A new year, a new tournament. And not just any tournament… The qualifier for the fifth edition of the Polychamps was set to take place on October 2nd, 2024. The top three players, along with the highest-ranked woman, would secure a spot in the Polychamps to face off against EPFL and help us reclaim the lead in this annual competition, where the current standing is tied at 2-2. Who would qualify? Who would beat the odds and clinch a top-three finish? Forty-six players were about to find out…
One player who had clearly set his sights on defying expectations was Emilio Grandinetti. In the first two rounds, he managed to defeat not one but two of the top competitors in the tournament. This not only earned him a significant boost in rating points, but also made him the biggest beater-of-odds in our chess history. His game against Anton now proudly holds the top spot for the most improbable wins, and his match against Thomas also ranks in the top 10. Two great results for him in one tournament—congratulations, Emilio!
Our ETH Chess Champion, Theo Stijve, was also present and ready for a battle. Despite already qualifying for the Polychamps by winning the ETH Chess Championship, it quickly became clear that this wasn’t going to hold him back in the slightest. He won all seven games, dominating the tournament with apparent ease. With his victory, the second, third, and fourth spots were now up for grabs, making the fight for qualification even more intense.
This year’s tournament featured many strong contenders, including several titled players, each with a single goal in mind: qualify for the Polychamps. However, the level of competition was exceptionally high, with skilled players putting pressure on the titled competitors and making them sweat until, eventually, some of them cracked. Only one titled player, Kirill Zaitsev, a former ETH Chess Champion, managed to endure the challenge throughout the tournament, though not without scratches. In the end, he secured fourth place, earning his spot in the Polychamps. But who were the other surprise qualifiers?
With a new year come new players, and this year, the newcomers were exceptionally good players. Max Newsome, in particular, impressed by finishing second, conceding only to Theo and winning six of his seven games. Hot on his heels was Subramanian, who finished third with 5.5/7 points. Congratulations to both! The highest ranked woman, Ana, managed to take 3.5/7 and thus also secured a spot in our tournament against EPFL
Below, you’ll find the full standings along with some pictures. As always, we’ve also updated our Polyrating rankings! Until next time!
| Rank | Name | Rating | Score | BH | BH-C1 | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Theo Stijve | 2342 | 7.0 | 29.5 | 26.5 | 2491 |
| 2 | Max Newsome | 2279 | 6.0 | 35.0 | 31.5 | 2279 |
| 3 | Subramanian Ramasubramanian | 2088 | 5.5 | 29.5 | 27.5 | 2088 |
| 4 | Kirill Zaitsev | 2215 | 5.0 | 31.5 | 29.5 | 2120 |
| 5 | Ritvik Radhakrishnan | 1861 | 5.0 | 29.5 | 27.5 | 2102 |
| 6 | Yven Kius | 1914 | 5.0 | 27.5 | 24.5 | 1914 |
| 7 | Alp Hidiroglu | 2005 | 5.0 | 27.0 | 24.5 | 2005 |
| 8 | Anton Hul | 2136 | 4.5 | 29.5 | 27.5 | 1981 |
| 9 | Milko Bakalov | 2027 | 4.5 | 27.5 | 26.5 | 2001 |
| 10 | Matej Jusup | 2118 | 4.5 | 26.5 | 24.0 | 1900 |
| 11 | Philip Olson | 1864 | 4.5 | 25.0 | 24.0 | 1864 |
| 12 | Mateo Rodriguez Polo | 2145 | 4.0 | 30.0 | 28.0 | 1814 |
| 13 | Cledion Lika | 1942 | 4.0 | 29.5 | 26.5 | 1942 |
| 14 | Thomas Allard | 1983 | 4.0 | 28.0 | 25.0 | 1823 |
| 15 | Jan Selinga | 1896 | 4.0 | 27.5 | 23.5 | 1859 |
| 16 | Marcus Imris | 1797 | 4.0 | 26.0 | 24.5 | 1843 |
| 17 | Mark Shen | 1770 | 4.0 | 26.0 | 23.0 | 1770 |
| 18 | Amit Sant | 1725 | 4.0 | 25.0 | 22.5 | 1725 |
| 19 | Tarek Souissi | 1715 | 4.0 | 24.5 | 22.5 | 1715 |
| 20 | Daniel Richter | 1629 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1629 |
| 21 | Dorian Quelle | 1799 | 3.5 | 29.5 | 27.5 | 1766 |
| 22 | Ana Marija Vego | 1605 | 3.5 | 28.5 | 27.0 | 1690 |
| 23 | Onno Riedel | 1645 | 3.5 | 25.5 | 22.5 | 1645 |
| 24 | Federico Arangath | 1603 | 3.5 | 24.0 | 22.0 | 1619 |
| 25 | Alexandre Terrail | 1647 | 3.5 | 23.0 | 22.0 | 1634 |
| 26 | Robert Jahnke | 1519 | 3.5 | 20.5 | 19.0 | 1519 |
| 27 | Christoph Campora | 1635 | 3.0 | 29.5 | 28.0 | 1635 |
| 28 | Emilio Grandinetti | 1636 | 3.0 | 27.0 | 25.0 | 1769 |
| 29 | Maywand Akthari | 1524 | 3.0 | 22.0 | 21.0 | 1524 |
| 30 | Yann Spillmann | 1287 | 3.0 | 22.0 | 21.0 | 1430 |
| 31 | Guohong Zhang | 1507 | 3.0 | 22.0 | 20.0 | 1507 |
| 32 | Zoran Dragnic | 1487 | 3.0 | 21.5 | 20.5 | 1487 |
| 33 | Asaf Amitai | 1516 | 3.0 | 21.5 | 19.5 | 1426 |
| 34 | Selim Bucher | 1467 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 18.5 | 1467 |
| 35 | Jorin Strahl | 1424 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 18.0 | 1423 |
| 36 | Neryvaldo Galvao | 1350 | 2.5 | 22.0 | 21.0 | 1373 |
| 37 | Matteo Zuber | 1391 | 2.0 | 22.5 | 21.5 | 1391 |
| 38 | Darius Mathis | 1510 | 2.0 | 21.5 | 20.0 | 1257 |
| 39 | Max Hürlimann | 1326 | 2.0 | 21.0 | 20.0 | 1326 |
| 40 | Ioan Popescu | 1405 | 2.0 | 20.0 | 18.0 | 1405 |
| 41 | Gennaro Tetsu Guadagni | 1241 | 2.0 | 19.5 | 18.5 | 1240 |
| 42 | Noah Meyer | 1197 | 2.0 | 19.0 | 18.0 | 1197 |
| 43 | Michele Dalle Rive | 1073 | 2.0 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 1073 |
| 44 | Vijay Deshmukh | 1118 | 1.5 | 17.5 | 16.5 | 1017 |
| 45 | Rainer Büchi | 1040 | 1.0 | 18.0 | 17.0 | 1040 |
| 46 | Joscha Rotzer | 1056 | 0.5 | 15.5 | 15.0 | 1056 |
