8th Northumbria Masters Chess Congress - Open

SwissStandard

33 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 20 Aug 2025 to 25 Aug 2025 in Darlington, England. 11 titled players from 8 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2271, and top seed was Guy Levin (🇮🇱 ISR, IM, 2464).

Guy Levin (🇮🇱 ISR, IM, 2464) won with 6.5/9, ahead of Mark L Hebden (6.5) and Tim Elgar (6.5). Levin shared the lead from round 8, winning on tie-break.

The biggest upset came in round 9: Nakara Husain (1713) beat Craig S M Thomson (FM, 2238), a +525-point gap.

Location

🇬🇧Darlington, England

Dates

20 Aug 2025 → 25 Aug 2025

Time control

Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 9 rounds

Top seed

🇮🇱IMGuy Levin2464

Avg top 10

2,271

Participants

Titled players · 11

GM×2

IM×1

FM×5

CM×2

WFM×1

Federations · 8 represented

🇬🇧England×20

🇬🇧Scotland×3

🇩🇪Germany×2

🇺🇦Ukraine×2

🇮🇳India×2

🇹🇹Trinidad and Tobago×1

🇮🇱Israel×1

🇪🇸Spain×1

Top 3

🥇
IMGuy Levin
🇮🇱ISR·2464
6.5pts·2355perf-7.6
🥈
GMMark L Hebden
🇬🇧ENG·2347
6.5pts·2400perf+7.7
🥉
Tim Elgar
🇬🇧ENG·2118
6.5pts·2266perf+70.4

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 9 rounds

Tight race until R9; 3 players tied at 6.5/9, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 3 at the finish.

Co-leaders

Elgar6.5Levin6.5Hebden6.5Khoury6Stork6Gormally6— ex-leaders:Blackfordled R6, #8

R7 · LEADER CHANGE23 Aug

FM Oliver Stork takes the sole lead (5.5/7).

R9 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER

3 players finish on 6.5/9. Levin takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (43.0).

