Cluj Chess Marathon - 13th ed.
Open SwissStandard
16 players participated in this 7-round tournament, held from 24 Apr 2026 to 26 Apr 2026 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 2 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1664, and top seed was Jayden Breider (🇳🇱 NED, 1766).
Eduard Hale (🇷🇴 ROU, 1746) won with 6.0/7, ahead of Emanuel Pau (5.5) and Elisa-Andreea Dumitrache (4.5). Hale won solo starting round 2.
The biggest upset came in round 7: Ioan-Andrei Jurjiu (1448) beat Iulian Pacurar (1676), a +228-point gap.
Location
🇷🇴Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dates
24 Apr 2026 → 26 Apr 2026
Time control
Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 7 rounds
Federations · 2 represented
🇷🇴Romania×14
🇳🇱Netherlands×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 7 roundsEduard Hale led from R2; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.
Co-leaders
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
R2–R7 · LEAD HELD
Eduard Hale held the sole lead from R2 through R7 without losing it.
R4 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
Eduard Hale beat Emanuel Pau (White).
WIN STREAKS · 2 top finishers
Eduard Hale 4 wins (R1–R4)Emanuel Pau 3 wins (R5–R7)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishersGrille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale, Eduard | 1746 | ROU | +5N | +12B | +10N | +2B | =6N | +9B | =4N | 6.0 | 22.0 | 24.0 | 20.25 | 1951 | +61.6 |
| 2 | Pau, Emanuel | 1687 | ROU | =3B | +8N | +4B | −1N | +5N | +6B | +7N | 5.5 | 25.0 | 28.0 | 19.75 | 1840 | +26.2 |
| 3 | Dumitrache, Elisa-Andreea | 1610 | ROU | =2N | +11B | +9N | −6B | =4N | =5B | +8N | 4.5 | 22.5 | 25.0 | 15.00 | 1731 | +48.0 |
| 4 | Paraschiv, Andrei-Cristian | 1604 | ROU | F | +16B | −2N | +7N | =3B | +11N | =1B | 4.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | 11.25 | 1653 | +7.0 |
| 5 | Tamas, Alexandru-Marius | 1626 | ROU | −1B | +7N | +15B | +10N | −2B | =3N | −6N | 3.5 | 25.5 | 26.5 | 9.25 | 1633 | +1.6 |
| 6 | Donici-Maier, Luca | 1643 | ROU | F | F | +8B | +3N | =1B | −2N | +5B | 3.5 | 22.5 | 22.5 | 14.00 | 1809 | +44.4 |
| 7 | Sandea, Dorin-Gheorghe | 1413 | ROU | =10N | −5B | +12N | −4B | +16N | +14N | −2B | 3.5 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 4.75 | 1468 | +5.8 |
| 8 | Stanescu, Gabriel | 1630 | ROU | +14N | −2B | −6N | +12B | −9N | +15B | −3B | 3.0 | 20.0 | 21.0 | 4.50 | 1525 | -34.0 |
| 9 | Breider, Jayden | 1766 | NED | F | F | −3B | +14N | +8B | −1N | +10B | 3.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 7.00 | 1660 | -22.8 |
| 10 | Sarac, Ionut-Andrei | 1654 | ROU | =7B | +13N | −1B | −5B | F | +12N | −9N | 2.5 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 5.75 | 1530 | -40.4 |
| 11 | Jurjiu, Ioan-Andrei | 1448 | ROU | F | −3N | =14B | F | +13N | −4B | +15N | 2.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 3.75 | 1587 | +28.8 |
| 12 | Dumitrache, Dragos-Alexandru | 1515 | ROU | +15B | −1N | −7B | −8N | +14B | −10B | −13N | 2.0 | 18.5 | 19.5 | 2.50 | 1323 | -54.8 |
| 13 | Dumitru, Sorin | 1456 | ROU | F | −10B | F | +15N | −11B | F | +12B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 3.00 | 1573 | +12.2 |
| 14 | Gligor, Ana Maria | 0 | ROU | −8B | −15N | =11N | −9B | −12N | −7B | +16B | 1.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 1.25 | 1174 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Pacurar, Iulian | 1676 | ROU | −12N | +14B | −5N | −13B | F | −8N | −11B | 1.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 1.50 | 735 | -136.4 |
| 16 | FIDE 42247969 | 0 | — | F | −4N | F | F | −7B | F | −14N | 0.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.00 | 709 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Hale, EduardROU+61.66.0 pts · #1
- 2Dumitrache, Elisa-AndreeaROU+48.04.5 pts · #3
- 3Donici-Maier, LucaROU+44.43.5 pts · #4
Top rating losers
- 1Pacurar, IulianROU-136.41.0 pts · #16
- 2Dumitrache, Dragos-AlexandruROU-54.82.0 pts · #13
- 3Sarac, Ionut-AndreiROU-40.42.5 pts · #7
Biggest upsets
- R7+228 Elo gap
- R4+220 Elo gap
- R1+161 Elo gap