Bahrain Chess Championship 2026 Women
15 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 08 Jun 2026 to 18 Jun 2026 in Madinat Isa, Bahrain. 3 titled players. Top 10 Elo average was 1538, and top seed was Zainab Alafoo (🇧🇭 BRN, WCM, 1597).
Zainab Alafoo (🇧🇭 BRN, WCM, 1597) won with 7.5/9, ahead of Najla Ahmed (7.5) and Wafa Yaqoob (6.0). Alafoo shared the lead from round 1, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 6: Dania Obaid (1432) beat Bayan Zainal (1535), a +103-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 9 roundsTight race until R3; 2 players tied at 7.5/9, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 4 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.
WCM Zainab Alafoo held the sole lead from R3 through R9 without losing it.
2 players finish on 7.5/9. Alafoo takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (36.5).
WCM Zainab Alafoo lost to Najla Ahmed (White).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1WCMZainab Alafoo | * | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2Najla Ahmed | 1 | * | 0 | 1 |
| 3WCMWafa Yaqoob | 0 | 1 | * | ½ |
| 4Joudi Mansoor AlFaraj | 0 | 0 | ½ | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alafoo, ZainabWCM | 1597 | BRN | +4N | +5B | +7N | −2B | +3N | +13B | +9N | +8B | =6N | 7.5 | 36.5 | 38.5 | 29.00 | 1772 | +66.4 |
| 2 | Ahmed, Najla | 1562 | BRN | +9B | −3N | +12B | +1N | +5B | +7N | +4B | +11N | =8N | 7.5 | 34.5 | 36.5 | 29.00 | 1830 | +42.0 |
| 3 | Yaqoob, WafaWCM | 1522 | BRN | +14N | +2B | −5N | +7B | −1B | =4N | =8N | +9B | +11B | 6.0 | 36.0 | 38.0 | 21.75 | 1587 | +8.0 |
| 4 | Joudi Mansoor AlFaraj | 1501 | BRN | −1B | +12N | +6B | −5B | +11N | =3B | −2N | +7N | +9B | 5.5 | 37.5 | 39.5 | 17.00 | 1577 | +34.4 |
| 5 | Zainal, Bayan | 1535 | BRN | +15B | −1N | +3B | +4N | −2N | −9B | +12N | −6B | =13B | 4.5 | 37.0 | 38.5 | 16.00 | 1478 | -26.4 |
| 6 | Alsalman, Reem | 1565 | BRN | −13N | +11B | −4N | −14B | −8N | +12B | =7B | +5N | =1B | 4.0 | 30.0 | 32.0 | 14.00 | 1525 | -13.6 |
| 7 | Obaid, Sondos | 1550 | BRN | +11N | +13B | −1B | −3N | F | −2B | =6N | −4B | +12N | 3.5 | 37.0 | 39.0 | 8.00 | 1431 | -23.2 |
| 8 | Al Arayedh, Daniyah | 0 | BRN | F | F | −10N | F | +6B | +11N | =3B | −1N | =2B | 3.0 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 12.75 | 1498 | 0.0 |
| 9 | Obaid, Dania | 1432 | BRN | −2N | =14B | +13N | −10B | F | +5N | −1B | −3N | −4N | 2.5 | 37.5 | 39.0 | 7.50 | 1384 | -18.0 |
| 10 | Sharaf, HawraWCM | 1582 | BRN | −12B | =15N | +8B | +9N | F | F | F | F | F | 2.5 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 6.25 | 1460 | -13.2 |
| 11 | FIDE 11209313 | 0 | — | −7B | −6N | F | +12N | −4B | −8B | +13N | −2B | −3N | 2.0 | 33.5 | 33.5 | 4.00 | 1368 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Alaradi, Sawsan | 1487 | BRN | +10N | −4B | −2N | −11B | F | −6N | −5B | +13N | −7B | 2.0 | 31.5 | 31.5 | 4.50 | 1381 | -39.6 |
| 13 | Joud Mansoor AlFaraj | 1477 | BRN | +6B | −7N | −9B | =15N | F | −1N | −11B | −12B | =5N | 2.0 | 28.0 | 29.5 | 7.00 | 1335 | -43.6 |
| 14 | FIDE 11211148 | 0 | — | −3B | =9N | =15B | +6N | F | F | F | F | F | 2.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 6.00 | 1513 | 0.0 |
| 15 | FIDE 11210818 | 0 | — | −5N | =10B | =14N | =13B | F | F | F | F | F | 1.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 3.25 | 1406 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Alafoo, ZainabWCMBRN+66.47.5 pts · #1
- 2Ahmed, NajlaBRN+42.07.5 pts · #2
- 3Joudi Mansoor AlFarajBRN+34.45.5 pts · #3
- 1Joud Mansoor AlFarajBRN-43.62.0 pts · #13
- 2Alaradi, SawsanBRN-39.62.0 pts · #9
- 3Zainal, BayanBRN-26.44.5 pts · #4
- R6+103 Elo gap