Official Chess • Summer Showdown 2026
Four Weekends. Six Sections.
One Dazzling Summer of Chess!
July 11 • July 19 • July 26 • August 1
East Side Community High School • New York City
$8,000 in cash prizes
A summer of chess ambition has reached its grand finale! Across four tournaments, every weekend offered a fresh chance to shine, and every score helped write the season’s story. Now it’s time to celebrate the players and teams who rose to the top.
Yianna Parra claimed the overall individual season crown, while Sac The Rook captured the overall team title. Megan Althea Paragua sparkled in the 1900+* section with back-to-back victories in Weeks 3 and 4, finishing with $1,425 in cash winnings!
Rankings and scores follow the Glitchess results and season standings.
♟ Meet the Weekend Winners
From perfect scores to fiercely contested ties, these players earned the first-ranked spots in their sections. Tournament scores appear in parentheses.
| Section | Week 1 July 11 |
Week 2 July 19 |
Week 3 July 26 |
Week 4 August 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900+* | Anthony Levin (3) |
Weiji Ma (3) |
Megan Althea Paragua (3) |
Megan Althea Paragua (2.5) |
| 1500–2000 / 1600–2000† |
Ron Mena (3.5) |
Aarav Singh (3.5) |
Michael Wang (3.5) |
Hillel Doron-Repa (3.5) |
| 1200–1600 | Xavier C. Rodriguez (3.5) |
Amaira Bajaj (4) |
Aidan Wang (4) |
Jasper G. Lee (3.5) |
| 900–1300 | Dion Gogo Ymeraj (4) |
Allison Ma (4) |
Lucas Ciraldo (4) |
Luis Gustavo Carrillo Rubio (4) |
| 500–1000 | Emily Zhu (4) |
Elliott Crawford (4) |
David Vardanyan (4) |
Zachary Tsai (3.5) |
| Unrated–600 | Dev Thomas Light (4) |
Liliah Fettner (3.5) |
Aarnav Katta (4) |
Parker Reckhow Downing (4) |
*1900+ plays 3 games per tournament; every other section plays 4 games.
†Week 1 used the 1500–2000 label; Weeks 2–4 used 1600–2000.
Sharing the highest score: Ashley Huang also scored 3.5 in Week 1’s 1200–1600 section; Omar Ibrahim scored 3.5 in Week 2’s 1600–2000 section; Taj Okutake scored 4 in Week 2’s 500–1000 section; and Hillel Doron-Repa scored 3.5 in Week 3’s 1600–2000 section. The table follows the posted ranking order.
Team Spirit, Summer Glory!
Every point mattered in the team races. Here are the first-ranked teams in each weekly section, along with the overall champions who topped each weekend’s standings.
| Section | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900+* | Now or Never (3.5) |
Speyer Legacy (5) |
Now or Never (4.5) |
Now or Never (4.5) |
| 1500–2000 / 1600–2000† |
Sac The Rook (7) |
Not listed | Wang Gang (6) |
Sac The Rook (5) |
| 1200–1600 | Sac The Rook (4.5) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (8) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (7.5) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (7.5) |
| 900–1300 | Sac The Rook (9) |
Chess Wizards (6) |
Chess Wizards (8) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (7) |
| 500–1000 | Rosalyn Yalow Charter School (7) |
Rosalyn Yalow Charter School (6) |
Rosalyn Yalow Charter School (7) |
BooksAndRooks (7) |
| Unrated–600 | Not listed | Matan’s Chess Warriors (6) |
Rosalyn Yalow Charter School (7.5) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (8) |
| Overall champions | Sac The Rook (17.5) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (17) |
Rosalyn Yalow Charter School (15) |
Matan’s Chess Warriors (17) |
A three-way finish! In Week 3, Rosalyn Yalow Charter School, Sac The Rook, and Matan’s Chess Warriors all finished on 15 overall points, with Rosalyn Yalow listed first. Other equal-score ties: Matan’s Chess Warriors and Rosalyn Yalow in Week 2’s Unrated–600 section; Wang Gang and Sac The Rook in Week 3’s 1600–2000 section; and Rosalyn Yalow and Sac The Pawn in Week 3’s 500–1000 section. “Not listed” means no team was listed in that section’s standings.
