2026 Victoria Championship, Premier Section

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41 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 09 Jan 2026 to 11 Jan 2026 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. 7 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1997, and top seed was Duc Minh Lai (🇻🇳 VIE, 2354).

Duc Minh Lai (🇻🇳 VIE, 2354) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Roger Patterson (4.0) and Karson Lu (4.0). Lai won solo starting round 3.

The biggest upset came in round 5: Michael John Pascual (1411) beat George Kosinski (1674), a +263-point gap.

Location

🇨🇦Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Dates

09 Jan 2026 → 11 Jan 2026

Time control

Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇻🇳Duc Minh Lai2354

Avg top 10

1,997

Participants

Federations · 7 represented

🇨🇦Canada×33

🇮🇳India×2

🇧🇷Brazil×1

🇪🇹Ethiopia×1

🇬🇧England×1

🇷🇺Russia×1

🇻🇳Vietnam×1

Top 3

🥇
Duc Minh Lai
🇻🇳VIE·2354
4.5pts·2276perf+14.4
🥈
Roger Patterson
🇨🇦CAN·1998
4.0pts·2141perf+12.2
🥉
Karson Lu
🇨🇦CAN·1961
4.0pts·1874perf+13.2

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Duc Minh Lai led from R3; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders

Lai4.5Zarikoff4Manguerra4Patterson4Lu4Sali3.5

R3–R5 · LEAD HELD

Duc Minh Lai held the sole lead from R3 through R5 without losing it.

R1 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Duc Minh Lai beat Nikolai Zarikoff (Black).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

