Bahrain Chess Championship 2026 - Men

Open SwissStandard

37 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 08 Jun 2026 to 18 Jun 2026 in Madinat Isa, Bahrain. 6 titled players. Top 10 Elo average was 1853, and top seed was Husain Ayyad (🇧🇭 BRN, FM, 2093).

Ali Al-Ghasra (🇧🇭 BRN, CM, 1985) won with 7.0/9, ahead of Husain Ayyad (7.0) and Alfardan Monther (6.5). Al-Ghasra shared the lead from round 1, winning on tie-break.

The biggest upset came in round 8: Nooh Rajab (1515) beat Husain Ayyad (FM, 2093), a +578-point gap.

Location

🇧🇭Madinat Isa, Bahrain

Dates

08 Jun 2026 → 18 Jun 2026

Time control

Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 9 rounds

Top seed

🇧🇭FMHusain Ayyad2093

Avg top 10

1,853

Participants

Titled players · 6

FM×3

CM×3

Federations · 1 represented

🇧🇭Bahrain×37

Top 3

🥇
CMAli Al-Ghasra
🇧🇭BRN·1985
7.0pts·1990perf+6.2
🥈
FMHusain Ayyad
🇧🇭BRN·2093
7.0pts·1992perf-13.2
🥉
CMAlfardan Monther
🇧🇭BRN·1851
6.5pts·1907perf+16.2

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 9 rounds

Tight race until R4; 2 players tied at 7.0/9, decided on Buchholz.

Co-leaders

Al-Ghasra7Ayyad7Rajab6.5Monther6.5Ayyad6.5Bukhalaf6

R4–R9 · LEAD HELD

CM Ali Al-Ghasra held the sole lead from R4 through R9 without losing it.

R9 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 7.0/9. Al-Ghasra takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (46.5).

