Thank You for Making the 2026 Southern California Open Possible

As another Southern California Open enters the history books, we can’t help but feel incredible gratitude for everyone who helped make it possible. We’re proud to have played a part in bringing it back to Glendale for a second year.

More than 380 players from across the United States and around the world competed at the Hilton Glendale from Sept. 4 through 7. The field included 12 grandmasters, and the tournament featured seven competitive sections and a $60,000 guaranteed prize fund.

A Community Effort

A special thank-you to David Tonoyan, founder and president of dot818, and Armen Ambartsoumian, founder of the American Chess Academy, for their leadership in organizing the Southern California Open and their commitment to making Glendale a destination for world-class chess. We’re also grateful to Mayor Ardy Kassakhian and the City of Glendale for welcoming the chess community and helping promote the event.

We’re grateful to every sponsor whose generosity helped make the tournament possible. Thank you for supporting chess in Glendale and helping bring players together for these four days of competition.

We also want to recognize everyone who worked behind the scenes. There is a great deal of work that goes into an event like this, and we appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

A Weekend Worth Celebrating

Congratulations to our Open section co-champions, Grandmaster Aditya Sachin Samant of India and International Master Sebastian Lukas Kostolansky. Each earned $4,500.

We also congratulate the University of Texas at Dallas, which earned the top college team honor, a $1,000 prize, and a cup. And a special congratulations to six-year-old Raphael Aghajanyan, the tournament’s youngest participant, who earned two points during the competition.

“What stood out to me was the incredible range of people brought together through chess,” said Mayor Ardy Kassakhian in the City of Glendale’s Sept. 9 news release. “We welcomed grandmasters from around the world, young players just beginning their journey in chess, and college competitors. It was especially great to see women make up half of the University of Texas at Dallas team that took the top college team honor. That range is what makes this tournament so special and shows how chess can bring people together across ages, backgrounds, and cultures.”

To every player who competed, and to the families, coaches, and chess fans who joined us: thank you for spending your Labor Day weekend with us. We’re glad you were part of the Southern California Open’s second year in Glendale.

Attendance figures and tournament results are drawn from the City of Glendale’s Sept. 9, 2026, news release.