63rd Annual Baltimore Open - Championship

SwissStandard

40 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 30 Jan 2026 to 01 Feb 2026 in Linthicum, MD, United States. 19 titled players from 3 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2370, and top seed was Praveen Balakrishnan (🇺🇸 USA, GM, 2488).

Erick Garcia (🇺🇸 USA, 2085) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (4.0) and Praveen Balakrishnan (4.0). Garcia shared the lead from round 4, winning on tie-break.

The biggest upset came in round 4: Erick Garcia (2085) beat L M S T De Silva (IM, 2404), a +319-point gap.

Location

🇺🇸Linthicum, MD, United States

Dates

30 Jan 2026 → 01 Feb 2026

Time control

Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇺🇸GMPraveen Balakrishnan2488

Avg top 10

2,370

Participants

Titled players · 19

GM×4

IM×3

FM×4

CM×6

WFM×2

Federations · 3 represented

🇺🇸United States of America×38

🇮🇳India×1

🇱🇰Sri Lanka×1

Top 3

🥇
Erick Garcia
🇺🇸USA·2085
4.0pts·2467perf+44.8
🥈
IMAleksandr Ostrovskiy
🇺🇸USA·2367
4.0pts·2344perf-0.5
🥉
GMPraveen Balakrishnan
🇺🇸USA·2488
4.0pts·2413perf-2.6

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Tight race until R5; 3 players tied at 4.0/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 3 at the finish.

Co-leaders

Garcia4Balakrishnan4Ostrovskiy4Kraai3.5De Silva3.5Kalpaka3.5

R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

3 players finish on 4.0/5. Garcia takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (14.0).

