London Chess League FIDE Weekender May 2025 - Major
Open SwissStandard
39 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 30 May 2025 to 01 Jun 2025 in London, England. 8 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1809, and top seed was Mohammad Hossein Mozaffari (🇮🇷 IRI, 1895).
George Horan (🇬🇧 ENG, 1866) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Oliver Finnegan (4.0) and Darshan Kumaresan (4.0). Horan shared the lead from round 4, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Aviraj Bhaduri (1493) beat Djad Ben-Eshak (1721), a +228-point gap.
Location
🇬🇧London, England
Dates
30 May 2025 → 01 Jun 2025
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Federations · 8 represented
🇬🇧England×31
🇮🇷Iran×1
🇬🇧Wales×1
🇲🇾Malaysia×1
🇧🇪Belgium×1
FIDE (no federation)×1
🇱🇰Sri Lanka×1
🇬🇧Scotland×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsTight race until R5; 5 players tied at 4.0/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 3 co-leaders at R4 to 5 at the finish.
Co-leaders
15
5
2
3
5
R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER
5 players finish on 4.0/5. Horan takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (14.0).
R2–R5 · WIN STREAK
Tom Balmond won 4 in a row (R2–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1George Horan | * | — | — | ½ |
| 2Mohammad Hossein Mozaffari | — | * | — | — |
| 3Tom Balmond | — | — | * | — |
| 4Oliver Finnegan | ½ | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horan, George | 1866 | ENG | +21N | +14B | =2N | +7B | =3N | 4.0 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 12.00 | 2011 | +17.4 |
| 2 | Finnegan, Oliver | 1776 | ENG | +10B | +13N | =1B | =9N | +6B | 4.0 | 13.5 | 16.0 | 12.50 | 1989 | +26.2 |
| 3 | Kumaresan, Darshan | 1807 | ENG | +20N | +16B | +18N | =6N | =1B | 4.0 | 12.5 | 14.5 | 10.75 | 2001 | +23.8 |
| 4 | Mozaffari, Mohammad Hossein | 1895 | IRI | +22B | +15N | −6B | +12N | +9B | 4.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 10.50 | 1981 | +7.6 |
| 5 | Balmond, Tom | 1763 | ENG | −13B | +10N | +20B | +32N | +11B | 4.0 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 9.00 | 1909 | +34.0 |
| 6 | Cowan, Xavier | 1838 | ENG | +12N | +17B | +4N | =3B | −2N | 3.5 | 15.0 | 17.5 | 11.50 | 1929 | +12.0 |
| 7 | Llewellyn, Julian D | 1849 | ENG | +11B | =9N | +25B | −1N | +16B | 3.5 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 8.50 | 1835 | -2.0 |
| 8 | Croasdale, Mark | 1666 | ENG | =25B | =30N | =15B | +21N | +14N | 3.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 7.00 | 1876 | +21.8 |
| 9 | Brod, Oliver | 1711 | ENG | +35N | =7B | +23N | =2B | −4N | 3.0 | 13.5 | 14.0 | 6.25 | 1807 | +20.4 |
| 10 | Eagle, Joe | 1669 | ENG | −2N | −5B | +22B | +34N | +26B | 3.0 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 4.00 | 1748 | +22.8 |
| 11 | Valentine, Tim | 1695 | ENG | −7N | +28B | +27N | +24B | −5N | 3.0 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 5.00 | 1729 | +4.0 |
| 12 | Sood, Vineet | 1688 | ENG | −6B | +31N | +34N | −4B | +30N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 2.50 | 1773 | +12.2 |
| 13 | Gopaldas, Caelan | 1662 | ENG | +5N | −2B | =14N | =18B | =17N | 2.5 | 13.0 | 15.5 | 7.75 | 1744 | +11.2 |
| 14 | Fortunato, Bartolomeo | 1723 | ENG | +36B | −1N | =13B | +26N | −8B | 2.5 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 3.25 | 1669 | -14.0 |
| 15 | Thorogood, Luca | 1727 | ENG | +33N | −4B | =8N | −23B | +29B | 2.5 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 4.25 | 1621 | -24.4 |
| 16 | Miller, Craig | 1682 | ENG | +28N | −3N | =30B | +33B | −7N | 2.5 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 3.00 | 1722 | +4.8 |
