38th iChess Cup

Open SwissStandard

47 players participated in this 6-round tournament, held from 10 May 2026 to 17 May 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. Top 10 Elo average was 1661, and top seed was Eram Joo (🇰🇷 KOR, 1770).

Hajoon Kim (🇰🇷 KOR, 1650) won with 5.5/6, ahead of Sihwan Choi (5.0) and Juneho Choi (5.0). Kim won solo starting round 5.

The biggest upset came in round 5: Jungbin Cho (1454) beat Jaemin Oh (1658), a +204-point gap.

Location

🇰🇷Seoul, South Korea

Dates

10 May 2026 → 17 May 2026

Time control

Standard: 30 minutes for game with 30 seconds increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 6 rounds

Top seed

🇰🇷Eram Joo1770

Avg top 10

1,661

Participants

Federations · 1 represented

🇰🇷South Korea×34

Top 3

🥇
Hajoon Kim
🇰🇷KOR·1650
5.5pts·1950perf+62.4
🥈
Sihwan Choi
🇰🇷KOR·1579
5.0pts·1829perf+62.8
🥉
Juneho Choi
🇰🇷KOR·1556
5.0pts·1774perf+54.4

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 6 rounds

Hajoon Kim 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

Kim5.5Choi5Choi5Bae4.5Kim4.5Kim4.5

R5–R6 · LEAD HELD

Hajoon Kim held the sole lead from R5 through R6 without losing it.

R5 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND

Hajoon Kim beat Juneho Choi (Black).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

