2025 ACC Hot Heads (Crown)
34 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 18 Aug 2025 to 22 Sept 2025 in Toronto, ON, Canada. 2 titled players from 4 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2111, and top seed was Koosha Jaferian (🇨🇦 CAN, FM, 2418).
Merlin Nazareno (🇨🇦 CAN, 2044) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Ben Gabriel Smolkin (4.5) and David Southam (4.0). Nazareno shared the lead from round 2, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 2: Ben Gabriel Smolkin (1892) beat Amirmahdi Hosseinzadeh (2134), a +242-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsTight race until R5; 2 players tied at 4.5/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.
2 players finish on 4.5/5. Nazareno takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (12.0).
Ben Gabriel Smolkin drew with Merlin Nazareno (Black).
Ben Gabriel Smolkin 3 wins (R1–R3)Merlin Nazareno 3 wins (R1–R3)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Ben Gabriel Smolkin | * | ½ | — | 1 |
| 2Merlin Nazareno | ½ | * | — | — |
| 3David Southam | — | — | * | — |
| 4Amirmahdi Hosseinzadeh | 0 | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nazareno, Merlin | 2044 | CAN | +29N | +8B | +12N | =2B | +4N | 4.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 9.75 | 2168 | +38.4 |
| 2 | Smolkin, Ben Gabriel | 1892 | CAN | +31B | +5N | +21B | =1N | +11B | 4.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 8.25 | 2130 | +60.0 |
| 3 | Southam, David | 2002 | CAN | +32B | +19N | −4N | +18B | +13B | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 4.00 | 1926 | +10.8 |
| 4 | Blair, Michael | 2062 | CAN | +30B | +20N | +3B | −5N | −1B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 5.00 | 1806 | -8.0 |
| 5 | Hosseinzadeh, Amirmahdi | 2134 | CAN | +17N | −2B | +22N | +4B | F | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 5.50 | 1985 | +22.4 |
| 6 | Chin, Adrian | 1874 | CAN | F | =27N | +14B | +29B | =10N | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.50 | 1738 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Jaferian, KooshaFM | 2418 | CAN | F | F | +16B | +30N | +15B | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.50 | 2685 | +3.2 |
| 8 | Mammadov, Nihad | 1783 | CAN | +13B | −1N | −11B | =9N | +22B | 2.5 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 4.25 | 1753 | -7.6 |
| 9 | Mittal, Aashwin | 1865 | CAN | −14N | −10B | +29N | =8B | +18N | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.25 | 1804 | +28.0 |
| 10 | Tenkov, Arkadii | 1941 | CAN | F | +9N | +28B | F | =6B | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.50 | 2466 | +32.0 |
| 11 | Lukinykh, Slava | 2072 | CAN | F | F | +8N | +12B | −2N | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 4.50 | 1936 | +14.4 |
| 12 | Vinuya, Ruth Joy | 1931 | PHI | +27B | +14N | −1B | −11N | F | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.50 | 1028 | -18.8 |
| 13 | Lau, Jayden | 1926 | CAN | −8N | +29B | −18N | +19B | −3N | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.00 | 1633 | -32.8 |
| 14 | Ecksel, Scott | 1646 | CAN | +9B | −12B | −6N | =?N | =28B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.75 | 1713 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Katz, Lyam | 1859 | CAN | −23N | −24B | +33B | +28N | −7N | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.50 | 1749 | -7.0 |
| 16 | Sherman, Joshua | 1931 | CAN | −20N | =17B | −7N | +27B | F | 1.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 1.25 | 1782 | -4.8 |
| 17 | Dick, Joel | 1845 | CAN | −5B | =16N | +27B | F | F | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.25 | 1075 | -13.6 |
| 18 | Ugodnikov, Arkadiy | 1726 | CAN | F | F | +13B | −3N | −9B | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.00 | 1630 | +0.8 |
| 19 | Kolndreu, Albion | 1735 | ALB | +33N | −3B | F | −13N | F | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 997 | -9.4 |
| 20 | Chen, Aleksandr | 1795 | CAN | +16B | −4B | F | F | −21N | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.50 | 999 | -32.0 |
| 21 | Allahverdi, Umid | 1861 | CAN | F | F | −2N | F | +20B | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.00 | 1043 | -13.2 |
| 22 | Furrow, Matthew | 1903 | CAN | F | +30N | −5B | F | −8N | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.00 | 1659 | -2.0 |
| 23 | England, MaxCM | 2329 | CAN | +15B | F | F | F | F | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.00 | 2599 | +1.6 |
| 24 | Cholakis, Max | 1932 | CAN | F | +15N | F | F | F | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.00 | 2576 | +21.2 |
| 25 | Haji Ghanbari, Nader | 2036 | IRI | F | F | F | F | +34N | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2376 | +3.0 |
| 26 | Dela Torre, Marife | 2070 | CAN | F | F | F | +34B | F | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2376 | +3.8 |
| 27 | Zivojinovic, Viktor | 1792 | CAN | −12N | =6B | −17N | −16N | −?B | 0.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.50 | 1031 | 0.0 |
| 28 | Stein, Michael | 1778 | CAN | F | F | −10N | −15B | =14N | 0.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.00 | 957 | -29.2 |
| 29 | Fines, John | 1815 | CAN | −1B | −13N | −9B | −6N | F | 0.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.00 | 945 | -26.0 |
| 30 | Molina, Jesus | 1834 | CAN | −4N | −22B | F | −7B | F | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.00 | 1087 | -34.4 |
| 31 | Schyngera, Eli | 1773 | CAN | −2N | F | F | F | F | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.00 | 1043 | -6.8 |
| 32 | Dhingra, Tanishq Kumar | 1805 | CAN | −3N | F | F | F | F | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 1040 | -7.6 |
| 33 | FIDE 2620812 | 1886 | — | −19B | F | −15N | F | F | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 883 | 0.0 |
| 34 | Papadatos, Stephen | 1815 | CAN | F | F | F | −26N | −25B | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 1050 | -13.6 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Smolkin, Ben GabrielCAN+60.04.5 pts · #1
- 2Nazareno, MerlinCAN+38.44.5 pts · #2
- 3Tenkov, ArkadiiCAN+32.02.5 pts · #7
- 1Molina, JesusCAN-34.40.0 pts · #33
- 2Lau, JaydenCAN-32.82.0 pts · #11
- 3Chen, AleksandrCAN-32.01.0 pts · #31
- R2+242 Elo gap
- R1+219 Elo gap
- R3+200 Elo gap