| 17 | Frydman-Orsteen, Oscar | 1717 | ENG | +34B | −6N | −26B | +27N | =13B | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 3.25 | 1563 | -32.4 |
| 18 | Silke Balerna, Pietro | 1745 | SUI | +29N | F | −3B | =13N | +32B | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.75 | 1706 | -6.0 |
| 19 | Cepoi, Gesneria-Codruta | 1597 | ENG | F | =25N | +21B | F | +23N | 2.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 4.75 | 2495 | +50.4 |
| 20 | Slegg, Gary | 1670 | WLS | −3B | +22N | −5N | +35B | −24N | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 2.50 | 1508 | -16.4 |
| 21 | Sweetnam, James William Ian | 1701 | ENG | −1B | +36N | −19N | −8B | +39N | 2.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.50 | 1604 | -26.4 |
| 22 | Loog, Tiiu | 0 | ENG | −4N | −20B | −10N | +37B | +35B | 2.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 1.00 | 1519 | -46.4 |
| 23 | Saharkar, Sharvari | 1688 | ENG | F | +37N | −9B | +15N | −19B | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.00 | 1658 | -6.8 |
| 24 | Bhaduri, Aviraj | 1493 | ENG | +31B | F | F | −11N | +20B | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.00 | 1821 | +51.2 |
| 25 | Birch, George | 0 | ENG | =8N | =19B | −7N | F | =28B | 1.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.75 | 1644 | 0.0 |
| 26 | George, Naveen Daniel | 1648 | MAS | F | =27B | +17N | −14B | −10N | 1.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 3.25 | 1577 | -5.6 |
| 27 | Athukorala, Enuka Udan Bandara | 0 | SRI | F | =26N | −11B | −17B | +31N | 1.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.75 | 1608 | 0.0 |
| 28 | McGill, Peter | 1810 | SCO | −16B | −11N | F | +36B | =25N | 1.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.25 | 1504 | -47.6 |
| 29 | Bernatowicz, David | 0 | BEL | −18B | F | =35N | +31B | −15N | 1.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.25 | 1606 | +16.0 |
| 30 | Royce, Anastasija | 1581 | ENG | F | =8B | =16N | F | −12B | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.00 | 1555 | -4.0 |
| 31 | Ben-Eshak, Djad | 1721 | ENG | −24N | −12B | +37B | −29N | −27B | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 0.50 | 1466 | -40.4 |
| 32 | Vorozhtsov, Ilya Art | 1649 | FID | +39N | F | F | −5B | −18N | 1.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 1626 | -3.2 |
| 33 | Avlonitis, Vassilios | 1562 | ENG | −15B | F | +39B | −16N | F | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 1595 | +5.2 |
| 34 | Adebayo, Ayodeji | 1448 | ENG | −17N | F | −12B | −10B | =38N | 0.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.25 | 890 | -24.4 |
| 35 | Stell, Edmund | 0 | ENG | −9B | F | =29B | −20N | −22N | 0.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.75 | 907 | 0.0 |
| 36 | Kilmartin, David | 1505 | ENG | −14N | −21B | F | −28N | =37N | 0.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.25 | 1385 | -19.6 |
| 37 | Kasprowicz, Peter | 1595 | ENG | F | −23B | −31N | −22N | =36B | 0.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.25 | 1342 | -45.2 |
| 38 | Acharya, Nikesh | 0 | ENG | F | F | F | F | =34B | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.25 | 1452 | -7.6 |
| 39 | Stewart, Noel M | 1745 | ENG | −32B | F | −33N | F | −21B | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 838 | -77.2 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Bhaduri, AvirajENG+51.22.0 pts · #14
- 2Cepoi, Gesneria-CodrutaENG+50.42.5 pts · #17
- 3Balmond, TomENG+34.04.0 pts · #3
Top rating losers
- 1Stewart, Noel MENG-77.20.0 pts · #39
- 2McGill, PeterSCO-47.61.5 pts · #27
- 3Loog, TiiuENG-46.42.0 pts · #26
Biggest upsets
- R1+228 Elo gap
- R3+183 Elo gap
- R5+177 Elo gap