2026 May Poison Pawns - Championship
32 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 01 May 2026 to 03 May 2026 in Houston, TX, United States. 2 titled players from 3 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1979, and top seed was Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (🇨🇴 COL, GM, 2472).
Anish Vivekananthan (🇺🇸 USA, IM, 2407) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (3.5) and Neil Gani (3.5). Vivekananthan broke clear in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 5: Nguyen Tran (1592) beat Leonel Bee (1796), a +204-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsIM Anish Vivekananthan led from R5; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 3 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R5.
IM Anish Vivekananthan held the sole lead from R5 through R5 without losing it.
Eric Alexander Dumitru won 3 in a row (R2–R4).
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vivekananthan, AnishIM | 2407 | USA | +16N | =7B | +18N | =2B | +15N | 4.0 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 9.25 | 2340 | -0.9 |
| 2 | Ruiz Castillo, Joshua DanielGM | 2472 | COL | +10B | =3N | +24B | =1N | =4B | 3.5 | 13.5 | 14.5 | 9.00 | 2349 | -3.5 |
| 3 | Gani, Neil | 0 | USA | +6N | =2B | −8N | +21B | +24N | 3.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 7.25 | 1917 | 0.0 |
| 4 | Dumitru, Eric Alexander | 1906 | USA | F | +27N | +17B | +15B | =2N | 3.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 6.75 | 2265 | +62.0 |
| 5 | Wu, Zekai B | 1794 | USA | −27B | +32N | =12B | +30N | +17B | 3.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.75 | 1825 | +8.4 |
| 6 | Vadher, Devaj M | 1730 | USA | −3B | +10N | =20B | +25N | =9B | 3.0 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 5.75 | 1980 | +52.4 |
| 7 | Bee, Karstein | 1808 | USA | F | =1N | +25B | =11N | +16B | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 6.25 | 2075 | +50.8 |
| 8 | Johnson, Emerson Aurelius | 1894 | USA | F | −16B | +3B | =13N | +11B | 2.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 7.25 | 1778 | -18.8 |
| 9 | Walker, Locke Scovell | 1758 | USA | +12B | −17N | −11B | +29N | =6N | 2.5 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 5.00 | 1718 | -10.8 |
| 10 | Seelam, Tanish | 1728 | USA | −2N | −6B | +26N | +28B | =14N | 2.5 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 3.25 | 1776 | +7.6 |
| 11 | Nguyen, Thanh | 1760 | USA | F | +28B | +9N | =7B | −8N | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 5.00 | 1896 | +29.2 |
| 12 | Vadher, Preash Mayank | 1618 | USA | −9N | +26B | =5N | −24B | +31N | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 3.25 | 1669 | +13.6 |
| 13 | Zhang, Alicia S | 1810 | USA | =30N | =22B | =21N | =8B | =18N | 2.5 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 4.00 | 1740 | -18.8 |
| 14 | Iskandarov, Elvin | 1628 | USA | +26B | −15B | −19N | +32N | =10B | 2.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 2.25 | 1723 | +22.4 |
| 15 | Chetlapalli, Vishnu | 1984 | USA | F | +14N | +16B | −4N | −1B | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 4.50 | 1921 | -14.4 |
| 16 | Thomas, Michael D | 1765 | USA | −1B | +8N | −15N | +22B | −7N | 2.0 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 4.00 | 1848 | +16.4 |
| 17 | Yang, Ningxiu Matthew | 1639 | USA | F | +9B | −4N | +19B | −5N | 2.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 4.50 | 1763 | +24.8 |
| 18 | Yao, Annie | 1677 | USA | F | +31N | −1B | =20N | =13B | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.75 | 1828 | +27.6 |
| 19 | Tran, Nguyen | 1592 | USA | F | F | +14B | −17N | +25B | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.50 | 1813 | +35.2 |
| 20 | Phillips, Rene | 1866 | USA | F | +30B | =6N | =18B | F | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.00 | 1819 | -7.2 |
| 21 | Wilder, Daniel Gregory | 1702 | USA | F | −25N | =13B | −3N | +30B | 1.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.75 | 1761 | +4.8 |
| 22 | Billings, Matthew | 1751 | USA | F | =13N | +29B | −16N | F | 1.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.25 | 1806 | +9.2 |
| 23 | Rodenstein, Alan | 1545 | USA | F | −29N | F | =31B | +28B | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.25 | 1715 | +12.6 |
| 24 | Zheng, Philip T | 1588 | USA | F | F | −2N | +12N | −3B | 1.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 2.50 | 1803 | +18.4 |
| 25 | Bee, Leonel | 1796 | USA | F | +21B | −7N | −6B | −19N | 1.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 1.50 | 1515 | -58.4 |
| 26 | Vashisth, Arav | 1648 | USA | −14N | −12N | −10B | F | +32B | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 1466 | -37.6 |
| 27 | Chipfurutse, Alois | 1786 | ZIM | +5N | −4B | F | F | F | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 3.50 | 1850 | +3.4 |
| 28 | Swain, Hridarsh | 1745 | USA | F | −11N | +31B | −10N | −23N | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.50 | 1455 | -60.0 |
| 29 | Riley, Nathaniel | 1843 | USA | F | +23B | −22N | −9B | F | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.50 | 1560 | -44.0 |
| 30 | Jawaghar, Jeevanth | 1676 | USA | =13B | −20N | F | −5B | −21N | 0.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 1.25 | 1471 | -34.8 |
| 31 | Vadlamani, Arjun | 1558 | USA | F | −18B | −28N | =23N | −12B | 0.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.75 | 1324 | -41.6 |
| 32 | He, Jayden | 1661 | USA | F | −5B | F | −14B | −26N | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.00 | 890 | -55.6 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Dumitru, Eric AlexanderUSA+62.03.5 pts · #2
- 2Vadher, Devaj MUSA+52.43.0 pts · #6
- 3Bee, KarsteinUSA+50.83.0 pts · #7
- 1Swain, HridarshUSA-60.01.0 pts · #24
- 2Bee, LeonelUSA-58.41.0 pts · #29
- 3He, JaydenUSA-55.60.0 pts · #32
- R5+204 Elo gap
- R5+200 Elo gap
- R2+129 Elo gap