2025 Halifax Christmas Chess Festival - Open Championship
12 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 13 Dec 2025 to 14 Dec 2025 in Halifax, NS, Canada. 1 titled players from 4 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1606, and top seed was Calix Marchand (🇨🇦 CAN, FM, 2115).
Calix Marchand (🇨🇦 CAN, FM, 2115) won with 5.0/5, ahead of P Karthikeyan (3.5) and Alice Yancey (3.0). Marchand won solo starting round 3.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Han Zhang (1449) beat Elon Lau (1719), a +270-point gap.
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsFM Calix Marchand led from R3; +1.5-point edge over the runner-up.
FM Calix Marchand never relinquished the lead after R3; final gap +1.5 over the runner-up.
FM Calix Marchand beat P Karthikeyan (Black).
FM Calix Marchand won 5 in a row (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1FMCalix Marchand | * | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2P Karthikeyan | 0 | * | 1 | ½ |
| 3Noah Kirkegaard Rasmussen | — | 0 | * | — |
| 4Alice Yancey | 0 | ½ | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marchand, CalixFM | 2115 | CAN | +7N | +9B | +2N | +3B | +5N | 5.0 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 12.00 | 2588 | +23.6 |
| 2 | Karthikeyan, P | 1995 | IND | +4B | +5N | −1B | +7N | =3N | 3.5 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 8.50 | 1948 | -3.8 |
| 3 | Yancey, Alice | 1723 | CAN | +8N | +11B | =9N | −1N | =2B | 3.0 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 5.50 | 1856 | +24.0 |
| 4 | Rasmussen, Noah Kirkegaard | 1869 | DEN | −2N | +6B | +8N | −5B | +10N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 5.00 | 1796 | -14.4 |
| 5 | Fillmore, Louis | 1700 | CAN | +6B | −2B | =11N | +4N | −1B | 2.5 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 5.75 | 1863 | +19.6 |
| 6 | Singh, Agamnoor | 0 | CAN | −5N | −4N | F | +8B | +7B | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.00 | 1686 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Agam, Aakash | 0 | CAN | −1B | =12N | +10B | −2B | −6N | 1.5 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 1.75 | 1777 | 0.0 |
| 8 | Wolf, Moritz | 1864 | GER | −3B | =10N | −4B | −6N | +12N | 1.5 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 1.25 | 1648 | -46.8 |
| 9 | Zhang, Han | 1449 | CAN | +12B | −1N | =3B | F | F | 1.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.00 | 1764 | +43.2 |
| 10 | Sharma, Kaven | 1625 | CAN | −11N | =8B | −7N | +12B | −4B | 1.5 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 1.25 | 1817 | +29.2 |
| 11 | Robitaille, Samuel | 0 | CAN | +10B | −3N | =5B | F | F | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 2.75 | 1684 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Lau, Elon | 1719 | CAN | −9N | =7B | F | −10N | −8B | 0.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.75 | 846 | -70.8 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Zhang, HanCAN+43.21.5 pts · #7
- 2Sharma, KavenCAN+29.21.5 pts · #5
- 3Yancey, AliceCAN+24.03.0 pts · #4
- 1Lau, ElonCAN-70.80.5 pts · #12
- 2Wolf, MoritzGER-46.81.5 pts · #6
- 3Rasmussen, Noah KirkegaardDEN-14.43.0 pts · #3
- R1+270 Elo gap
- R4+169 Elo gap
- R1+141 Elo gap