CChessStats

2026 Intermat Candidates Chess Tournament - 6th Grade

Open SwissStandard

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.

Location
🇺🇸Bellevue, WA, United States
Dates
07 Mar 2026 → 08 Mar 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Top seed
🇺🇦Akim Pikh1994
Avg top 10
1,730
Participants
16
Titled players · 1
CM×1
Federations · 2 represented
🇺🇸United States of America×14
🇺🇦Ukraine×1
Top 3
  • 🥇
    CMRafael Palathingal
    🇺🇸USA·1960
    4.5pts·2114perf+30.4
  • 🥈
    Miranda Meng
    🇺🇸USA·1714
    3.5pts·1769perf+10.0
  • 🥉
    Akim Pikh
    🇺🇦UKR·1994
    3.5pts·1852perf-24.0

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

CM Rafael Palathingal led from R3; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders
6
3
1
1
1
1.52.545R1R2R3R4R5
Palathingal4.5Pikh3.5Glaser3.5Meng3.5Gao3Ghosh2.5
R3–R5 · LEAD HELD

CM Rafael Palathingal never relinquished the lead after R3; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.

R3 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

CM Rafael Palathingal beat Akim Pikh (Black).

R1–R4 · WIN STREAK

CM Rafael Palathingal won 4 in a row (R1–R4).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1CMRafael Palathingal*
1
—
1
2Akim Pikh
0
*——
3Liam P Glaser——*
0
4Miranda Meng
0
—
1
*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Palathingal, RafaelCM1960USA+10N+5B+3N+2B=7B4.512.514.513.252114+30.4
2Meng, Miranda1714USA+12N+4B=6N−1N+9B3.512.514.08.251769+10.0
3Pikh, Akim1994UKR+11B+8N−1B=6N+5N3.512.014.08.251852-24.0
4Glaser, Liam P0USA+9B−2N+12B=7N+6B3.510.512.07.2516690.0
5Gao, Ziqian1752USA+14B−1N+11B+8N−3B3.012.013.05.001796+13.2
6Ghosh, Snehil1597USA=7B+15N=2B=3B−4N2.513.013.55.251885+57.2
7Zhou, Yuchen1694USA=6N+16BF=4B=1N2.510.510.55.251778+7.2
8Rish-Brown, Jacob1617USA+13N−3B+10N−5BF2.09.59.53.001740+22.8
9Pai, Vihaan1558USA−4N=12B+16N=13B−2N2.09.59.51.251517-6.4
10Ganesan, Vidur1585USA−1B+14N−8BF+15N2.08.08.01.501701+20.4
11Rish-Brown, Jackson1580USA−3N+13B−5N+16BF2.07.57.51.001662+8.8
12Avula, Guru Harshith1582USA−2B=9N−4N=15B=13N1.510.010.51.751577-2.0
13Pan, Peng-Ruei1630USA−8B−11NF=9N=12B1.07.57.51.751391-50.4
14Sriram, Aahan1475USA−5N−10B+15BFF1.05.55.50.501572+12.8
15Ye, Alex Sibo1754USAF−6B−14N=12N−10B0.57.07.00.751237-100.0
16FIDE 399435930—F−7N−9B−11NF0.06.56.50.008110.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers
Biggest upsets
2026 Intermat Candidates Chess Tournament - 6th Grade — Bellevue, WA, United States | Chess Tournament Results | ChessStats