Militon Keynes Chess Congress 2025 - Open
Open SwissStandard
32 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 07 Jun 2025 to 08 Jun 2025 in Milton Keynes, England. 6 titled players from 5 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2174, and top seed was Maciej Czopor (🇵🇱 POL, IM, 2423).
Mark L Hebden (🇬🇧 ENG, GM, 2352) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Aditya Verma (3.5) and Aaravamudhan Balaji (3.5). Hebden won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 2: Francesco Poderico (1696) beat Senith Thenula Gunarathne (1963), a +267-point gap.
Location
🇬🇧Milton Keynes, England
Dates
07 Jun 2025 → 08 Jun 2025
Time control
Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Avg top 10
2,174
Participants
32
Titled players · 6
GM×1
IM×1
FM×2
CM×2
Federations · 5 represented
🇬🇧England×26
🇮🇳India×3
🇮🇹Italy×1
🇮🇪Ireland×1
🇨🇭Switzerland×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsCo-leaders
11
3
4
1
2
R1–R5 · UNBEATEN
GM Mark L Hebden went unbeaten across 5 games (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GMMark L Hebden | * | — | — | 1 |
| 2James Merriman | — | * | ½ | — |
| 3Aditya Verma | — | ½ | * | — |
| 4IMAaravamudhan Balaji | 0 | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hebden, Mark LGM | 2352 | ENG | +12N | +15B | =7N | =6B | +3N | 4.0 | 12.0 | 14.5 | 11.50 | 2382 | +2.6 |
| 2 | Verma, Aditya | 2091 | ENG | =14B | +9N | =?B | +10N | =5B | 3.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 9.00 | 2103 | +1.4 |
| 3 | Balaji, AaravamudhanIM | 2346 | ENG | +16B | =23N | +8B | +19N | −1B | 3.5 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 8.25 | 2272 | -6.8 |
| 4 | Mesropyan, Hayk | 1866 | ENG | −11N | +27B | +17N | +22B | =7N | 3.5 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 6.50 | 2001 | +26.4 |
| 5 | Merriman, James | 2001 | ENG | +25B | =?N | =21N | +18B | =2N | 3.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 5.75 | 2231 | +47.2 |
| 6 | Murawski, JanCM | 2164 | ENG | =9B | +14N | +23B | =1N | −?B | 3.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 7.50 | 2225 | +16.0 |
| 7 | Kenworthy, GaryFM | 2189 | ENG | +27N | +11B | =1B | −?N | =4B | 3.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 7.25 | 2134 | -1.2 |
| 8 | Sooraj M R | 2114 | IND | =17N | +30B | −3N | +12B | =13N | 3.0 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 5.25 | 2107 | -0.4 |
| 9 | Avinash Vaidyanathan | 1855 | IND | =6N | −2B | +32N | +24B | =15B | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 3.75 | 2092 | +31.0 |
| 10 | McLachlan, Matthew | 1944 | ENG | +31N | −19N | +24B | −2B | +17N | 3.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.00 | 2054 | +14.8 |
| 11 | Pyda, Arjun | 1810 | ENG | +4B | −7N | −18N | +32B | =12N | 2.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 4.75 | 2000 | +23.2 |
| 12 | Thiran, Noe | 2039 | SUI | −1B | +28N | +31B | −8N | =11B | 2.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 2.25 | 1976 | -16.8 |
| 13 | Sullivan, Daniel | 1909 | ENG | =21N | =17B | F | +20N | =8B | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 5.50 | 2119 | +21.2 |
| 14 | Dairi, Ramsey | 1839 | ENG | =2N | −6B | F | +30N | +18B | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 4.25 | 2134 | +59.2 |
| 15 | Gordon, Sean | 1970 | ENG | +28B | −1N | F | +26B | =9N | 2.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.50 | 2036 | +5.0 |
| 16 | Bartram, Dominic | 0 | ENG | −3N | −20B | +25N | +28B | =22N | 2.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 3.00 | 1918 | 0.0 |
| 17 | Borrowdale, Graham E | 1928 | ENG | =8B | =13N | −4B | +31N | −10B | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 2.75 | 1858 | -10.2 |
| 18 | Baer, Bruce L | 1944 | ENG | −?B | +25N | +11B | −5N | −14N | 2.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 3.50 | 1891 | -5.6 |
| 19 | Dignam, MatthewCM | 2161 | IRL | +24N | +10B | F | −3B | F | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 4.00 | 2192 | +3.0 |
| 20 | Blinkhorn, Joshua | 1848 | ENG | −23B | +16N | F | −13B | +26N | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 3.50 | 1795 | -9.6 |
| 21 | Merriman, JohnFM | 2204 | ENG | =13B | +26N | =5B | F | F | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 4.00 | 2030 | -10.6 |
| 22 | Poderico, Francesco | 1696 | ITA | =30N | +32B | F | −4N | =16B | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.50 | 1928 | +17.2 |
| 23 | Avadhoot Lokesh Bhakti Brahme | 2081 | IND | +20N | =3B | −6N | F | F | 1.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.75 | 2119 | +5.0 |
| 24 | Hertog, Alexander | 1911 | ENG | −19B | +29B | −10N | −9N | F | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.00 | 1802 | -22.8 |
| 25 | Thompson, Daniel | 1912 | ENG | −5N | −18B | −16B | F | +29N | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.00 | 1863 | -8.0 |
| 26 | Walton, Paul | 1769 | ENG | +29N | −21B | F | −15N | −20B | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.00 | 1808 | +4.0 |
| 27 | O Brien, Thomas P | 0 | ENG | −7B | −4N | F | −29N | +32B | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 1816 | 0.0 |
| 28 | Sahoo, Shivam | 1787 | ENG | −15N | −12B | F | −16N | +31B | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 1818 | +3.6 |
| 29 | Bevis, Noah | 2018 | ENG | −26B | −24N | F | +27B | −25B | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.00 | 1064 | -84.0 |
| 30 | Fraser-Mitchell, Jeremy N | 1955 | ENG | =22B | −8N | F | −14B | F | 0.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.00 | 1610 | -25.4 |
| 31 | Gupta, Aditya | 1819 | ENG | −10B | F | −12N | −17B | −28N | 0.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 1125 | -57.6 |
| 32 | Gunarathne, Senith Thenula | 1963 | ENG | F | −22N | −9B | −11N | −27N | 0.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 987 | -86.8 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Dairi, RamseyENG+59.22.5 pts · #9
- 2Merriman, JamesENG+47.23.5 pts · #2
- 3Avinash VaidyanathanIND+31.03.0 pts · #6
Top rating losers
- 1Gunarathne, Senith ThenulaENG-86.80.0 pts · #32
- 2Bevis, NoahENG-84.01.0 pts · #30
- 3Gupta, AdityaENG-57.60.0 pts · #31
Biggest upsets
- R2+267 Elo gap
- R1+249 Elo gap
- R4+153 Elo gap