33rd annual Western Class Championship - Expert

Open SwissStandard

46 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 06 Mar 2026 to 08 Mar 2026 in Irvine, CA, United States. 4 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1948, and top seed was Haotian Zheng (🇺🇸 USA, 1988).

Solomon Ruddell (🇺🇸 USA, 1985) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Drew Martin (4.0) and Pear Xu (4.0). Ruddell won solo starting round 4.

The biggest upset came in round 5: Rohan Daftuar (1626) beat Zelin Fang (1944), a +318-point gap.

Location

🇺🇸Irvine, CA, United States

Dates

06 Mar 2026 → 08 Mar 2026

Time control

Standard: 40 Moves in 80 Min. Del. 30 Sec. / / 30 Min. Del. 30 Sec.

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇺🇸Haotian Zheng1988

Avg top 10

1,948

Participants

Federations · 4 represented

🇺🇸United States of America×42

🇷🇺Russia×2

🇧🇷Brazil×1

🇦🇲Armenia×1

Top 3

🥇
Solomon Ruddell
🇺🇸USA·1985
4.5pts·2214perf+22.2
🥈
Drew Martin
🇺🇸USA·1870
4.0pts·2000perf+15.8
🥉
Pear Xu
🇺🇸USA·1795
4.0pts·1993perf+51.2

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Solomon Ruddell led from R4; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders

Ruddell4.5Martin4Xu4Zheng4Mokeeva4Golchin3.5

R4–R5 · LEAD HELD

Solomon Ruddell held the sole lead from R4 through R5 without losing it.

R2 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Solomon Ruddell beat Drew Martin (Black).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