WIN STREAKS · 2 top finishers

GM Praveen Balakrishnan 3 wins (R3–R5)IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy 3 wins (R2–R4)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Erick Garcia	*	—	½	—
2GMPraveen Balakrishnan	—	*	—	—
3IMAleksandr Ostrovskiy	½	—	*	—
4GMJesse Kraai	—	—	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Garcia, Erick	2085	USA	+12B	=8N	+22B	+6N	=2B	4.0	14.0	16.0	12.25	2467	+44.8
2	Ostrovskiy, AleksandrIM	2367	USA	=23N	+24B	+19B	+5N	=1N	4.0	11.5	13.5	10.50	2344	-0.5
3	Balakrishnan, PraveenGM	2488	USA	+26B	−4N	+40B	+13N	+9B	4.0	10.5	10.5	7.00	2413	-2.6
4	Girsh, DanielFM	2268	USA	+17N	+3B	=6B	=9N	=10N	3.5	13.5	16.0	11.25	2460	+27.2
5	Vaibhav KalpakaFM	2184	IND	+29N	+10B	=9N	−2B	+13N	3.5	12.5	14.0	8.50	2407	+29.2
6	De Silva, L M S TIM	2404	SRI	+16N	+20B	=4N	−1B	+19B	3.5	12.0	14.0	8.25	2282	-5.8
7	Kraai, JesseGM	2379	USA	+11B	=13N	=25B	+28N	=8B	3.5	11.0	12.5	8.50	2321	-2.1
8	Novikov, IgorGM	2483	USA	+34N	=1B	=28N	+21B	=7N	3.5	11.0	12.0	7.50	2295	-8.1
9	Jing, AndrewFM	2317	USA	+14B	+30N	=5B	=4B	−3N	3.0	13.5	15.0	7.50	2282	-3.2
10	De Firmian, NickGM	2444	USA	+36B	−5N	+11B	=25N	=4B	3.0	12.0	12.5	6.25	2220	-12.1
11	Xu, ShawnCM	2080	USA	−7N	+29B	−10N	+39B	+20N	3.0	10.0	10.0	3.50	2265	+44.4
12	Shin, Luke	1930	USA	−1N	+34B	=20N	+27B	=21N	3.0	9.5	10.5	4.50	2146	+58.4
13	Yang, AimeeWFM	2103	USA	+31N	=7B	+35N	−3B	−5B	2.5	12.5	13.5	4.25	2254	+34.4
14	Gurumoorthi, Gurugrahan	2040	USA	−9N	+31B	=27N	−15N	+37B	2.5	8.5	9.0	2.75	2068	+5.6
15	Wang, Aaron	1978	USA	=22N	−35B	+24N	+14B	F	2.5	7.5	7.5	5.50	2149	+34.8
16	Doddapaneni, Viyaan Krishna	2021	USA	−6B	+39N	+37B	−19N	=33N	2.5	7.5	7.5	1.25	2130	+24.8
17	Xin, StellaCM	1904	USA	−4B	+36N	=32B	+40N	−25B	2.5	7.5	7.5	1.25	2106	+49.6
18	Huang, Charles	1875	USA	=27N	=21B	=38N	=20B	=32N	2.5	7.0	7.5	3.75	2098	+54.0
19	Zhuang, Kyle	2220	USA	F	+23B	−2N	+16B	−6N	2.0	12.0	12.0	4.50	2214	-1.2
20	Zlodorev, Alexander	2073	USA	+39B	−6N	=12B	=18N	−11B	2.0	12.0	12.0	2.75	1988	-25.6
21	Wang, Kevin	2023	USA	F	=18N	+30B	−8N	=12B	2.0	10.5	10.5	4.25	2075	+6.4
22	Kennedy, Aiden	1951	USA	=15B	+26N	−1N	=23B	F	2.0	10.0	10.0	3.75	2033	+18.0
23	LeBakken, Lukas WCM	2065	USA	=2B	−19N	+26B	=22N	−28B	2.0	9.5	11.0	4.50	2042	-9.6
24	Ben Jemaa, Munir	1969	USA	F	−2N	−15B	+30N	+31B	2.0	9.5	9.5	3.00	2096	+11.4
25	Yue, TariqCM	2163	USA	F	F	=7N	=10B	+17N	2.0	9.0	9.0	5.75	2367	+32.0
26	Bhoopathi, Rishith	2002	USA	−3N	−22B	−23N	+29N	=30B	1.5	9.5	11.0	2.25	1961	-14.8
27	Kozower, Ethan	2089	USA	=18B	=33N	=14B	−12N	F	1.5	9.5	9.5	3.25	1882	-22.6
28	Rychkov, Roman	2030	USA	F	F	=8B	−7B	+23N	1.5	9.0	9.0	3.75	2291	+17.2
29	Li, Aiden LinyuanCM	2060	USA	−5B	−11N	=34N	−26B	+39N	1.5	9.0	9.0	0.50	1926	-35.6
30	Vyas, Miransh Purven	2071	USA	+35N	−9B	−21N	−24B	=26N	1.5	8.5	9.5	1.75	1964	-28.5
31	Yue, Andy	1967	USA	−13B	−14N	+36B	=37N	−24N	1.5	7.5	8.0	0.75	1880	-22.8
32	Levine, Owen	2030	USA	F	F	=17N	=33B	=18B	1.5	6.5	6.5	3.25	1936	-15.2
33	Li, Mason J	2030	USA	F	=27B	F	=32N	=16B	1.5	5.5	5.5	2.75	2047	+2.8
34	Liu, StevenCM	2099	USA	−8B	−12N	=29B	F	=36N	1.0	8.5	8.5	1.00	1937	-37.6
35	Cherukuri, NiteshFM	2256	USA	−30B	+15N	−13B	F	F	1.0	6.5	6.5	2.50	1926	-50.8
36	Wang, LaceyWFM	2046	USA	−10N	−17B	−31N	F	=34B	0.5	8.0	8.0	0.50	1781	-52.4
37	Debmisra, Ariv	1987	USA	F	F	−16N	=31B	−14N	0.5	6.5	6.5	0.75	1736	-36.4
38	Sarkar, JustinIM	2290	USA	F	F	=18B	F	F	0.5	2.5	2.5	1.25	1890	-4.2
39	Chang, Leonhard	2011	USA	−20N	−16B	F	−11N	−29B	0.0	9.0	9.0	0.00	1258	-69.2
40	Kumbharathi, Vedansh	2021	USA	F	F	−3N	−17B	F	0.0	6.5	6.5	0.00	1363	-29.6

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Shin, LukeUSA
+58.4
3.0 pts · #12
2Huang, CharlesUSA
+54.0
2.5 pts · #13
3Xin, StellaCMUSA
+49.6
2.5 pts · #17

Top rating losers

1Chang, LeonhardUSA
-69.2
0.0 pts · #40
2Wang, LaceyWFMUSA
-52.4
0.5 pts · #37
3Cherukuri, NiteshFMUSA
-50.8
1.0 pts · #34

Biggest upsets

R4+319 Elo gap
Garcia, Erick2085 beat IMDe Silva, L M S T2404
R2+260 Elo gap
FMVaibhav Kalpaka2184 beat GMDe Firmian, Nick2444
R2+220 Elo gap
FMGirsh, Daniel2268 beat GMBalakrishnan, Praveen2488