2026 Harmon Memorial Chess Tournament - Gondor Open

Open SwissStandard

45 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 11 Apr 2026 to 12 Apr 2026 in Bellevue, WA, United States. 6 titled players from 5 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2121, and top seed was Stephen Willy (🇺🇸 USA, FM, 2291).

Nikash Vemparala (🇺🇸 USA, CM, 2202) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Jason Cigan (4.0) and Alexander Costello (4.0). Vemparala broke clear in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 1: Arnav Gadde (1757) beat Vidip Kona (CM, 2131), a +374-point gap.

Location

🇺🇸Bellevue, WA, United States

Dates

11 Apr 2026 → 12 Apr 2026

Time control

Standard: 30 Moves in 75 Min. Incr. 30 Sec. / / 30 Min. Incr. 30 Sec.

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇺🇸FMStephen Willy2291

Avg top 10

2,121

Participants

Titled players · 6

IM×1

FM×1

CM×4

Federations · 5 represented

🇺🇸United States of America×33

🇨🇦Canada×7

🇮🇳India×2

🇺🇦Ukraine×2

🇸🇬Singapore×1

Top 3

🥇
CMNikash Vemparala
🇺🇸USA·2202
4.5pts·2303perf+18.8
🥈
Jason Cigan
🇺🇸USA·2087
4.0pts·2179perf+11.8
🥉
IMAlexander Costello
🇺🇸USA·2263
4.0pts·2197perf-4.0

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

CM Nikash Vemparala led from R3; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders

Vemparala4.5Lu4Summerfield4Cigan4Costello4Suresh3.5

R3–R5 · LEAD HELD

CM Nikash Vemparala held the sole lead from R3 through R5 without losing it.