Solomon Ruddell 4 wins (R1–R4)Drew Martin 3 wins (R3–R5)Pear Xu 3 wins (R3–R5)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Solomon Ruddell	*	1	—	—
2Drew Martin	0	*	—	—
3Pear Xu	—	—	*	—
4Haotian Zheng	—	—	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Ruddell, Solomon	1985	USA	+17B	+2N	+11B	+6N	=4B	4.5	14.5	16.5	14.50	2214	+22.2
2	Martin, Drew	1870	USA	+32B	−1B	+18N	+27N	+11B	4.0	11.0	12.0	7.50	2000	+15.8
3	Xu, Pear	1795	USA	+44B	−6B	+23N	+17N	+13B	4.0	10.0	10.0	6.50	1993	+51.2
4	Mokeeva, Zlata	1981	RUS	+38B	+10N	=40B	+37N	=1N	4.0	9.5	10.0	7.50	2069	+18.4
5	Zheng, Haotian	1988	USA	+39B	=36N	=27B	+35N	+21B	4.0	5.5	6.0	4.75	1946	-1.8
6	Scamehorn, Jackson	1747	USA	+34B	+3N	+13B	−1B	=8N	3.5	14.5	15.5	9.25	2001	+67.2
7	Ly, Terrence	1751	USA	F	+9B	=14N	+10B	+29N	3.5	10.5	10.5	9.25	2055	+45.2
8	Golchin, Kevin	1824	USA	=26B	=33N	+15B	+32N	=6B	3.5	8.5	9.5	6.50	1974	+20.2
9	Ma, Matthew	1791	USA	=33B	−7N	+46N	+30B	+24N	3.5	8.0	8.0	4.00	1886	+25.2
10	Vasquez, Trey	0	USA	+20N	−4B	+19B	−7N	+17B	3.0	11.5	13.5	6.00	1918	0.0
11	Ahsan, Nair	1735	USA	+45B	+35N	−1N	+22B	−2N	3.0	11.5	11.5	3.00	1865	+34.4
12	Simanovski, Davit	1810	ARM	F	F	+31B	+28N	+35B	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.00	2539	+48.4
13	Gazineu Neto, Rubens	1964	BRA	+16N	+18B	−6N	=29B	−3N	2.5	12.0	13.5	5.25	1748	-27.4
14	Bajoghli, Navid	1796	USA	F	+26N	=7B	−21N	+32B	2.5	8.0	8.0	4.25	1907	+11.8
15	Wang, Howard	1896	USA	F	=28B	−8N	+44B	+37N	2.5	6.0	6.0	1.75	1786	-18.8
16	Zheng, Yiyang	1734	USA	−13B	−19N	=34N	+39B	+44N	2.5	6.0	6.0	1.00	1734	+0.4
17	Senthil, Girish	1908	USA	−1N	+34B	+39N	−3B	−10N	2.0	12.5	13.0	1.50	1780	-25.2
18	Xu, Olivia	1705	USA	+19B	−13N	−2B	−20N	+34B	2.0	10.5	11.5	3.00	1804	+23.2
19	Joseph, Veronique	1910	USA	−18N	+16B	−10N	=26B	=30N	2.0	9.0	10.5	4.00	1745	-32.8
20	Fang, Zelin	1944	USA	−10B	−38N	+45N	+18B	−22N	2.0	8.0	8.0	2.00	1733	-42.0
21	Wang, Yuqi	1928	USA	F	F	+38N	+14B	−5N	2.0	7.5	7.5	3.50	1978	+4.0
22	Daftuar, Rohan	1626	USA	F	F	+33B	−11N	+20B	2.0	6.0	6.0	3.00	1990	+54.4
23	Maheshwari, Rayansh	1688	USA	F	F	−3B	+33N	+36B	2.0	6.0	6.0	2.00	1864	+27.6
24	Chen, Renae	1681	USA	F	+41N	−37B	+42N	−9B	2.0	5.5	5.5	1.00	1749	+15.2
25	Murray, Jacob	1689	USA	F	F	+36B	+40N	F	2.0	1.5	1.5	1.50	2532	+43.6
26	Lew, Evan Jet	1906	USA	=8N	−14B	F	=19N	=42B	1.5	8.5	8.5	3.00	1719	-41.2
27	Powers, Victor	1711	USA	F	F	=5N	−2B	+43N	1.5	8.5	8.5	2.50	1888	+26.8
28	Krishna, Sai	1655	USA	F	=15N	−32B	−12B	+41N	1.5	7.0	7.0	1.75	1686	+4.4
29	Jargalsaikhan, Ochir	1760	USA	F	F	+42B	=13N	−7B	1.5	6.5	6.5	1.75	1803	+6.4
30	Ju, Jason Jialong	1636	USA	F	F	+41B	−9N	=19B	1.5	6.0	6.0	1.50	1807	+26.4
31	Chen, Tony	1904	USA	F	F	−12N	+45B	=39N	1.5	3.5	3.5	0.25	1762	-22.0
32	Boyle, Gary	1664	USA	−2N	F	+28N	−8B	−14N	1.0	11.5	11.5	1.50	1594	-14.4
33	Venkat, Varun	1915	USA	=9N	=8B	−22N	−23B	F	1.0	11.0	11.0	3.50	1539	-76.8
34	Yu, Benjamin	1692	USA	−6N	−17N	=16B	=41B	−18N	1.0	10.0	10.5	1.50	1523	-41.2
35	Long, Ethan	1656	USA	F	−11B	+44N	−5B	−12N	1.0	10.0	10.0	0.00	1555	-22.4
36	Margalit, Ryder Sebastian	1485	USA	F	=5B	−25N	=43B	−23N	1.0	8.5	8.5	2.25	1580	+10.0
37	He, William Z	1787	USA	F	F	+24N	−4B	−15B	1.0	8.5	8.5	2.00	1727	-10.0
38	He, Bonnie	1774	USA	−4N	+20B	−21B	F	F	1.0	8.0	8.0	2.00	1826	+7.6
39	Nemeth, Jake	1649	USA	−5N	F	−17B	−16N	=31B	0.5	10.0	10.0	0.75	1561	-14.8
40	Delijani, Taja	1957	USA	F	F	=4N	−25B	F	0.5	6.0	6.0	2.00	1642	-32.0
41	Zhong, Andy	1723	USA	F	−24B	−30N	=34N	−28B	0.5	6.0	6.0	0.50	1344	-72.4
42	Galstyan, David G	1695	RUS	F	F	−29N	−24B	=26N	0.5	5.0	5.0	0.75	1509	-26.4
43	Kinney, Travis Blaise	1807	USA	F	F	F	=36N	−27B	0.5	2.5	2.5	0.50	1416	-39.2
44	Whitaker, Robert D	1458	USA	−3N	F	−35B	−15N	−16B	0.0	10.0	10.0	0.00	961	-12.2
45	Lin, Ashley	1828	USA	−11N	F	−20B	−31N	F	0.0	6.5	6.5	0.00	1061	-54.4
46	Abadesco, Jon Cristoff	1704	USA	F	F	−9B	F	F	0.0	3.5	3.5	0.00	991	-15.2

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Scamehorn, JacksonUSA
+67.2
3.5 pts · #7
2Daftuar, RohanUSA
+54.4
2.0 pts · #18
3Xu, PearUSA
+51.2
4.0 pts · #3

Top rating losers

1Venkat, VarunUSA
-76.8
1.0 pts · #33
2Zhong, AndyUSA
-72.4
0.5 pts · #39
3Lin, AshleyUSA
-54.4
0.0 pts · #46

Biggest upsets

R5+318 Elo gap
Daftuar, Rohan1626 beat Fang, Zelin1944
R3+289 Elo gap
Daftuar, Rohan1626 beat Venkat, Varun1915
R4+268 Elo gap
Murray, Jacob1689 beat Delijani, Taja1957