4th Annual Newcomb Memorial Tournament
10 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 23 Jan 2026 to 25 Jan 2026 in Oak Grove, VA, United States. 3 titled players. Top 10 Elo average was 1992, and top seed was Jianchao Zhou (🇺🇸 USA, GM, 2589).
Jianchao Zhou (🇺🇸 USA, GM, 2589) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Igor Novikov (4.0) and Praveen Balakrishnan (2.5). Zhou won solo starting round 3.
The biggest upset came in round 2: Anay Bhargava (1454) beat Anirudh P Ghodgaonkar (1883), a +429-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsGM Jianchao Zhou led from R3; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.
GM Jianchao Zhou held the sole lead from R3 through R5 without losing it.
GM Jianchao Zhou drew with GM Igor Novikov (White).
GM Jianchao Zhou won 3 in a row (R1–R3).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GMJianchao Zhou | * | ½ | — | 1 |
| 2GMIgor Novikov | ½ | * | ½ | — |
| 3GMPraveen Balakrishnan | — | ½ | * | — |
| 4Alexander Zlodorev | 0 | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhou, JianchaoGM | 2589 | USA | +10N | +5B | +4N | =2B | +7B | 4.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 6.50 | 2614 | +1.8 |
| 2 | Novikov, IgorGM | 2483 | USA | +6N | =3B | +7N | =1N | +5B | 4.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 7.50 | 2505 | +3.9 |
| 3 | Balakrishnan, PraveenGM | 2488 | USA | +8B | =2N | +5B | F | F | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.00 | 2493 | +1.5 |
| 4 | Zlodorev, Alexander | 2073 | USA | +7N | +10B | −1B | F | F | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.00 | 2119 | +8.0 |
| 5 | Collier, Philip | 1656 | USA | +9B | −1N | −3N | =6B | −2N | 1.5 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 1.25 | 1776 | +9.2 |
| 6 | Iyer, Vedanth | 1695 | USA | −2B | =9N | =8B | =5N | F | 1.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.25 | 1762 | +7.6 |
| 7 | Bhargava, Anay | 1454 | USA | −4B | +8N | −2B | F | −1N | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 0.50 | 1654 | +27.2 |
| 8 | Ghodgaonkar, Anirudh P | 1883 | USA | −3N | −7B | =6N | F | F | 0.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.75 | 1548 | -49.6 |
| 9 | Gao, Pinhang | 1759 | USA | −5N | =6B | F | F | F | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.75 | 1483 | -29.2 |
| 10 | Hamilton, Timothy | 1836 | USA | −1B | −4N | F | F | F | 0.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 1355 | -5.6 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Bhargava, AnayUSA+27.21.0 pts · #7
- 2Collier, PhilipUSA+9.21.5 pts · #6
- 3Zlodorev, AlexanderUSA+8.02.0 pts · #4
- 1Ghodgaonkar, Anirudh PUSA-49.60.5 pts · #9
- 2Gao, PinhangUSA-29.20.5 pts · #8
- 3Hamilton, TimothyUSA-5.60.0 pts · #10
- R2+429 Elo gap
- R1+103 Elo gap