Format
PR
Palathingal, Rafael
CM🇺🇸FIDE 39927580· Male· United States of America· Born in 2014
Follow Rafael PalathingalTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
Rafael Palathingal, a 12-year-old American Candidate Master, is rated 1989 and sitting in the top 1% of players worldwide under 12. He is on a breakout run, having gained +150 Elo over the past 12 months. 138 rated games in the past year (≈105/year long-term). Recent standard appearances include 2026 Intermat Candidates Chess Tournament - 6th Grade, 2026 Washington President's Cup - Kennedy Open, and 2026 Washington State Championship - Premier. Also played 2 rapid (including FUTURE CHESS ACADEMY'S International FIDE Rated Open Rapid Chess Tournament) and 8 blitz events (including 2025 Walter Browne Memorial National Open Blitz Championship) recently. His peak of 2108 was reached at age 11 (Sep 2025).
Awarded CM in 2025 (age 11). At junior level, he reached World #73 in U12 and World #57 in U10.
Current rating
1989
Standard
Rpd1813·Blz2097
All-time high
2108
−119 pts below
Sep 2025 · age 11
Sep 2025 · age 11
Activity
102
games / yr avg. · ≈9/mo
138 past 12 mo · ≈12/mo
classical only
Very active
classical only
Very active
Signature stat
Top 1%
#184 · players worldwide under 12 · of 14,096
Career timeline
11 entries2026
Re-crossed 2000
at age 12
Jan 2026
2025
73rd U12 player worldwide
at age 11 · rated 2108
Sep 2025
CM title awardedCM
at age 11
Sep 2025
Best 12-month gain (+286 Elo)
1822 → 2108
Sep 2025
Crossed 2100
at age 11
Sep 2025
Crossed 2000
at age 11
Sep 2025
Standard rating history
Activity & highlights
Evolution
+115
1874 → 1989
Tournaments
20
133 games
Score
66/ 13349.6%
45W42D46L
Top 3 wins
Top 3 losses
Last 12 months — tournaments
14 events| Event | Date | Score | Rank | Perf | Δ Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swiss | Mar 2026 | 4.5/5 | #1 | 2130 | +30.4 |
Swiss | Feb 2026 | 3/5 | #10 | 1893 | -13.2 |
Round-Robin | Feb 2026 | 5/9 | #5 | 1992 | +19.2 |
Open Swiss | Jan 2026 | 4/7 | #10 | 2102 | +27.4 |
Round-Robin | Jan 2026 | 1.5/5 | #5 | 1866 | -27.7 |
Open Swiss | Dec 2025 | 3/9 | #99 | 1866 | -47.5 |
Swiss | Dec 2025 | 3/5 | #12 | 2008 | +9.6 |
Round-Robin | Nov 2025 | 2/9 | #10 | 2046 | +15.2 |
Open Swiss | Nov 2025 | 3.5/9 | #26 | 1989 | -0.4 |
Open Swiss | Nov 2025 | 2.5/5 | #26 | 1947 | -8.0 |
Most-Played Opponents
vsVidip KonaCM
🇺🇸USA·2082
+0 −6 =2
8 games·last met Jan 2026
View head-to-head →
vsAkim Pikh
🇺🇦UKR·1948
+6 −0 =1
7 games·last met Mar 2026
View head-to-head →
vsGabriel Razmov
🇺🇸USA·1910
+0 −3 =3
6 games·last met Feb 2026
View head-to-head →
vsTed WangFM
🇺🇸USA·2202
+0 −4 =2
6 games·last met Jan 2026
View head-to-head →
vsNeevan Reddy Saddi
🇺🇸USA·2088
+1 −2 =2
5 games·last met Feb 2026
View head-to-head →
Rankings
/
United States of America
#817
out of 5,412 players
Americas
#3,087
in continent
World
#29,259
out of 400,000+
National ranking
Europe & World
Europe
World
United States of America
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