Hajoon Kim 5 wins (R1–R5)Juneho Choi 4 wins (R1–R4)Sihwan Choi 3 wins (R1–R3)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Hajoon Kim	*	1	½	—
2Juneho Choi	0	*	—	—
3Sihwan Choi	½	—	*	½
4Jaemin Bae	—	—	½	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Kim, Hajoon	1650	KOR	+20N	+26B	+9N	+13B	+3N	=2B	5.5	20.5	23.0	20.50	1950	+62.4
2	Choi, Sihwan	1579	KOR	+44B	+11N	+5B	=4N	+10B	=1N	5.0	22.5	22.5	17.50	1829	+62.8
3	Choi, Juneho	1556	KOR	+39N	+30B	+19N	+14B	−1B	+12N	5.0	18.0	19.0	13.50	1774	+54.4
4	Bae, Jaemin	1727	KOR	+22N	+36B	+6N	=2B	−9N	+14B	4.5	20.0	21.0	14.50	1764	+13.2
5	Kim, Taeu	1652	KOR	+42N	+15B	−2N	+16B	+13N	=6B	4.5	20.0	20.5	13.25	1691	+11.2
6	Kwon, Raein	1652	KOR	+37B	+12N	−4B	+21N	+15B	=5N	4.5	19.5	20.5	13.75	1675	+4.8
7	Baek, Isu	1671	KOR	+34N	=14B	−13N	+27B	+16N	+9B	4.5	17.0	18.5	13.25	1658	-2.0
8	Kim, Sehyeon	0	KOR	−13N	+43B	+26N	=15B	+18N	+23B	4.5	16.0	16.0	10.75	1589	0.0
9	Joo, Eram	1770	KOR	+17B	+10N	−1B	+11N	+4B	−7N	4.0	22.5	26.0	16.00	1688	-18.8
10	Kim, Sunyong	1487	KOR	+25N	−9B	+34N	+22B	−2N	+19B	4.0	18.0	19.5	10.50	1603	+23.6
11	Kutbidinov, Aydar	1427	KOR	+46N	−2B	+24N	−9B	+31N	+22B	4.0	17.0	17.0	8.00	1460	+2.0
12	Cho, Jungbin	1454	KOR	+43N	−6B	+39N	+20B	+19N	−3B	4.0	16.5	16.5	7.00	1497	+6.4
13	Youn, jungmin	1561	KOR	+8B	+21N	+7B	−1N	−5B	=17N	3.5	22.5	25.5	13.75	1510	-12.4
14	Lee, Yoonsoo	1489	KOR	+38B	=7N	+18B	−3N	+26B	−4N	3.5	20.0	21.0	9.25	1597	+28.0
15	Moon, Changjun	1485	KOR	+24B	−5N	+37B	=8N	−6N	+30B	3.5	18.5	19.5	8.25	1450	-6.0
16	Kim, Jio	1432	KOR	+29B	=18N	+35B	−5N	−7B	+21N	3.5	17.5	19.0	8.25	1511	+14.4
17	Lee, Chaewon	1415	KOR	−9N	+27B	+31N	−19B	+20N	=13B	3.5	16.0	18.0	9.25	1390	-4.4
18	Kim, Yeonseo	1574	KOR	+41N	=16B	−14N	+29N	−8B	+27B	3.5	16.0	17.0	7.25	1268	-32.4
19	Oh, Jaemin	1658	KOR	+33B	+40N	−3B	+17N	−12B	−10N	3.0	18.5	19.5	6.50	1402	-67.6
20	Kim, Howon	0	KOR	−1B	+32N	+40B	−12N	−17B	+29N	3.0	17.0	18.0	5.00	1302	0.0
21	Choi, Hael	0	KOR	+23N	−13B	+36N	−6B	+30N	−16B	3.0	16.5	17.5	6.00	1544	0.0
22	Kim, Hyunwoo B	1405	KOR	−4B	+45N	+46B	−10N	+29B	−11N	3.0	14.5	14.5	2.00	747	-39.6
23	Park, Joonwoo	1672	KOR	−21B	−35N	+38B	+34N	+25B	−8N	3.0	13.5	14.5	5.50	695	-29.2
24	Lee, Yena	0	KOR	−15N	+42B	−11B	−26N	+?B	+?N	3.0	10.5	10.5	0.50	1295	0.0
25	FIDE 13240714	0	—	−10B	−37N	+45B	+36B	−23N	+?N	3.0	9.0	9.0	1.00	1437	0.0
26	Kim, Moonso	1455	KOR	+32B	−1N	−8B	+24B	−14N	=28N	2.5	19.0	21.0	6.25	770	-14.0
27	Lee, Dogeon	0	KOR	=35B	−17N	+44B	−7N	+36B	−18N	2.5	14.0	14.0	1.75	1388	0.0
28	FIDE 13242644	0	—	F	F	F	+33N	+34B	=26B	2.5	6.0	6.0	4.75	1455	0.0
29	Park, Seojin A	0	KOR	−16N	+41B	+30N	−18B	−22N	−20B	2.0	15.0	16.0	3.00	1265	0.0
30	Park, Sejin A	1421	KOR	+47B	−3N	−29B	+43N	−21B	−15N	2.0	13.5	13.5	0.00	721	-29.2
31	FIDE 13241281	0	—	−40B	+44N	−17B	+32N	−11B	−?N	2.0	10.5	10.5	2.00	634	0.0
32	FIDE 13231049	0	—	−26N	−20B	=42N	−31B	+?N	=?B	2.0	8.0	8.0	0.25	655	0.0
33	FIDE 13240633	0	—	−19N	F	F	−28B	+42N	+?B	2.0	6.0	6.0	0.50	858	0.0
34	FIDE 13240080	0	—	−7B	+38N	−10B	−23B	−28N	=?N	1.5	15.0	15.0	1.00	810	0.0
35	Yun, Yejoon	1495	KOR	=27N	+23B	−16N	F	F	F	1.5	9.0	9.0	4.25	1552	+5.6
36	Lim, Hyeonwoo	1528	KOR	+45B	−4N	−21B	−25N	−27N	−38B	1.0	14.0	14.0	0.00	927	-9.6
37	FIDE 13242261	0	—	−6N	+25B	−15N	F	F	F	1.0	11.0	11.0	3.00	769	0.0
38	Lee, Hyun	0	KOR	−14N	−34B	−23N	F	−?B	+36N	1.0	9.0	9.0	1.00	1438	0.0
39	FIDE 13241044	0	—	−3B	+47N	−12B	F	F	F	1.0	9.0	9.0	0.00	705	0.0
40	Jang, Seyong	1459	KOR	+31N	−19B	−20N	F	F	F	1.0	8.0	8.0	2.00	858	-9.6
41	Kim, Rayon	0	KOR	−18B	−29N	+47B	F	F	F	1.0	5.5	5.5	0.00	774	0.0
42	FIDE 13238647	0	—	−5B	−24N	=32B	−?N	−33B	−?N	0.5	11.5	11.5	1.00	818	0.0
43	FIDE 13227890	0	—	−12B	−8N	F	−30B	−?N	−?B	0.0	10.5	10.5	0.00	638	0.0
44	FIDE 13240757	0	—	−2N	−31B	−27N	−?B	−?N	F	0.0	9.5	9.5	0.00	779	0.0
45	FIDE 13238620	0	—	−36N	−22B	−25N	−?B	F	−?N	0.0	7.0	7.0	0.00	705	0.0
46	FIDE 13242024	0	—	−11B	F	−22N	F	F	F	0.0	7.0	7.0	0.00	616	0.0
47	Suh, Hannah	0	KOR	−30N	−39B	−41N	F	F	F	0.0	4.0	4.0	0.00	621	0.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Choi, SihwanKOR
+62.8
5.0 pts · #5
2Kim, HajoonKOR
+62.4
5.5 pts · #1
3Choi, JunehoKOR
+54.4
5.0 pts · #3

Top rating losers

1Oh, JaeminKOR
-67.6
3.0 pts · #13
2Kim, Hyunwoo BKOR
-39.6
3.0 pts · #37
3Kim, YeonseoKOR
-32.4
3.5 pts · #26

Biggest upsets

R5+204 Elo gap
Cho, Jungbin1454 beat Oh, Jaemin1658
R2+177 Elo gap
Yun, Yejoon1495 beat Park, Joonwoo1672
R6+171 Elo gap
Kim, Sunyong1487 beat Oh, Jaemin1658