7th Donaldson Tournament - 1600-1999
39 players participated in this 4-round tournament, held from 06 Dec 2025 to 07 Dec 2025 in San Francisco, CA, United States. Top 10 Elo average was 1730, and top seed was Wayne Ballantyne (🇺🇸 USA, 1875).
Varun Karthik Turaga (🇺🇸 USA, 1614) won with 3.5/4, ahead of Wayne Ballantyne (3.5) and Angela Zixi Wang (3.0). Turaga shared the lead from round 2, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 2: Jinfeng Liu (1607) beat Calvin Django Dees (1868), a +261-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 4 roundsTight race until R4; 2 players tied at 3.5/4, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.
2 players finish on 3.5/4. Turaga takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (9.0).
Wayne Ballantyne drew with Varun Karthik Turaga (Black).
Wayne Ballantyne 3 wins (R1–R3)Varun Karthik Turaga 3 wins (R1–R3)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Wayne Ballantyne | * | ½ | — | — |
| 2Varun Karthik Turaga | ½ | * | — | — |
| 3Serena Liu | — | — | * | ½ |
| 4Angela Zixi Wang | — | — | ½ | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turaga, Varun Karthik | 1614 | USA | +5B | +20N | +9B | =2B | 3.5 | 9.0 | 10.5 | 8.75 | 1962 | +50.8 |
| 2 | Ballantyne, Wayne | 1875 | USA | +26B | +17N | +24B | =1N | 3.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 5.75 | 1915 | +2.6 |
| 3 | Wang, Angela Zixi | 1689 | USA | =21N | +30B | +13N | =4B | 3.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 5.75 | 1801 | +22.8 |
| 4 | Liu, Serena | 1749 | USA | =25B | +27N | +10B | =3N | 3.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 5.50 | 1822 | +15.2 |
| 5 | Wright, Jason D | 0 | USA | −1N | +35N | +25B | +15B | 3.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 3.50 | 1660 | 0.0 |
| 6 | Dees, Calvin Django | 1868 | USA | +38B | −9N | +26B | +16N | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.00 | 1815 | -8.4 |
| 7 | Zhang, Matthew | 1694 | USA | =27B | +28N | +11B | =20N | 3.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 4.75 | 1762 | +12.8 |
| 8 | Goel, Darsh | 1705 | USA | +34N | =22B | =15N | +24B | 3.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 3.25 | 1635 | -10.4 |
| 9 | Liu, Jinfeng | 1607 | USA | +23N | +6B | −1N | =12B | 2.5 | 9.0 | 10.5 | 5.75 | 1759 | +31.2 |
| 10 | Elster, Benjamin | 1571 | USA | +37N | +12B | −4N | =14B | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 3.75 | 1736 | +34.8 |
| 11 | Pillai, Natesh | 1602 | USA | +18N | =15B | −7N | +21B | 2.5 | 7.0 | 8.5 | 4.50 | 1667 | +7.0 |
| 12 | Kayal, Rishan | 1679 | USA | +36B | −10N | +29B | =9N | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.25 | 1679 | -1.2 |
| 13 | Garg, Ishan | 1609 | USA | =35B | +33N | −3B | +28N | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 2.25 | 1670 | +12.8 |
| 14 | Rangamreddy, Aashvi Sri | 1624 | USA | +29B | −24N | +39B | =10N | 2.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.25 | 1649 | +3.6 |
| 15 | DB, Pranav | 1549 | USA | +16B | =11N | =8B | −5N | 2.0 | 8.5 | 10.5 | 4.75 | 1773 | +36.0 |
| 16 | Bogi, Yudhin | 1631 | USA | −15N | +34B | +22N | −6B | 2.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 2.00 | 1505 | -21.6 |
| 17 | Miller, Theodore | 1545 | USA | +31B | −2B | F | +30N | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.00 | 1753 | +30.4 |
| 18 | Navaneetha Prabhu, Arjunsai | 1457 | USA | −11B | +38N | −20B | +25N | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.00 | 1625 | +34.4 |
| 19 | Meacham, Max Katkin | 1690 | USA | −22N | +36B | =21N | =27B | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.25 | 1548 | -30.4 |
| 20 | Gutta, Anirudh | 1584 | USA | F | −1B | +18N | =7B | 1.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 3.50 | 1588 | +0.8 |
| 21 | Sayiner, Necip | 1585 | USA | =3B | =25N | =19B | −11N | 1.5 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 3.00 | 1589 | -0.4 |
| 22 | Liu, Kaihan | 1474 | USA | +19B | =8N | −16B | −31N | 1.5 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 3.50 | 1552 | +14.0 |
| 23 | Liao, Aiden | 1498 | USA | −9B | =26N | −28B | +37N | 1.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.50 | 1494 | -1.6 |
| 24 | Amin, Eshaan Kashyap | 1506 | USA | F | +14B | −2N | −8N | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.50 | 1611 | +12.8 |
| 25 | Shokeen, Ayaan | 1695 | USA | =4N | =21B | −5N | −18B | 1.0 | 8.0 | 9.5 | 2.25 | 1472 | -38.4 |
| 26 | Pang, Elena Hingyip | 1653 | USA | −2N | =23B | −6N | =34N | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 1.00 | 1473 | -26.4 |
| 27 | Parhar, Ojas | 1526 | USA | =7N | −4B | F | =19N | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.50 | 1587 | +7.6 |
| 28 | Ni, Tao | 1555 | USA | F | −7B | +23N | −13B | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.50 | 1475 | -6.2 |
| 29 | Mythil, Arnav | 1557 | USA | −14N | +37B | −12N | −32B | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 1480 | -12.0 |
| 30 | Shao, Raymond | 1485 | USA | F | −3N | +34B | −17B | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.50 | 818 | -26.4 |
| 31 | Zhang, Jessica | 1520 | USA | −17N | F | F | +22B | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.50 | 1510 | -1.6 |
| 32 | Wataney, Anand Mahesh | 0 | USA | F | F | F | +29N | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.00 | 1578 | 0.0 |
| 33 | Dai, Jonathan | 1457 | USA | F | −13B | F | +39N | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.00 | 1594 | +14.8 |
| 34 | Korde, Varad Y | 0 | USA | −8B | −16N | −30N | =26B | 0.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 0.50 | 1299 | 0.0 |
| 35 | Agdamag, Samuel | 1599 | USA | =13N | −5B | F | F | 0.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.25 | 1609 | +0.2 |
| 36 | Jonnalagada, Navaneet Vishnusai | 1591 | USA | −12N | −19N | F | F | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.00 | 886 | -30.4 |
| 37 | Soltani, Mohammad | 1508 | USA | −10B | −29N | F | −23B | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 742 | -27.2 |
| 38 | Bharadwaj, Samarth Ram | 1592 | USA | −6N | −18B | F | F | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 863 | -34.0 |
| 39 | Sisti, Daniel J | 1579 | USA | F | F | −14N | −33B | 0.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.00 | 742 | -22.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Turaga, Varun KarthikUSA+50.83.5 pts · #11
- 2DB, PranavUSA+36.02.0 pts · #14
- 3Elster, BenjaminUSA+34.82.5 pts · #12
- 1Shokeen, AyaanUSA-38.41.0 pts · #26
- 2Bharadwaj, Samarth RamUSA-34.00.0 pts · #38
- 3Jonnalagada, Navaneet VishnusaiUSA-30.40.0 pts · #36
- R2+261 Elo gap
- R4+238 Elo gap
- R1+216 Elo gap