| 6 | Ndwandwa, Longezo | 1453 | RSA | +27B | F | +19N | +15B | +14N | −2B | +16N | 5.0 | 26.5 | 29.5 | 19.50 | 746 | -14.8 |
| 7 | Hugo, Kian | 0 | RSA | +?B | +?N | +?B | −4N | +23B | +9N | −1B | 5.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 8.50 | 806 | 0.0 |
| 8 | Bownes, Fabian | 0 | RSA | +?N | +?B | +?N | −2B | +10N | −16B | +19N | 5.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 9.00 | 746 | 0.0 |
| 9 | FIDE 14376059 | 0 | — | +?B | +?N | −4B | +?N | +17B | −7B | +18N | 5.0 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 8.00 | 689 | 0.0 |
| 10 | Lin, Yihang | 0 | RSA | +?B | −1N | +?B | +25N | −8B | +?N | +20B | 5.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | 7.00 | 923 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Kapp, Michael | 0 | RSA | +?B | +?N | −15B | +?N | +19B | −4N | +21B | 5.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 8.00 | 689 | 0.0 |
| 12 | FIDE 14384213 | 0 | — | +?N | +?B | −2N | +?B | −?N | +?B | +?B | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 746 | 0.0 |
| 13 | Coetzee, Tristan | 0 | RSA | +?B | +?N | −1B | +?N | +?B | −3N | =23B | 4.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 1.75 | 923 | 0.0 |
| 14 | FIDE 534020217 | 0 | — | +?B | =24N | +?B | +?N | −6B | −?B | +?N | 4.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.75 | 653 | 0.0 |
| 15 | FIDE 14395142 | 0 | — | F | +?B | +11N | −6N | −3B | +?N | +17B | 4.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 9.00 | 653 | 0.0 |
| 16 | FIDE 534011641 | 0 | — | F | F | +?B | +?N | +20B | +8N | −6B | 4.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 9.00 | 653 | 0.0 |
| 17 | Mdaka, Vuyanathi | 0 | RSA | +?N | +?B | +24B | −1N | −9N | +?B | −15N | 4.0 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 3.50 | 923 | 0.0 |
| 18 | FIDE 14393280 | 0 | — | +?B | −4N | +?B | −?N | +28B | +26N | −9B | 4.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 5.00 | 689 | 0.0 |
| 19 | Weng, Junjie | 0 | RSA | +?B | +?N | −6B | +?N | −11N | +?B | −8B | 4.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 0.00 | 653 | 0.0 |
| 20 | FIDE 534009248 | 0 | — | +?N | +?B | −5N | +?B | −16N | +?B | −10N | 4.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 0.00 | 841 | 0.0 |
| 21 | Van Huyssteen, Nathan | 0 | RSA | +?N | −5B | +?N | −?B | +25N | +?B | −11N | 4.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 3.00 | 841 | 0.0 |
| 22 | FIDE 534011650 | 0 | — | −1B | +?N | =?B | =?N | +?B | −23N | +?B | 4.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 923 | 0.0 |
| 23 | FIDE 534003207 | 0 | — | F | −2B | +?N | +?B | −7N | +22B | =13N | 3.5 | 19.5 | 19.5 | 6.25 | 746 | 0.0 |
| 24 | FIDE 534031774 | 0 | — | F | =14B | −17N | +?N | +?B | +?N | −5B | 3.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 2.25 | 841 | 0.0 |
| 25 | FIDE 534021108 | 0 | — | −2N | +?B | +?N | −10B | −21B | +?N | −?B | 3.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 0.00 | 746 | 0.0 |
| 26 | FIDE 534019480 | 0 | — | −5N | +?B | −?N | +?B | +?N | −18B | −?N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 841 | 0.0 |
| 27 | FIDE 534020713 | 0 | — | −6N | F | +?B | +?N | −?B | +?N | −?B | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 653 | 0.0 |
| 28 | FIDE 534032509 | 0 | — | −4B | −?N | +?N | +?B | −18N | −?B | −?N | 2.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 689 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1CHIPUNZA, JadenRSA+20.86.0 pts · #1
- 2FIDE 143760590.05.0 pts · #20
- 3FIDE 143842130.05.0 pts · #9
- 1Koutsouvelis, MatthewRSA-23.65.5 pts · #3
- 2Ndwandwa, LongezoRSA-14.85.0 pts · #15
- 3DRISCOLL, SamuelRSA-13.66.0 pts · #2
- R5+175 Elo gap