🏆 The Season’s Crowning Achievements
Four tournaments, one final leaderboard! The season honors recognize overall individual and overall team results. Let’s give the brightest finishers their moment in the spotlight.
The Fabulous Five: Overall Individuals
| Place | Player | Weekends played | Season points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yianna Parra | 4 | 15.50 |
| 2 | Cyrus He | 4 | 15.00 |
| 3 | David Vardanyan | 4 | 15.00 |
| 4 | Yotam Doron-Repa | 4 | 14.00 |
| 5 | Megan Althea Paragua | 3 | 13.66 |
All hail our individual season champion, Yianna Parra! With 15.50 points across all four weekends, Yianna finished half a point ahead of Cyrus He and David Vardanyan, who both scored 15.00.
Individual season totals include one participation point per weekend played. Game points earned in 1900+* are scaled by ×4/3 to account for its three-game format. Scores and rankings are shown as published by Glitchess.
Team Royalty: The Overall Top Three
| Place | Team | Season points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sac The Rook | 62.50 |
| 2 | Rosalyn Yalow Charter School | 58.50 |
| 3 | Matan’s Chess Warriors | 54.50 |
Sac The Rook takes the team crown! Its 62.50-point finish secured the overall season championship, four points ahead of Rosalyn Yalow Charter School.
Team season scoring adds the top six players’ adjusted scores from each weekend. Individual season standings • Team season standings
💰 A Summer of Chess and Cash!
The top two sections brought an extra splash of excitement: $2,000 in cash prizes each weekend, adding up to $8,000 across the season!
1900+*: $5,000 Across Four Tournaments
| Week | Cash prize winners |
|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Levin: $600 Abimbola Ayotomiwa Osunfuyi and Megan Althea Paragua: $225 each Alvin Lou, Melanie Liang, and Noah Hsu: $66.67 each |
| 2 | Weiji Ma: $600 Kyle Cheung: $300 Isaac Noah Lui, Anthony Li, Jaime Agustin Jariton, and Jayden Chan: $87.50 each |
| 3 | Megan Althea Paragua: $600 Gavin Liu: $300 Dominic Nathan Paragua and Premsai Nallapareddygari: $125 each Isaac Noah Lui: $100 |
| 4 | Megan Althea Paragua: $600 Jay Richard Bonin, Abimbola Ayotomiwa Osunfuyi, Dominic Nathan Paragua, and Ernest P. Colding: $162.50 each |
Prize spotlight: $1,425 for Megan Althea Paragua!
Megan led the 1900+* cash winnings with $225 in Week 1 and $600 victories in both Weeks 3 and 4. What a sparkling finish to the summer!
1500–2000 / 1600–2000†: $3,000 Across Four Tournaments
| Week | Cash prize winners |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ron Mena: $350 Ray Zhang, Alexandra Liu, Max Mulholland, and Brendan T. Seto: $100 each |
| 2 | Aarav Singh and Omar Ibrahim: $250 each Brendan T. Seto, Mingyang Li, Bryant Anson Chen, and Aidan Wang: $62.50 each |
| 3 | Michael Wang and Hillel Doron-Repa: $250 each Aarav Singh: $100 Devin V. Wang, Oscar Naoki Finkin, and Dena Wang: $50 each |
| 4 | Hillel Doron-Repa: $350 Oscar Naoki Finkin: $150 Max Mulholland, Maxwell Gachiri, and Jerry Liang: $83.33 each |
Prize spotlight: $600 for Hillel Doron-Repa!
With $250 in Week 3 and $350 in Week 4, Hillel topped the combined cash winnings in the 1500–2000 / 1600–2000† section.
Cash prizes were pooled and shared among players tied on points. Displayed amounts are rounded to cents. Combined winnings reflect weekly cash awards. Published prize rules.
Take a Bow, Summer Showdown Players!
To every champion, teammate, and competitor: thank you for being part of this summer’s chess story. Four weekends of competition, a season of achievement, and a brilliant collection of names to celebrate. Congratulations to our Summer Showdown winners!