2026 Saint Louis Masters by the Numbers

by Ben Underwood

The 2026 Saint Louis Masters, held in late February at the newly expanded Saint Louis Chess Club, featured 70 top players representing 22 countries. The event showcased a highly competitive field, with 37 Grandmasters and a median rating of 2495, nearly half of all players holding a rating of 2500 or above. Over the course of the tournament, five titled norms were earned, more than 30 major upsets occurred, and several games featured calculations exceeding one hour. This combination of rating strength and depth created a volatile environment unlike typical tournaments in competitive chess.

Distribution of the featured ratings is shown below: 

Upset City: 30 Major Upsets

One of the most exciting parts of hosting a tournament with an extensive group of high-level players is the prevalence of upsets within the field. The 2026 Saint Louis Masters featured 30 upsets with a rating difference of at least 100 points. WIM Tea Gueci of Italy entered the tournament as the lowest-rated player in the field at 2138, but left the tournament as the queen of upsets, beating GM Mark Heimann and IM Samrug Narayanan to claim the top two “most significant upset” spots at +373 and +300 point differences respectively. Other significant upsets are listed below.

• WGM Jennifer Yu (U.S.) vs. GM Max Warmerdam (Netherlands)
  +271 point difference

• FM Apaar Saxena (India) vs. GM Mark Heimann (U.S.)
  +248 point difference

• WGM Jennifer Yu (U.S.) vs. GM Elect Nico Chasin (U.S.)
  +211 point difference

• WGM Gabriela Antova (Bulgaria) vs. IM Tatev Abrahamyan (U.S.)
  +210 point difference

These results reinforce the tournament depth, where even the lowest-rated entrants were capable of defeating elite competition.

Norm Earners at the 2026 Saint Louis Masters

Norms are a crucial part to leveling up a player’s FIDE title to the next highest classification. Grandmaster and International Master norms are the most prestigious, and a prospective chess master needs three norms of each to earn the respective title.

Four norms were earned in the 2026 edition of the Saint Louis Masters:

GM Norms

International Master Tanitoluwa Adewumi (U.S.) finished the tournament with 6 points out of 9 and a performance rating of 2635.4, earning a GM Norm – one step closer to the GM title.

International Master Liam Putnam (U.S.) finished the tournament with 5.5 points out of 9 and a performance rating of 2640.9.

International Master Anthony Antasov (Canada) earned the third GM norm of the tournament, scoring 5.5 points out of 9 with a performance rating of 2641.9.

IM Norms

Rose Atwell recorded a 2497.9 performance rating, meeting IM norm criteria, though she had already secured all required norms prior to the event..

Significant Rating Increases

Several players saw significant increases in their standard FIDE ratings. FM Rose Atwell led in this category, earning 36.5 points in the event, leaving her just within reach of 2400, her last requirement for the IM title.

Next highest rating increases are shown below:

• Mikhail Antipov (tournament winner) +26.4 points
• Tanitoluwa Adewumi +25.2 points
• Anthony Antasov +25 points
• Gabriela Antova +22.7 points

A +26.4 gain is particularly notable for a Grandmaster, where rating changes are typically more stable. The graph below shows Antipov’s rating progression through each round of the Saint Louis Master’s tournament.

Longest Think

The amount of calculation per move in classical chess can vary greatly in the position, with thousands of potential lines stemming from a variety of choices during the target move. Thus, long calculations are important for precision. On the other side, however, the clock is just as important of a factor for game success. Here are the players who thought the longest for a single move during the Masters

Benjamin Bok – 61.2 minutes  |  vs. Liam Putnam, Round 3, Move 16

Christopher Repka – 49.8 minutes  |  vs. Pranav V, Round 4, Move 13

Atilla Kuru – 43.6 minutes  |  vs. Benjamin Bok, Round 1, Move 16

Including the time earned from increment in the 29 move game, Bok spent 64.7% of his total time on a single move.

Cleanest Players – Least Blunders in the Tournament

This metric measures blunders using Stockfish’s built in evaluation tool on the [white win, draw, black win] probabilities for each move. (Set at depth 22)

A “blunder” is categorized as a combined percentage point drop in win + half of the percentage point drop in the draw probability with a set threshold of 20 or more.

Across 27,894 moves analyzed, the “cleanest” players are as follows:

Nikolozi Karcharava – only 4 blunders total
Emilio Cordova – 8 blunders total
Dimitar Mardov – 8 blunders total
Raja Harshit – 9 blunders total

For reference, the average number of blunders per player per game in this tournament was 2.03 → or 18 per tournament if a player were to play all 9 games. By rating bucket, here were the averages:

2399: 2.45
2400–2499: 1.97
2500–2599: 1.81
2600+: 2.13

Blunder rates did not decrease monotonically with rating this tournament. This may be explained by stronger players reaching more complex positions against equally skilled opponents, increasing volatility in evaluation despite higher overall accuracy, and pure randomness in a subset of just seven players.

The 2026 Saint Louis Masters demonstrated elite-level chess from a wide range of titled players. From breakout performances and norm achievements to significant upsets and surprising statistical trends, the tournament offered a comprehensive look at the evolving competition in top-level chess.

Notably, the data highlights that success at this level is not solely defined by rating, but by consistency, precision, and the ability to navigate complex positions under pressure. As the Saint Louis Masters continues to grow in strength and prestige, it remains a key proving ground for rising talents and established grandmasters alike.