Top chess players in California
The 14 highest-rated players from California on the national US Chess list for October 2026. Anyone from California who isn’t listed is rated below them. The US column shows each player’s national rank. Movement is measured against September 2026.
| # | Player | US | Rating | Movevs last month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Shankland | #12 | 2711-8 | No change |
| 2 | Andrew Hong | #18 | 2677-10 | No change |
| 3 | Christopher Woojin Yoo | #22 | 2640-20 | 1 place down nationally since last month |
| 4 | Vladimir Akopian | #28 | 2618 | 1 place down nationally since last month |
| 5 | Kirk Ghazarian | #34 | 2602-11 | 5 places down nationally since last month |
| 6 | Fidel Corrales Jimenez | #38 | 2578 | 1 place down nationally since last month |
| 7 | Steven Zierk | #39 | 2576 | New |
| 8 | Joshua Sheng | #40 | 2575 | 1 place down nationally since last month |
| 9 | Mark Heimann | #57 | 2549-10 | 7 places down nationally since last month |
| 10 | Balaji Daggupati | #70 | 2531 | 4 places down nationally since last month |
| 11 | Alexander Katz | #76 | 2507+6 | No change |
| 12 | Vyom Vidyarthi | #80 | 2497+23 | 14 places up nationally since last month |
| 13 | Robert Shlyakhtenko | #90 | 2483-8 | 6 places down nationally since last month |
| 14 | Julian Colville | #98 | 2473 | New |