R7–R9 · WIN STREAK

Tim Elgar won 3 in a row (R7–R9).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Tim Elgar	*	—	—	0
2IMGuy Levin	—	*	0	—
3GMMark L Hebden	—	1	*	½
4FMTheo Khoury	1	—	½	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Levin, GuyIM	2464	ISR	=9B	+12N	+15B	−2N	+20B	+7N	=4B	+17N	=6N	6.5	43.0	47.0	32.00	2355	-7.6
2	Hebden, Mark LGM	2347	ENG	+28N	+19B	=22N	+1B	=4B	−9N	+10N	+6B	=5N	6.5	42.0	45.0	32.25	2400	+7.7
3	Elgar, Tim	2118	ENG	+25B	−5N	+30B	−7N	+12B	=20N	+16B	+15N	+4B	6.5	38.5	40.5	27.00	2266	+70.4
4	Gormally, Daniel WGM	2413	ENG	+14N	+7B	=5N	+22B	=2N	=6B	=1N	+9B	−3N	6.0	47.0	50.5	31.50	2341	-6.3
5	Khoury, TheoFM	2239	ENG	+18N	+3B	=4B	=6N	−9B	+11N	=17B	+8N	=2B	6.0	45.0	49.5	33.00	2267	+18.6
6	Stork, OliverFM	2359	GER	+17B	=11N	+20B	=5B	+19N	=4N	+9B	−2N	=1B	6.0	43.5	47.5	29.25	2333	-2.4
7	Badacsonyi, FrankieFM	2193	ENG	+33N	−4N	+8B	+3B	=10N	−1B	=23N	=13B	+9N	5.5	43.0	44.0	24.75	2201	+5.2
8	Nakara Husain	1713	IND	=16N	+13B	−7N	=18B	+14N	=19B	+11N	−5B	+10N	5.5	40.5	44.5	26.50	2091	+56.6
9	Blackford, Ross	2042	SCO	=1N	+32B	=10N	+15B	+5N	+2B	−6N	−4N	−7B	5.0	46.0	47.5	24.25	2278	+50.4
10	Thomson, Craig S MFM	2238	SCO	+21B	=15N	=9B	+11N	=7B	=17N	−2B	+23N	−8B	5.0	40.5	44.0	22.25	2118	-25.4
11	Kowalski Rubiales, NicholasCM	2125	ESP	+26N	=6B	=16N	−10B	+18N	−5B	−8B	+25N	+21B	5.0	38.5	41.5	19.75	2091	-12.4
12	Green, Michael	2009	ENG	=13N	−1B	=26N	+27B	−3N	=18B	+22N	=16B	+19N	5.0	37.5	40.5	19.00	2141	+26.8
13	Nasiri, Fahim	0	ENG	=12B	−8N	=29B	=21N	+31N	−23B	+20B	=7N	+24B	5.0	34.0	35.5	17.75	2000	0.0
14	Lewis, Andrew	0	ENG	−4B	=31N	=25B	+30N	−8B	=24B	=18N	+27N	+23B	5.0	31.0	32.5	14.75	1988	0.0
15	Sooraj M R	2119	IND	+30N	=10B	−1N	−9N	+29B	+22B	+19N	−3B	−16N	4.5	38.0	40.0	15.00	2124	+0.2
16	Varney, ZoeWFM	2070	ENG	=8B	+29N	=11B	−19N	+21B	F	−3N	=12N	+15B	4.5	37.5	37.5	19.25	2063	+1.2
17	Larchikov, Maksym	2037	UKR	−6N	=24B	+23N	+31B	+22N	=10B	=5N	−1B	F	4.5	35.5	35.5	15.75	2214	+69.2
18	Sharma, Devesh	1998	SCO	−5B	=25N	+33B	=8N	−11B	=12N	=14B	=31N	+22B	4.5	34.5	35.5	14.50	1973	-8.8
19	Harper, RyanFM	2131	TTO	+31B	−2N	+27N	+16B	−6B	=8N	−15B	=21N	−12B	4.0	39.0	40.5	13.75	2011	-26.4
20	Burrows, Martin P	2076	ENG	=32N	+23B	−6N	+24B	−1N	=3B	−13N	+28B	F	4.0	35.5	35.5	14.00	2145	+11.6
21	Armstrong, Malcolm J	1987	ENG	−10N	=26B	+32N	=13B	−16N	+28B	=24N	=19B	−11N	4.0	33.0	34.5	12.25	1987	-0.8
22	Yoon, Jacob DCM	2203	ENG	+24N	+27B	=2B	−4N	−17B	−15N	−12B	+26N	−18N	3.5	37.5	40.5	12.75	2002	-47.2
23	Ethelontis, Alexandros N	1984	ENG	F	−20N	−17B	+25N	+26B	+13N	=7B	−10B	−14N	3.5	35.0	35.0	13.75	2004	+1.4
24	Dyshliuk, Fedir	1962	UKR	−22B	=17N	+28B	−20N	+32B	=14N	=21B	F	−13N	3.5	30.5	30.5	11.25	2014	+16.4
25	Gupta, Leonardo	1885	ENG	−3N	=18B	=14N	−23B	=27N	=31B	+33N	−11B	F	3.0	30.0	30.0	8.00	1863	-10.4
26	Spickermann, Sven, Dr.	1934	GER	−11B	=21N	=12B	=29N	−23N	+33B	−28N	−22B	=30B	3.0	29.0	30.0	8.00	1858	-18.0
27	Kilshaw, Joe	1918	ENG	F	−22N	−19B	−12N	=25B	=29N	+32B	−14B	+33N	3.0	26.0	26.0	5.50	1895	-5.8
28	Armbruster, David	2020	ENG	−2B	F	−24N	F	+30B	−21N	+26B	−20N	+32N	3.0	24.5	24.5	6.50	1945	-15.8
29	Ekanem Nathan	1956	NGR	F	−16B	=13N	=26B	−15N	=27B	=30N	F	+31B	3.0	23.5	23.5	8.00	1923	-6.0
30	Booth, Steven B	1896	ENG	−15B	F	−3N	−14B	−28N	+32N	=29B	−33B	=26N	2.0	27.5	27.5	4.50	1782	-22.2
31	Izod, Chris	1944	ENG	−19N	=14B	F	−17N	−13B	=25N	F	=18B	−29N	1.5	29.0	29.0	6.25	1762	-22.2
32	Bellwood, Liam	1761	ENG	=20B	−9N	−21B	+33N	−24N	−30B	−27N	F	−28B	1.5	25.5	25.5	3.00	1695	-26.8
33	Jerome, Stellio	1669	ENG	−7B	F	−18N	−32B	F	−26N	−25B	+30N	−27B	1.0	22.5	22.5	2.00	1614	-7.4

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Elgar, TimENG
+70.4
6.5 pts · #1
2Larchikov, MaksymUKR
+69.2
4.5 pts · #16
3Nakara HusainIND
+56.6
5.5 pts · #20

Top rating losers

1Yoon, Jacob DCMENG
-47.2
3.5 pts · #21
2Bellwood, LiamENG
-26.8
1.5 pts · #31
3Harper, RyanFMTTO
-26.4
4.0 pts · #19

Biggest upsets

R9+525 Elo gap
Nakara Husain1713 beat FMThomson, Craig S M2238
R7+412 Elo gap
Nakara Husain1713 beat CMKowalski Rubiales, Nicholas2125
R6+305 Elo gap
Blackford, Ross2042 beat GMHebden, Mark L2347