Duc Minh Lai 4 wins (R1–R4)Nikolai Zarikoff 4 wins (R2–R5)Raymond Manguerra 3 wins (R3–R5)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Duc Minh Lai	*	1	—	½
2Nikolai Zarikoff	0	*	—	—
3Raymond Manguerra	—	—	*	—
4Roger Patterson	½	—	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Lai, Duc Minh	2354	VIE	+5N	+19B	+6N	+7B	=2N	4.5	15.0	17.0	15.00	2276	+14.4
2	Patterson, Roger	1998	CAN	+22N	+12B	=10N	+13B	=1B	4.0	13.5	15.5	11.75	2141	+12.2
3	Lu, Karson	1961	CAN	+35N	+26B	=11N	=10B	+8B	4.0	11.5	12.5	9.50	1874	+13.2
4	Manguerra, Raymond	1632	CAN	+27N	−6B	+18N	+17B	+10N	4.0	10.5	12.5	9.00	1752	0.0
5	Zarikoff, Nikolai	1716	CAN	−1B	+41N	+38B	+32N	+14B	4.0	10.0	10.0	5.50	1997	+52.0
6	Armstrong, David	1883	CAN	+16B	+4N	−1B	+20N	=9B	3.5	14.5	16.5	10.25	1878	+3.2
7	Sali, Zulfikar	2142	ENG	+32B	+14N	=8B	−1N	+16B	3.5	13.5	15.0	8.75	1980	-10.4
8	Bulga, Tamir	1847	CAN	+28N	+17B	=7N	+11B	−3N	3.5	12.5	14.5	8.75	1894	+2.2
9	Shumeyko, Denis	1791	RUS	=29N	=21B	+19N	+12B	=6N	3.5	10.5	12.5	8.75	1934	+68.4
10	Miller, Josh	1774	CAN	+18B	+20N	=2B	=3N	−4B	3.0	14.0	16.0	8.00	1859	0.0
11	Divyam Puri	1692	IND	+15B	+38N	=3B	−8N	=13N	3.0	13.5	14.5	7.50	1774	+54.8
12	Climenhaga, Harold	1627	CAN	+31B	−2N	+24B	−9N	+20B	3.0	11.5	13.5	6.00	1770	0.0
13	Sargent, Colin	1715	CAN	=36N	+33B	+23N	−2N	=11B	3.0	10.5	11.5	5.50	1680	-21.6
14	Holmgren, Emilian	1756	CAN	+37N	−7B	+35N	+26B	−5N	3.0	10.5	11.5	4.00	1094	-14.8
15	Brown, Darrend	0	CAN	−11N	+34B	−17N	+18B	+25N	3.0	9.0	10.5	5.50	1690	0.0
16	Tripathi Ishan	1640	IND	−6N	+27B	=21N	+23B	−7N	2.5	11.0	13.0	5.00	1758	+56.4
17	Dos Santos, Nicolau Machado O.	1614	BRA	+30B	−8N	+15B	−4N	F	2.0	12.5	12.5	5.00	1088	-16.8
18	McLean, Taylor	1598	CAN	−10N	+25B	−4B	−15N	+40B	2.0	12.0	12.0	2.00	2627	+30.4
19	Mingrone, Peter	1997	CAN	+41B	−1N	−9B	=24N	=33B	2.0	11.5	11.5	1.75	1681	-16.6
20	Forman, Ken	1783	CAN	+39N	−10B	+36N	−6B	−12N	2.0	10.5	11.0	1.50	1688	-19.6
21	Sowmiya Narayanan, Seshadri Sai	1464	CAN	=24B	=9N	=16B	−29N	=23B	2.0	10.0	12.0	5.00	1633	-19.6
22	Beech, Austin	1726	CAN	−2B	=31N	−25B	+40N	=24B	2.0	10.0	10.0	2.00	1578	-20.8
23	Campbell, Jordan	1672	CAN	+25N	=29B	−13B	−16N	=21N	2.0	9.5	11.5	4.00	1691	-26.8
24	Gray, Kayla	1698	CAN	=21N	=36B	−12N	=19B	=22N	2.0	9.0	10.0	3.50	1668	+1.2
25	Teklemariam, Hailay Mezgebo	1702	ETH	−23B	−18N	+22N	+37B	−15B	2.0	9.0	10.0	3.00	1572	-40.8
26	Harris, Philip	1905	CAN	+40B	−3N	+30B	−14N	F	2.0	9.0	9.0	2.00	889	0.0
27	Sullivan, Brian	1561	CAN	−4B	−16N	+41B	+28B	F	2.0	8.5	8.5	2.00	1607	+8.4
28	Pennie, Nicolas	1632	CAN	−8B	−30N	+40B	−27N	+36B	2.0	8.5	8.5	1.00	1505	0.0
29	McLaren, Brian	2088	CAN	=9B	=23N	F	+21B	F	2.0	7.5	7.5	4.75	1816	-9.4
30	FIDE 2683377	0	—	−17N	+28B	−26N	F	+32B	2.0	7.5	7.5	3.50	1761	0.0
31	Szeto, Jordan	1423	CAN	−12N	=22B	=37N	+35B	F	2.0	7.0	7.0	2.50	1672	+3.2
32	Leblanc, Paul	1705	CAN	−7N	=37B	+33N	−5B	−30N	1.5	11.0	12.0	2.00	1129	-9.2
33	Smith, Bruce	1653	CAN	F	−13N	−32B	+36B	=19N	1.5	7.5	7.5	2.00	1611	0.0
34	Pascual, Michael John	1411	CAN	−38B	−15N	=39B	F	+35N	1.5	5.5	5.5	1.25	853	0.0
35	Kosinski, George	1674	CAN	−3B	+40N	−14B	−31N	−34B	1.0	10.5	10.5	0.00	865	0.0
36	Barker, Rhyland	1396	CAN	=13B	=24N	−20B	−33N	−28N	1.0	9.0	10.5	2.50	1657	+21.2
37	Palmgren, Anders	1614	CAN	−14B	=32N	=31B	−25N	F	1.0	8.5	8.5	1.75	1494	0.0
38	Wangluo, Joanne	1719	CAN	+34N	−11B	−5N	F	F	1.0	8.5	8.5	1.50	823	-42.8
39	Faber, Jelle	1574	CAN	−20B	F	=34N	F	F	0.5	3.5	3.5	0.75	1112	0.0
40	Blanchard, Malcolm	1434	CAN	−26N	−35B	−28N	−22B	−18N	0.0	8.0	9.0	0.00	849	0.0
41	Soare, Trevor	1291	CAN	−19N	−5B	−27N	F	F	0.0	8.0	8.0	0.00	906	-58.4

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Shumeyko, DenisRUS
+68.4
3.5 pts · #7
2Tripathi IshanIND
+56.4
2.5 pts · #11
3Divyam PuriIND
+54.8
3.0 pts · #13

Top rating losers

1Soare, TrevorCAN
-58.4
0.0 pts · #41
2Wangluo, JoanneCAN
-42.8
1.0 pts · #34
3Teklemariam, Hailay MezgeboETH
-40.8
2.0 pts · #30

Biggest upsets

R5+263 Elo gap
Pascual, Michael John1411 beat Kosinski, George1674
R4+251 Elo gap
Szeto, Jordan1423 beat Kosinski, George1674
R3+206 Elo gap
Shumeyko, Denis1791 beat Mingrone, Peter1997