2026 May Poison Pawns - Challenger
Open SwissStandard
12 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 01 May 2026 to 03 May 2026 in Houston, TX, United States. 2 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 628, and top seed was Peter A Rucker (🇺🇸 USA, 1687).
The biggest upset came in round 5: Nivaan Debnath (1551) beat Peter A Rucker (1687), a +136-point gap.
Location
🇺🇸Houston, TX, United States
Dates
01 May 2026 → 03 May 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Federations · 2 represented
🇺🇸United States of America×5
🇪🇬Egypt×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsFIDE 566011752 led from R5; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R5.
Co-leaders
1
1
3
2
1
R5 · LEADER CHANGE03 May
FIDE 566011752 takes the sole lead (3.5/5).
R1–R5 · UNBEATEN
FIDE 566011752 went unbeaten across 5 games (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1FIDE 566011752 | * | — | — | — |
| 2Nivaan Debnath | — | * | — | 1 |
| 3FIDE 39982556 | — | — | * | — |
| 4Peter A Rucker | — | 0 | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIDE 566011752 | 0 | — | =6B | =?N | +12N | =4B | +?B | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.25 | 1551 | 0.0 |
| 2 | Debnath, Nivaan | 1551 | USA | F | +12B | −4N | +7B | +5N | 3.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 4.50 | 1594 | +4.4 |
| 3 | FIDE 39982556 | 0 | — | =?B | =6N | −8B | +11N | +12B | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.50 | 1364 | 0.0 |
| 4 | Krafka, John | 1501 | USA | F | =7N | +2B | =1N | =9B | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 6.50 | 2351 | +22.8 |
| 5 | Rucker, Peter A | 1687 | USA | F | +9B | =7N | +8N | −2B | 2.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 4.50 | 1547 | -14.8 |
| 6 | FIDE 566012872 | 0 | — | =1N | =3B | F | −?N | +8B | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 5.25 | 1532 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Wahsh, Mostafa | 0 | EGY | +11N | =4B | =5B | −2N | F | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.00 | 1455 | 0.0 |
| 8 | Debnath, Rishaan | 1542 | USA | F | +11B | +3N | −5B | −6N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 3.50 | 887 | -12.4 |
| 9 | FIDE 566010438 | 0 | — | F | −5N | +?B | F | =4N | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.25 | 1586 | 0.0 |
| 10 | FIDE 30911443 | 0 | — | F | +?B | =?N | F | F | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 1521 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Seelam, Tanav | 0 | USA | −7B | −8N | =?N | −3B | F | 0.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.00 | 742 | 0.0 |
| 12 | FIDE 30990025 | 0 | — | F | −2N | −1B | −?B | −3N | 0.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 751 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Krafka, JohnUSA+22.82.5 pts · #6
- 2Debnath, NivaanUSA+4.43.0 pts · #5
- 3FIDE 309900250.00.0 pts · #10
Top rating losers
- 1Rucker, Peter AUSA-14.82.5 pts · #4
- 2Debnath, RishaanUSA-12.42.0 pts · #11
- 3FIDE 309900250.00.0 pts · #10
Biggest upsets
- R5+136 Elo gap