17th Leyland Chess Congress - Major
33 players participated in this 6-round tournament, held from 23 Aug 2025 to 25 Aug 2025 in Preston, England. 7 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1790, and top seed was Paul R Bielby (🇬🇧 ENG, 1839).
George Heath (🇬🇧 ENG, 0) won with 5.5/6, ahead of Paul Doherty (4.5) and Richard Walsh (4.5). Heath shared the lead from round 4 and won solo starting round 5.
The biggest upset came in round 1: David Kilmartin (1485) beat Jon Blackburn (1775), a +290-point gap.
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 6 roundsGeorge Heath led from R5; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R5.
George Heath takes the sole lead (4.5/5).
George Heath beat Paul Doherty (Black).
George Heath 3 wins (R4–R6)Paul Doherty 3 wins (R2–R4)Richard Walsh 4 wins (R3–R6)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1George Heath | * | 1 | — | — |
| 2Paul Doherty | 0 | * | — | — |
| 3Richard Walsh | — | — | * | — |
| 4Shlok Maheshwari | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heath, George | 0 | ENG | +25N | +8B | =6N | +5B | +2N | +15B | 5.5 | 18.5 | 20.0 | 18.25 | 1858 | 0.0 |
| 2 | Doherty, Paul | 1823 | ENG | =31N | +16B | +28N | +10N | −1B | +6B | 4.5 | 17.0 | 18.0 | 12.00 | 2030 | +16.8 |
| 3 | Walsh, Richard | 1828 | ENG | −9B | =18N | +33B | +7N | +17B | +19N | 4.5 | 14.5 | 15.0 | 10.25 | 1811 | -3.6 |
| 4 | Maheshwari, Shlok | 1673 | ENG | =17B | =7N | =14B | +22N | +26B | +12N | 4.5 | 14.0 | 15.5 | 11.00 | 1982 | +48.0 |
| 5 | Bleakley, Adam | 0 | ENG | =19B | +33N | +20B | −1N | =12B | +13N | 4.0 | 16.5 | 17.0 | 8.75 | 1739 | 0.0 |
| 6 | Leonard, Paul | 1725 | ENG | +29B | +14N | =1B | =13N | =10B | −2N | 3.5 | 19.5 | 21.0 | 10.50 | 1591 | -20.4 |
| 7 | Roychowdhury, Aashita | 1589 | ENG | =8N | =4B | +25N | −3B | =11N | +23B | 3.5 | 18.0 | 19.5 | 9.25 | 1828 | +63.6 |
| 8 | Mak, Janos | 1804 | HUN | =7B | −1N | +18B | =14N | =23B | +26N | 3.5 | 16.5 | 18.0 | 8.25 | 1792 | -0.6 |
| 9 | De Block, Gert | 1648 | BEL | +3N | −10N | −15B | =27B | +20N | +22B | 3.5 | 15.5 | 17.0 | 9.75 | 1846 | +32.6 |
| 10 | Bielby, Paul R | 1839 | ENG | +18N | +9B | +30N | −2B | =6N | F | 3.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 9.25 | 1812 | -3.0 |
| 11 | Rutlidge, Clifford | 0 | ENG | −12B | =21B | =27N | +33N | =7B | +17N | 3.5 | 13.0 | 13.5 | 6.75 | 1709 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Baxter, Martin | 1760 | ENG | +11N | =13B | =26N | =30B | =5N | −4B | 3.0 | 16.5 | 18.0 | 8.50 | 1380 | -38.8 |
| 13 | Kilmartin, David | 1485 | ENG | +21N | =12N | +17B | =6B | −15N | −5B | 3.0 | 16.0 | 18.5 | 8.25 | 1764 | +53.2 |
| 14 | Reaney, Conor | 0 | ENG | +27N | −6B | =4N | =8B | =22N | =21B | 3.0 | 16.0 | 17.5 | 7.75 | 1749 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Williamson, Graham A | 1795 | SCO | F | F | +9N | +24B | +13B | −1N | 3.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 8.50 | 2410 | +16.2 |
| 16 | Sara Kundan Khan | 1581 | IND | =22B | −2N | −19B | =18N | +31B | +32B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 4.25 | 1654 | +15.8 |
| 17 | Kheratkar, Zayd | 0 | ENG | =4N | +31B | −13N | +29B | −3N | −11B | 2.5 | 17.0 | 18.0 | 4.75 | 1564 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Gillett, John | 1669 | ENG | −10B | =3B | −8N | =16B | =25N | +33N | 2.5 | 16.0 | 16.5 | 5.00 | 1688 | +4.0 |
| 19 | Banerjee, Sanjoy K | 1729 | ENG | =5N | −26B | +16N | +28B | F | −3B | 2.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 6.50 | 1705 | -1.2 |
| 20 | Lamb, Ian | 1745 | FRA | =28N | =23B | −5N | =32B | −9B | +25N | 2.5 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 3.75 | 1712 | -2.6 |
| 21 | Blackburn, Jon | 1775 | ENG | −13B | =11N | +29B | F | =32N | =14N | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 5.25 | 685 | -16.8 |
| 22 | Connor, Michael I | 1779 | ENG | =16N | −28B | +31N | −4B | =14B | −9N | 2.0 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 4.00 | 1543 | -26.0 |
| 23 | Szwajkun, Richard | 0 | ENG | F | =20N | −24B | +25B | =8N | −7N | 2.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 4.50 | 1644 | -14.0 |
| 24 | Richards, Simon | 1697 | ENG | +32N | −30B | +23N | −15N | F | F | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 3.00 | 1770 | +8.0 |
| 25 | Ford, Chris W | 1744 | ENG | −1B | +32N | −7B | −23N | =18B | −20B | 1.5 | 16.0 | 17.0 | 2.25 | 1365 | -72.4 |
| 26 | Ashton, Paul | 0 | ENG | F | +19N | =12B | F | −4N | −8B | 1.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 4.00 | 1651 | 0.0 |
| 27 | Blackwell, Matthew | 1749 | ENG | −14B | =29N | =11B | =9N | F | F | 1.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 4.25 | 1649 | -5.6 |
| 28 | Groves, Barry | 0 | ENG | =20B | +22N | −2B | −19N | F | F | 1.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 3.25 | 1682 | 0.0 |
| 29 | Altmann, Daniel | 0 | WLS | −6N | =27B | −21N | −17N | =33B | =31B | 1.5 | 11.0 | 11.5 | 1.50 | 1561 | 0.0 |
| 30 | Socha, Luboslav | 0 | ENG | F | +24N | −10B | =12N | F | F | 1.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.50 | 1765 | 0.0 |
| 31 | Blackburn, Sandra G | 1632 | WLS | =2B | −17N | −22B | F | −16N | =29N | 1.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 3.00 | 1455 | -24.8 |
| 32 | Chaitanya Krishna Vadlamani | 0 | IND | −24B | −25B | F | =20N | =21B | −16N | 1.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 2.50 | 1468 | 0.0 |
| 33 | Webster, Vivien | 1675 | ENG | F | −5B | −3N | −11B | =29N | −18B | 0.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 0.75 | 949 | -16.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Roychowdhury, AashitaENG+63.63.5 pts · #8
- 2Kilmartin, DavidENG+53.23.0 pts · #13
- 3Maheshwari, ShlokENG+48.04.5 pts · #12
- 1Ford, Chris WENG-72.41.5 pts · #30
- 2Baxter, MartinENG-38.83.0 pts · #29
- 3Connor, Michael IENG-26.02.0 pts · #23
- R1+290 Elo gap
- R1+180 Elo gap
- R3+155 Elo gap