2026 Intermat Candidates Chess Tournament - 6th Grade
16 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 07 Mar 2026 to 08 Mar 2026 in Bellevue, WA, United States. 1 titled players from 2 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1730, and top seed was Akim Pikh (🇺🇦 UKR, 1994).
Rafael Palathingal (🇺🇸 USA, CM, 1960) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Miranda Meng (3.5) and Akim Pikh (3.5). Palathingal won solo starting round 3.
The biggest upset came in round 3: Aahan Sriram (1475) beat Alex Sibo Ye (1754), a +279-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsCM Rafael Palathingal led from R3; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up.
CM Rafael Palathingal never relinquished the lead after R3; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.
CM Rafael Palathingal beat Akim Pikh (Black).
CM Rafael Palathingal won 4 in a row (R1–R4).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1CMRafael Palathingal | * | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2Akim Pikh | 0 | * | — | — |
| 3Liam P Glaser | — | — | * | 0 |
| 4Miranda Meng | 0 | — | 1 | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palathingal, RafaelCM | 1960 | USA | +10N | +5B | +3N | +2B | =7B | 4.5 | 12.5 | 14.5 | 13.25 | 2114 | +30.4 |
| 2 | Meng, Miranda | 1714 | USA | +12N | +4B | =6N | −1N | +9B | 3.5 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 8.25 | 1769 | +10.0 |
| 3 | Pikh, Akim | 1994 | UKR | +11B | +8N | −1B | =6N | +5N | 3.5 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 8.25 | 1852 | -24.0 |
| 4 | Glaser, Liam P | 0 | USA | +9B | −2N | +12B | =7N | +6B | 3.5 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 7.25 | 1669 | 0.0 |
| 5 | Gao, Ziqian | 1752 | USA | +14B | −1N | +11B | +8N | −3B | 3.0 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 5.00 | 1796 | +13.2 |
| 6 | Ghosh, Snehil | 1597 | USA | =7B | +15N | =2B | =3B | −4N | 2.5 | 13.0 | 13.5 | 5.25 | 1885 | +57.2 |
| 7 | Zhou, Yuchen | 1694 | USA | =6N | +16B | F | =4B | =1N | 2.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 5.25 | 1778 | +7.2 |
| 8 | Rish-Brown, Jacob | 1617 | USA | +13N | −3B | +10N | −5B | F | 2.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 3.00 | 1740 | +22.8 |
| 9 | Pai, Vihaan | 1558 | USA | −4N | =12B | +16N | =13B | −2N | 2.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 1.25 | 1517 | -6.4 |
| 10 | Ganesan, Vidur | 1585 | USA | −1B | +14N | −8B | F | +15N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.50 | 1701 | +20.4 |
| 11 | Rish-Brown, Jackson | 1580 | USA | −3N | +13B | −5N | +16B | F | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.00 | 1662 | +8.8 |
| 12 | Avula, Guru Harshith | 1582 | USA | −2B | =9N | −4N | =15B | =13N | 1.5 | 10.0 | 10.5 | 1.75 | 1577 | -2.0 |
| 13 | Pan, Peng-Ruei | 1630 | USA | −8B | −11N | F | =9N | =12B | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.75 | 1391 | -50.4 |
| 14 | Sriram, Aahan | 1475 | USA | −5N | −10B | +15B | F | F | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.50 | 1572 | +12.8 |
| 15 | Ye, Alex Sibo | 1754 | USA | F | −6B | −14N | =12N | −10B | 0.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.75 | 1237 | -100.0 |
| 16 | FIDE 39943593 | 0 | — | F | −7N | −9B | −11N | F | 0.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 811 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Ghosh, SnehilUSA+57.22.5 pts · #5
- 2Palathingal, RafaelCMUSA+30.44.5 pts · #1
- 3Rish-Brown, JacobUSA+22.82.0 pts · #8
- 1Ye, Alex SiboUSA-100.00.5 pts · #15
- 2Pan, Peng-RueiUSA-50.41.0 pts · #13
- 3Pikh, AkimUKR-24.03.5 pts · #2
- R3+279 Elo gap
- R5+169 Elo gap
- R2+157 Elo gap