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2nd Annual MLK Day Open - Premier

Open SwissStandard

14 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 16 Jan 2026 to 18 Jan 2026 in Houston, TX, United States. 2 titled players from 3 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2003, and top seed was Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (🇨🇴 COL, GM, 2480).

Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (🇨🇴 COL, GM, 2480) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Ameya Haldankar (4.0) and Nicolas De La Colina (3.5). Ruiz Castillo won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 4: Ameya Haldankar (1849) beat Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (GM, 2480), a +631-point gap.

Location
🇺🇸Houston, TX, United States
Dates
16 Jan 2026 → 18 Jan 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Top seed
🇨🇴GMJoshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo2480
Avg top 10
2,003
Participants
14
Titled players · 2
GM×1
IM×1
Federations · 3 represented
🇺🇸United States of America×12
🇨🇴Colombia×1
🇿🇼Zimbabwe×1
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Tight race until R5; 2 players tied at 4.0/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 2 at the finish.

Co-leaders
5
1
1
2
2
1.52.545R1R2R3R4R5
Haldankar4Ruiz Castillo4De La Colina3.5Vivekananthan3.5Elliott3Bee2.5
R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

2 players finish on 4.0/5. Ruiz Castillo takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (14.0).

R4 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Ameya Haldankar beat GM Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (White).

R1–R3 · WIN STREAK

GM Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo won 3 in a row (R1–R3).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1Ameya Haldankar*
1
½
—
2GMJoshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo
0
*
1
1
3Nicolas De La Colina
½
0
*—
4IMAnish Vivekananthan—
0
—*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Ruiz Castillo, Joshua DanielGM2480COL+8B+5N+4B−2N+3N4.014.016.012.002405-2.1
2Haldankar, Ameya1849USA+12B=3B+10N+1B=5N4.011.512.59.252227+89.6
3De La Colina, Nicolas2172USA+7B=2N+11B+9N−1B3.512.013.07.002110-3.4
4Vivekananthan, AnishIM2412USA=14N+6B−1N+11B+7N3.59.510.05.752255-5.9
5Elliott, Alexander2009USA+10N−1B+12N=6B=2B3.011.512.55.251981-3.8
6Bee, Leonel1782USAF−4N+7B=5N+13B2.59.59.54.502033+48.0
7Liu, Songjie1777USA−3N+13B−6N+10B−4B2.010.511.52.001874+8.2
8Revellon, Lucas1782USA−1N−10B+14N−12B+11N2.07.07.51.501796-0.8
9Young, Patrick J1858USA+13NFF−3B+14N2.05.05.01.502048+14.0
10Chipfurutse, Alois1813ZIM−5B+8N−2B−7NF1.011.011.02.001661-15.8
11Bee, Karstein1842USAF+14B−3N−4N−8B1.09.59.50.501809-12.8
12Walker, Locke Scovell1694USA−2NF−5B+8NF1.09.09.02.001755+7.6
13Li, Alex1785USA−9B−7NF+14B−6N1.07.07.00.501615-17.4
14Chodniewicz, Asher1813USA=4B−11N−8B−13N−9B0.58.59.51.751530-62.4

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets
2nd Annual MLK Day Open - Premier (2026) — Houston, TX, United States | Chess Tournament Results | ChessStats