WIN STREAKS · 2 top finishers

CM Nikash Vemparala 3 wins (R1–R3)CM Yiding Lu 3 wins (R3–R5)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1CMNikash Vemparala	*	—	—	½
2CMYiding Lu	—	*	—	—
3William Summerfield	—	—	*	—
4Jason Cigan	½	—	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Vemparala, NikashCM	2202	USA	+25N	+11B	+14N	=2B	+6N	4.5	13.5	15.5	13.50	2303	+18.8
2	Cigan, Jason	2087	USA	+28B	+9N	=17B	=1N	+10B	4.0	13.0	15.0	11.50	2179	+11.8
3	Costello, AlexanderIM	2263	USA	+39N	+40B	=6N	+7B	=5N	4.0	12.0	13.0	9.25	2197	-4.0
4	Lu, YidingCM	2100	USA	+30B	−17N	+18B	+9N	+8B	4.0	11.0	12.5	10.00	2044	-8.0
5	Summerfield, William	2140	USA	+22N	=24B	+31N	+21B	=3B	4.0	11.0	12.5	9.50	2140	+8.4
6	Jammalamadaka, VihaanCM	2054	USA	+19N	+20B	=3B	+17N	−1B	3.5	13.5	16.0	9.50	2129	+24.0
7	Suresh, Barath Subramanian	1852	CAN	=8B	+29N	+34B	−3N	+17B	3.5	11.0	12.5	7.00	2023	+41.2
8	Zhou, Yuchen	1702	USA	=7N	=13B	+40N	+37B	−4N	3.0	12.0	13.0	5.75	1982	+70.4
9	Lee, Brian	1890	USA	+38N	−2B	+36N	−4B	+25N	3.0	11.5	12.5	4.50	1906	+4.6
10	Pikh, Akim	1970	UKR	=29B	=12N	+42N	+16B	−2N	3.0	11.5	12.0	5.75	1862	-22.0
11	Shenoy Siddharth	1713	IND	+35B	−1N	+32B	−12N	+24B	3.0	11.0	12.5	5.00	1827	+13.2
12	Yin, Andrew	1694	CAN	F	=10B	+25N	+11B	=13N	3.0	11.0	11.0	8.00	2066	+71.4
13	Gavrish, Leonid	1960	UKR	F	=8N	+19B	+26N	=12B	3.0	10.5	10.5	7.50	2040	+8.4
14	Yao, Lucas Mason Pin Qian	1895	CAN	+23B	+32N	−1B	+24N	F	3.0	10.5	10.5	6.00	2020	+24.8
15	Kona, VidipCM	2131	USA	−24N	+22B	=20N	+31B	=21N	3.0	9.5	11.0	6.50	1896	-49.2
16	Pupols, Viktors	1826	USA	+45B	=34N	=24B	−10N	+20N	3.0	9.0	9.0	4.25	1897	+9.6
17	Thorwe Pratik	1840	IND	+41N	+4B	=2N	−6B	−7N	2.5	15.0	16.0	7.00	1961	+15.0
18	Mohan, Vishnu	1890	USA	−26N	+33B	−4N	+27B	=19N	2.5	10.5	12.0	4.75	1874	-7.2
19	Nallappa, Vijay	1701	USA	−6B	+35N	−13N	+36B	=18B	2.5	10.5	12.0	4.25	1822	+27.6
20	Garine, Ujwal	1892	USA	+42B	−6N	=15B	+38N	−16B	2.5	10.5	11.0	3.00	1831	-12.4
21	Kuipers, Miles Yongkang	1976	USA	+33N	+26B	F	−5N	=15B	2.5	10.5	10.5	5.00	2137	+17.8
22	Gao, Ziqian	1765	USA	−5B	−15N	+43B	=29N	+38B	2.5	9.5	10.0	2.25	1862	+19.2
23	Liu, Bichen	1733	USA	−14N	=39B	=30B	=32N	+29B	2.5	7.5	8.5	3.50	1751	+4.8
24	Gadde, Arnav	1757	USA	+15B	=5N	=16N	−14B	−11N	2.0	13.0	16.0	6.50	1869	+21.6
25	Bharathy Mohan, Aarav Sai	1847	USA	−1B	+43N	−12B	+42N	−9B	2.0	11.0	11.5	1.00	1767	-24.8
26	Willy, StephenFM	2291	USA	+18B	−21N	+27N	−13B	F	2.0	10.0	10.0	4.50	1930	-31.6
27	Mulye, Tejas	1672	USA	F	+44N	−26B	−18N	+30B	2.0	6.5	6.5	2.00	1761	+9.2
28	Yondon, Odbayar	1791	USA	−2N	−38B	F	+45N	+33B	2.0	6.5	6.5	1.50	1718	-15.6
29	Meng, Miranda	1725	USA	=10N	−7B	=39N	=22B	−23N	1.5	11.5	12.5	3.25	1680	-12.8
30	Wangluo, Joanne	1695	CAN	−4N	=41B	=23N	=33B	−27N	1.5	10.0	11.0	2.50	1614	-26.4
31	Raja, Rian	1727	USA	=44B	+37N	−5B	−15N	−32B	1.5	10.0	10.5	1.75	1731	-7.2
32	Wu, Harry	1616	USA	F	−14B	−11N	=23B	+31N	1.5	10.0	10.0	2.75	1680	+11.2
33	Polich, Duane	1605	USA	−21B	−18N	+45B	=30N	−28N	1.5	8.5	8.5	0.75	1652	+6.8
34	Wang, Leonardo Xirui	1850	SGP	+36N	=16B	−7N	F	F	1.5	8.0	8.0	3.00	1764	-13.2
35	Chen, Andy	1594	USA	−11N	−19B	F	+39B	=37N	1.5	8.0	8.0	1.75	1679	+15.6
36	Babbar, Riaan	1613	USA	−34B	+45N	−9B	−19N	=41B	1.5	8.0	8.0	0.50	1613	-2.0
37	Yin, Aiden	1824	CAN	F	−31B	+41N	−8N	=35B	1.5	7.0	7.0	1.75	1597	-49.6
38	Page, Nathan	1524	USA	−9B	+28N	F	−20B	−22N	1.0	10.0	10.0	2.00	1642	+16.8
39	Dhingra, Sangeeta	1825	USA	−3B	=23N	=29B	−35N	F	1.0	9.5	9.5	2.00	1626	-22.8
40	Lu, Karson	1813	CAN	+43B	−3N	−8B	F	F	1.0	7.5	7.5	0.50	1776	-10.4
41	Wu, Shanna	1712	USA	−17B	=30N	−37B	F	=36N	1.0	7.0	7.0	1.50	1550	-33.6
42	He, Oliver Lang	1619	USA	−20N	F	−10B	−25B	=43N	0.5	8.0	8.0	0.25	1553	-10.8
43	Li, Markus	1789	CAN	−40N	−25B	−22N	F	=42B	0.5	6.0	6.0	0.25	1439	-65.6
44	Pujara, Shyam	0	USA	=31N	−27B	F	F	F	0.5	3.5	3.5	0.75	1507	0.0
45	Wentz, Austin	1655	USA	−16N	−36B	−33N	−28B	F	0.0	8.0	8.0	0.00	909	-68.8

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Yin, AndrewCAN
+71.4
3.0 pts · #12
2Zhou, YuchenUSA
+70.4
3.0 pts · #13
3Suresh, Barath SubramanianCAN
+41.2
3.5 pts · #6

Top rating losers

1Wentz, AustinUSA
-68.8
0.0 pts · #45
2Li, MarkusCAN
-65.6
0.5 pts · #44
3Yin, AidenCAN
-49.6
1.5 pts · #32

Biggest upsets

R1+374 Elo gap
Gadde, Arnav1757 beat CMKona, Vidip2131
R4+331 Elo gap
Gavrish, Leonid1960 beat FMWilly, Stephen2291
R2+315 Elo gap
Kuipers, Miles Yongkang1976 beat FMWilly, Stephen2291