R6 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

CM Ali Al-Ghasra lost to FM Husain Ayyad (White).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1CMAli Al-Ghasra	*	0	—	½
2FMHusain Ayyad	1	*	0	1
3Nooh Rajab	—	1	*	0
4CMAlfardan Monther	½	0	1	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Al-Ghasra, AliCM	1985	BRN	+24N	+18B	+10N	+7B	+6N	−2B	+12N	=8B	=3B	7.0	46.5	50.5	37.25	1990	+6.2
2	Ayyad, HusainFM	2093	BRN	+28B	=20N	+33B	=4N	+14B	+1N	+3B	−5N	+11B	7.0	44.0	46.0	34.25	1992	-13.2
3	Monther, AlfardanCM	1851	BRN	+23B	+11N	+5B	−6N	+20B	+10B	−2N	+17B	=1N	6.5	46.0	50.0	33.50	1907	+16.2
4	Ayyad, MaherFM	1952	BRN	+27N	−12B	+8N	=2B	+21N	=6B	+20N	+7B	=5N	6.5	44.5	47.5	32.75	1892	-5.6
5	Rajab, Nooh	1515	BRN	+36N	+21B	−3N	+33B	−10N	+23B	+6N	+2B	=4B	6.5	41.5	42.5	27.25	1896	+169.2
6	Bukhalaf, Khalaf	1788	BRN	+19N	+9B	=12N	+3B	−1B	=4N	−5B	+20N	+14B	6.0	46.5	50.5	31.25	1830	+11.6
7	Bukhalaf, KhalilFM	1960	BRN	+25B	+26N	+13B	−1N	=11B	=9N	+14B	−4N	+12B	6.0	43.0	46.0	27.00	1815	-23.6
8	Almusawi, Mahmood	1543	BRN	−13B	+28N	−4B	+25N	+30B	+22N	+18B	=1N	=9B	6.0	39.0	41.5	23.75	1794	+98.0
9	Marwan Al Binali	1501	BRN	+15B	−6N	=18N	+36B	+17N	=7B	=10N	=12B	=8N	5.5	42.5	43.5	24.00	1788	+65.8
10	Taqi, Mohamed	1742	BRN	+32N	+30B	−1B	+22N	+5B	−3N	=9B	−11N	+17N	5.5	42.0	44.5	22.75	1711	-5.2
11	Fardan, Yousif	1547	BRN	+31N	−3B	+36N	+21B	=7N	−12B	+28N	+10B	−2N	5.5	39.5	40.5	19.00	1838	+65.0
12	Faqihi, Abdulaziz	1649	BRN	+35B	+4N	=6B	=20N	=13B	+11N	−1B	=9N	−7N	5.0	45.5	47.0	23.75	1766	+24.8
13	Ebrahim Tareq Albureshaid	1693	BRN	+8N	+37B	−7N	+19B	=12N	−20B	−17N	=16B	+22N	5.0	39.0	39.0	19.50	1666	-13.2
14	Ebrahim, Haitham	1653	BRN	−33B	+16N	+29B	+34N	−2N	+19B	−7N	+21B	−6N	5.0	37.5	39.5	18.50	1706	+19.6
15	Ahmed Ebrahim Hasan	1667	BRN	−9N	−19B	−17N	+27B	+37N	+26B	=16N	=22B	+21N	5.0	33.5	33.5	14.50	1602	-28.0
16	Ali, Sayed Hashim	1542	BRN	−21N	−14B	+27B	+26N	−22B	+33N	=15B	=13N	+20B	5.0	33.0	35.0	17.00	1663	+58.0
17	AlWardi, Hussain	1761	BRN	−26B	=33N	+15B	+18N	−9B	+25N	+13B	−3N	−10B	4.5	38.5	40.5	19.00	1633	-58.0
18	Alshehabi, Shehab	1650	BRN	+34N	−1N	=9B	−17B	+33N	+24B	−8N	−19B	+25N	4.5	37.0	39.0	14.25	1602	-25.6
19	Binzaiman, Ayman	1558	BRN	−6B	+15N	+30B	−13N	+34B	−14N	=22B	+18N	−27N	4.5	35.0	37.0	16.00	1593	+13.6
20	Shaker, MusabCM	1677	BRN	+29N	=2B	+31N	=12B	−3N	+13N	−4B	−6B	−16N	4.0	44.0	46.5	16.50	1712	+5.6
21	Alsanadi, Ahmed	1680	BRN	+16B	−5N	+26B	−11N	−4B	+34N	+23B	−14N	−15B	4.0	40.5	42.5	14.00	1557	-59.2
22	AlSari,Yusuf	1635	BRN	−30N	+32B	+37N	−10B	+16N	−8B	=19N	=15N	−13B	4.0	36.0	36.0	12.25	1564	-28.8
23	Mohamed Ali Albuainain	1565	BRN	−3N	−36B	+28B	+35N	+29B	−5N	−21N	=25B	=26N	4.0	31.0	32.0	10.75	1560	-1.6
24	Alqallaf, Ali	1614	BRN	−1B	+35N	−34B	−30N	+32B	−18N	−27B	+33N	+31B	4.0	26.0	27.5	8.50	1592	-12.4
25	Saeed Marzooq Albonni	1600	BRN	−7N	−29B	+32N	−8B	+31N	−17B	+34B	=23N	−18B	3.5	33.0	35.0	9.00	1551	-28.0
26	Abdulla Nayel	1550	BRN	+17N	−7B	−21N	−16B	F	−15N	=31B	+32N	=23B	3.0	33.5	34.5	10.25	1590	+10.0
27	KHALIL MOHSEN ALNAZER	1587	BRN	−4B	−31B	−16N	−15N	F	+35B	+24N	F	+19B	3.0	32.0	32.0	10.00	1585	-5.2
28	Hussain Isa Fateel	1623	BRN	−2N	−8B	−23N	+37B	+35B	+30N	−11B	F	F	3.0	29.5	29.5	4.00	1375	-66.4
29	Algosaibi, Khalifa	1533	BRN	−20B	+25N	−14N	+31B	−23N	F	−32B	F	+34B	3.0	23.5	23.5	8.00	1545	+2.8
30	Ali, Yusuf Mujtaba	0	BRN	+22B	−10N	−19N	+24B	−8N	−28B	=33B	−31N	F	2.5	31.5	31.5	9.00	1467	0.0
31	Al-Ghasra, Ahmed	1708	BRN	−11B	+27N	−20B	−29N	−25B	F	=26N	+30B	−24N	2.5	28.5	28.5	7.00	1357	-125.2
32	Almusawi, Ali	1550	BRN	−10B	−22N	−25B	F	−24N	+37B	+29N	−26B	=35N	2.5	24.5	24.5	3.75	1352	-67.6
33	Alshawoosh, Mohammed	1442	BRN	+14N	=17B	−2N	−5N	−18B	−16B	=30N	−24B	F	2.0	39.0	39.0	8.50	1424	-8.0
34	Haider, Ali Hasan	1414	BRN	−18B	F	+24N	−14B	−19N	−21B	−25N	+35B	−29N	2.0	30.0	30.0	5.50	1393	-10.0
35	Adam Alqatari	1401	BRN	−12N	−24B	F	−23B	−28N	−27N	+37B	−34N	=32B	1.5	23.5	23.5	1.25	1149	-58.8
36	Mosa, Hamad	1672	BRN	−5B	+23N	−11B	−9N	F	F	F	F	F	1.0	24.5	24.5	4.00	1338	-35.2
37	HASAN MOHAMED ALAALI	0	BRN	F	−13N	−22B	−28N	−15B	−32N	−35N	F	F	0.0	26.5	26.5	0.00	795	0.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Rajab, NoohBRN
+169.2
6.5 pts · #3
2Almusawi, MahmoodBRN
+98.0
6.0 pts · #10
3Marwan Al BinaliBRN
+65.8
5.5 pts · #9

Top rating losers

1Al-Ghasra, AhmedBRN
-125.2
2.5 pts · #31
2Almusawi, AliBRN
-67.6
2.5 pts · #32
3Hussain Isa FateelBRN
-66.4
3.0 pts · #35

Biggest upsets

R8+578 Elo gap
Rajab, Nooh1515 beat FMAyyad, Husain2093
R2+303 Elo gap
Faqihi, Abdulaziz1649 beat FMAyyad, Maher1952
R7+273 Elo gap
Rajab, Nooh1515 beat Bukhalaf, Khalaf1788