The 13th Cherry Blossom Classic was held over Memorial Day weekend, from May 21–25, 2026, at the Executive Conference and Training Center in Sterling, Virginia.
This year’s tournament drew a total of 280 paid entries across its various sections, playing for a total prize fund of $25,000.
The tournament’s Open section featured intense competition over nine rounds of play, ultimately concluding in a tie at the top of the standings. Colombian Grandmaster Santiago Avila Pavas and American Grandmaster Fidel Corrales Jimenez dominated the field, both finishing the event with excellent scores of 7.5 points out of 9 games.
While the two grandmasters will share the top financial rewards from the guaranteed Open section prize structure, originally designating $3,400 for first place and $1,800 for the runner-up position, it was Avila Pavas who officially took home the winner’s trophy on a better tiebreak score.
Designated as an enhanced 200-point US Chess Grand Prix event, the Open division maintained strict entry requirements, enforcing a minimum peak FIDE rating of 2000+ to ensure a high-caliber field. Titled competitors were subjected to an uncompromised 5-day schedule consisting of a classical time control of 90 minutes with a 30-second increment from move one.
The lower sections of the tournament accommodated a broader range of skill brackets, offering flexible 5-day, 4-day, and 2-day playing options. While the Open, Under 2100, and Under 1700 sections were both US Chess and FIDE rated, the lowest bracket, the Under 1000 section, was played as a quick 2-day event.
The main tournament schedule was also supplemented by a pair of side events on Saturday, May 23, which featured a 6-round double Swiss Blitz tournament alongside a Scholastic tournament for junior players.
Open section final standings:
1 GM AVILA PAVAS Santiago COL 2504 – 7.5
2 GM CORRALES JIMENEZ Fidel USA 2489 – 7.5
3 IM BILYCH Oleksii UKR 2448 – 7
4 GM STREMAVICIUS Titas LTU 2567 – 6
5 GM CARDOSO CARDOSO Jose Gabriel COL 2543 – 6
6 IM DE SILVA Lokumannage Susal Thewjan SRI 2407 – 6
7 WGM YU Jennifer R USA 2358 – 6
8 FM TABUENCA MENDATAURIGOITIA Daniel ESP 2356 – 6
9 IM BARTELL Thomas USA 2338 – 6
10 IM GEORGE Kevin EGY 2322 – 6
11 FM DAS Aditeya USA 2289 – 6
12 CM BRADY Tyson USA 2098 – 6
13 GM KRAAI Jesse USA 2377 – 5.5
14 FM DEGENBAEV Aziz KGZ 2305 – 5.5
15 FM DIAO Matthew Guo USA 2269 – 5.5
16 NM ZHUANG Kyle USA 2204 – 5.5
17 NM PANG Qi USA 2196 – 5.5
18 FM WILSON Ronen USA 2140 – 5.5
19 BHOOPATHI Rishith USA 2064 – 5.5
20 FM JING Andrew USA 2345 – 5
21 FM KALPAKA Vaibhav IND 2189 – 5
22 WGM FOISOR Sabina-Francesca USA 2184 – 5
23 NM MOORHOUSE Will USA 2165 – 5
24 CM SLATE Kent USA 2155 – 5
25 SATTARU Sritej Sai USA 2079 – 5
26 NM STORN Justin USA 2062 – 5
27 CM LIU Steven USA 2051 – 5
28 FM SAMUELSON Andrew USA 2031 – 5
29 XU Zhuoyuan Ryan CAN 1975 – 5
30 YEHAMANDRAM SRIDHAR Jagadeeshwar USA 1937 – 5
31 IM ADU Oladapo Olutola NGR 2154 – 4.5
32 NM GROFF Jordan USA 2133 – 4.5
33 NM FARBEROV Maxim USA 2109 – 4.5
34 NM WANG Kevin USA 2094 – 4.5
35 ZHAO Austin USA 2040 – 4.5
36 WFM YANG Aimee USA 2032 – 4.5
37 LEVINE Owen USA 2023 – 4.5
38 KUMBHARATHI Vedansh USA 1994 – 4.5
39 CHANG Leonhard USA 1982 – 4.5
40 PRAMANIK Aayansh USA 1861 – 4.5
41 NM SWAMINATHAN Pranav USA 2187 – 4
42 NM MARTIN Sam B USA 2107 – 4
43 WIM PRINCE Michelle Catherina IND 2099 – 4
44 NI Beiyang USA 2018 – 4
45 CM LEBAKKEN Lukas USA 1973 – 4
46 WCM ISMAYILOVA Khanim AZE 1957 – 4
47 CHEN Alan Zishun USA 1953 – 4
48 NM AMRANY Benjamin USA 1948 – 4
49 WFM HERNANDEZ BERMUDEZ Manuela COL 1894 – 4
50 MA Jin USA 1857 – 4
51 MUMMIDI Aaryan USA 1852 – 4
52 CHIEH Ting MAS 1798 – 4
53 FM PAUL Justin USA 2335 – 3.5
54 NM XIONG Lang Leo USA 2035 – 3.5
55 ZHANG Oscar Yihang USA 2023 – 3.5
56 LI Allen USA 1985 – 3.5
57 LI Mason Jin USA 1975 – 3.5
58 Shrivastava Nivaan USA 1951 – 3.5
59 MEADORS Landon USA 1944 – 3.5
60 CM XIANG Grayson USA 1928 – 3.5
61 SAMANTA Aayansh USA 1884 – 3.5
62 JANDHYALA Yegna Sairam USA 1827 – 3.5
63 ANAND Anirudh USA 1816 – 3.5
64 JOSEPH Julian USA 1801 – 3.5
65 YAGIZ Bora TUR 1944 – 3
66 THIMMASAMUDRAM Sandeep USA 1929 – 3
67 JACKSON Cayden USA 1855 – 3
68 LI Xiaoyao CHN 1796 – 3
69 GAO Vincent USA 1778 – 3
70 CHEN Winston Ruiying USA 1929 – 2.5
71 DENG Michael USA 1929 – 2.5
72 CHONG Hanford USA 1919 – 2.5
73 GILBERT Walker W USA 1825 – 2.5
74 MARTIN Zachary David USA 1993 – 2
75 BATES Evan USA 2013 – 1.5
76 PRASANNA Pranav USA 1935 – 1.5
