33rd Annual Midwest Class Championship - 1800-2099
Open SwissStandard
45 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 10 Oct 2025 to 12 Oct 2025 in Wheeling, IL, United States. 2 titled players from 3 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1888, and top seed was Anupama Rajendra (🇺🇸 USA, 1980).
Robert Sax (🇺🇸 USA, 1746) won with 4.0/5, ahead of John Blomer (4.0) and Vaibhav Kailash (3.5). Sax won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Ryan A McCrea (1704) beat Daniel Lee (1920), a +216-point gap.
Location
🇺🇸Wheeling, IL, United States
Dates
10 Oct 2025 → 12 Oct 2025
Time control
Standard: 40 Moves in 80 Min. Del. 30 Sec. / / 30 Min. Del. 30 Sec.
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Titled players · 2
WFM×1
WCM×1
Federations · 3 represented
🇺🇸United States of America×42
🇵🇾Paraguay×1
🇨🇦Canada×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsTight race until R5; 2 players tied at 4.0/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 4 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.
Co-leaders
8
2
2
4
2
R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER
2 players finish on 4.0/5. Sax takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (8.0).
R3–R5 · WIN STREAK
John Blomer won 3 in a row (R3–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1John Blomer | * | — | — | — |
| 2Robert Sax | — | * | ½ | — |
| 3Vaibhav Kailash | — | ½ | * | — |
| 4Louis Cedeno | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sax, Robert | 1746 | USA | +34N | =3B | +43N | =16B | +26N | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 5.25 | 2017 | +34.2 |
| 2 | Blomer, John | 1773 | USA | +37B | −9N | +14B | +43N | +15B | 4.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 5.00 | 1996 | +54.8 |
| 3 | Kailash, Vaibhav | 1698 | USA | +42B | =1N | −17B | +23N | +28B | 3.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 5.50 | 2070 | +33.8 |
| 4 | Cedeno, Louis | 1853 | USA | +14B | =13N | +36B | =25N | =6B | 3.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 6.25 | 1894 | +10.4 |
| 5 | Kaur, AradhWFM | 1844 | USA | +44N | +24B | −18N | +30B | =7N | 3.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.50 | 1915 | +14.4 |
| 6 | Moshkevich, Elizabeth | 1796 | USA | F | +11B | =19N | +10B | =4N | 3.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 7.75 | 2002 | +21.4 |
| 7 | Nudo, Zachary W | 1804 | USA | =33B | F | +27N | +8N | =5B | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 6.75 | 2042 | +24.8 |
| 8 | Lee, Daniel | 1920 | USA | −13N | +44B | +38N | −7B | +9B | 3.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.50 | 1863 | -7.4 |
| 9 | Hamilton, Mark P | 1781 | USA | +20N | +2B | −15N | =19B | −8N | 2.5 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 7.00 | 1822 | +5.4 |
| 10 | Xia, ElizabethWCM | 1723 | USA | F | =23N | +33B | −6N | +22N | 2.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 3.75 | 1828 | +22.4 |
| 11 | Jing, Aaron C | 1841 | USA | F | −6N | =23B | +24B | +37N | 2.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 3.25 | 1705 | -10.6 |
| 12 | Pham, Linda | 1738 | USA | F | −29N | =42B | +35N | +43B | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.25 | 1865 | +26.8 |
| 13 | McCrea, Ryan A | 1704 | USA | +8B | =4B | −16N | =29N | −21B | 2.0 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 5.50 | 1786 | +10.4 |
| 14 | Chen, Megan | 1688 | USA | −4N | +34B | −2N | =27B | =38N | 2.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 2.25 | 1765 | +9.2 |
| 15 | Cortez, Rebecca | 1906 | USA | F | F | +9B | +18B | −2N | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 4.50 | 1953 | +3.6 |
| 16 | Herrero, Juan Luis | 1873 | PAR | F | F | +13B | =1N | =17B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 5.00 | 1918 | +2.2 |
| 17 | Prentosito, Nicolantonio | 0 | USA | F | F | +3N | =26B | =16N | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 5.25 | 1802 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Akintonde, Jimi | 1927 | USA | F | F | +5B | −15N | +25B | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 5.00 | 1977 | +3.8 |
| 19 | Lavanur, Mahendra | 1818 | USA | F | F | =6B | =9N | +39N | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 3.75 | 1860 | +6.8 |
| 20 | Narayanan, Krishna | 1689 | USA | −9B | −35N | −34N | +40B | +44N | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.00 | 1717 | +6.8 |
| 21 | Lukinykh, Slava | 1828 | CAN | F | F | =31N | =36B | +13N | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.25 | 1849 | +3.2 |
| 22 | Benedek, Roy | 1796 | USA | F | F | +45B | +33N | −10B | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.00 | 1686 | -6.0 |
| 23 | Anand, Anirudh | 1693 | USA | =41N | =10B | =11N | −3B | −27N | 1.5 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 3.00 | 1659 | -10.4 |
| 24 | Leali, Michael | 0 | USA | +35B | −5N | =28B | −11N | F | 1.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.75 | 1766 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Misra, Pragyan | 1804 | USA | F | F | +29B | =4B | −18N | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 3.25 | 1866 | +10.4 |
| 26 | Silvestre, Lucas | 1774 | USA | F | F | +39B | =17N | −1B | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 2.00 | 1687 | -9.6 |
| 27 | Rajendra, Anupama | 1980 | USA | F | F | −7B | =14N | +23B | 1.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.50 | 1728 | -18.4 |
| 28 | Peterson, Brian | 1869 | USA | F | F | =24N | +31B | −3N | 1.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.25 | 1717 | -8.2 |
| 29 | Aaron, Michael | 1817 | USA | F | +12B | −25N | =13B | F | 1.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.50 | 1749 | -5.6 |
| 30 | Gotpagar, Aadi | 1692 | USA | F | F | +35B | −5N | =36B | 1.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.50 | 1811 | +18.8 |
| 31 | Sureshkumar, Sidharth | 1736 | USA | F | F | =21B | −28N | +32B | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.50 | 1655 | -8.0 |
| 32 | McDonnell, Patrick Edward | 0 | USA | F | F | +40N | =38B | −31N | 1.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.50 | 1746 | 0.0 |
| 33 | Smalls, Jay D | 1650 | USA | =7N | =41B | −10N | −22B | F | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.00 | 1588 | -5.8 |
| 34 | Nozaki, Mao | 1764 | USA | −1B | −14N | +20B | F | F | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.00 | 1583 | -14.6 |
| 35 | La Budde, Michael | 1858 | USA | −24N | +20B | −30N | −12B | F | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 2.00 | 1581 | -44.0 |
| 36 | Ramkumar, Gautham | 1731 | USA | F | F | −4N | =21N | =30N | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.75 | 1665 | -10.0 |
| 37 | Bafia, Nathaniel | 1629 | USA | −2N | F | F | +42N | −11B | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.50 | 1622 | -1.2 |
| 38 | Jayam, Srikar | 1812 | USA | F | F | −8B | =32N | =14B | 1.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.75 | 1611 | -20.8 |
| 39 | Wang, Gaofei | 1632 | USA | F | F | −26N | +41N | −19B | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.00 | 1672 | +7.2 |
| 40 | Mills-Wren, Maximilian | 1689 | USA | F | F | −32B | −20N | +42B | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.50 | 1658 | -3.6 |
| 41 | Craigmile, Charles | 1800 | USA | =23B | =33N | F | −39B | F | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.25 | 1531 | -21.6 |
| 42 | Nikhil, Nirav | 1627 | USA | −3N | F | =12N | −37B | −40N | 0.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.25 | 1366 | -46.4 |
| 43 | Strobehn, Alexander | 1778 | USA | F | F | −1B | −2B | −12N | 0.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.00 | 953 | -63.6 |
| 44 | Arond, Dean | 1854 | USA | −5B | −8N | F | F | −20B | 0.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 1018 | -32.8 |
| 45 | FIDE 39941086 | 0 | — | F | F | −22N | F | F | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 996 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Blomer, JohnUSA+54.84.0 pts · #1
- 2Sax, RobertUSA+34.24.0 pts · #2
- 3Kailash, VaibhavUSA+33.83.5 pts · #3
Top rating losers
- 1Strobehn, AlexanderUSA-63.60.0 pts · #45
- 2Nikhil, NiravUSA-46.40.5 pts · #42
- 3La Budde, MichaelUSA-44.01.0 pts · #31
Biggest upsets
- R1+216 Elo gap
- R3+176 Elo gap
- R5+171 Elo gap