53rd Balderton Thanet Open
Open SwissStandard
25 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 15 Aug 2025 to 17 Aug 2025 in Sandwich, England. 4 titled players from 6 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2077, and top seed was Martin R Taylor (🇬🇧 ENG, FM, 2332).
Martin R Taylor (🇬🇧 ENG, FM, 2332) won with 4.5/5, ahead of David B Graham (4.0) and Samuel Marsden (3.5). Taylor took the lead from round 4.
The biggest upset came in round 5: Francesco Bigi (1497) beat Keith C Findley (1876), a +379-point gap.
Location
🇬🇧Sandwich, England
Dates
15 Aug 2025 → 17 Aug 2025
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Titled players · 4
FM×1
CM×1
WFM×2
Federations · 6 represented
🇬🇧England×19
🇮🇹Italy×1
🇹🇷Turkiye×1
🇮🇪Ireland×1
🇬🇧Wales×1
🇳🇿New Zealand×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsFM Martin R Taylor led from R4; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.
Co-leaders
6
1
1
1
1
R4 · LEADER CHANGE17 Aug
FM Martin R Taylor takes the sole lead (3.5/4).
R3–R5 · WIN STREAK
FM Martin R Taylor won 3 in a row (R3–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1FMMartin R Taylor | * | — | — | — |
| 2CMDavid B Graham | — | * | — | — |
| 3Samuel Marsden | — | — | * | ½ |
| 4Richard N Davies | — | — | ½ | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor, Martin RFM | 2332 | ENG | +10B | =4N | +7B | +6B | +5N | 4.5 | 12.0 | 14.5 | 13.00 | 2396 | +5.0 |
| 2 | Graham, David BCM | 2095 | ENG | =24N | +18B | =4N | +15B | +6N | 4.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 8.25 | 2250 | +18.8 |
| 3 | Marsden, Samuel | 2065 | ENG | =8B | +21N | +11B | −5N | +4B | 3.5 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 8.00 | 2105 | +13.2 |
| 4 | Damodaran, Patrick | 2029 | ENG | +9N | =1B | =2B | +12N | −3N | 3.0 | 15.0 | 17.5 | 9.75 | 2037 | -0.4 |
| 5 | Starley, Robert | 2065 | ENG | F | +14B | +8N | +3B | −1B | 3.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 9.00 | 2202 | +10.6 |
| 6 | Zeydan, Salih | 2079 | TUR | +22B | +16N | +20B | −1N | −2B | 3.0 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 4.00 | 2057 | -2.8 |
| 7 | Compton, Alistair | 2044 | NZL | =13N | +23B | −1N | +20B | =10N | 3.0 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 4.50 | 1922 | -11.2 |
| 8 | Davies, Richard N | 1816 | ENG | =3N | +24B | −5B | =11N | +18B | 3.0 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 5.00 | 1998 | 0.0 |
| 9 | Powell, David H | 0 | ENG | −4B | −10N | +25B | +24N | +16B | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.50 | 1947 | 0.0 |
| 10 | Collopy, Robert | 1919 | ENG | −1N | +9B | F | +19N | =7B | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 6.00 | 2016 | +12.0 |
| 11 | Pack, Edgar | 1862 | ENG | F | +13B | −3N | =8B | +20N | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 5.00 | 1926 | +3.2 |
| 12 | Green, Jeff A | 0 | ENG | −18N | +22N | +14B | −4B | =15N | 2.5 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 4.50 | 1955 | 0.0 |
| 13 | Carpenter-Friend, Ben | 1792 | ENG | =7B | −11N | +22B | −17N | +19B | 2.5 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 4.00 | 1906 | +29.2 |
| 14 | Waters, Andrew C | 1841 | ENG | =15B | −5N | −12N | +23B | +21N | 2.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 3.00 | 1899 | +7.4 |
| 15 | Varney, ZoeWFM | 2070 | ENG | =14N | F | +16B | −2N | =12B | 2.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 4.50 | 1953 | -9.2 |
| 16 | Faldon, David J | 1924 | ENG | +25N | −6B | −15N | +21B | −9N | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.00 | 1787 | -9.4 |
| 17 | Richmond, JaneWFM | 2031 | WLS | +19B | −20N | F | +13B | F | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.00 | 2539 | +6.2 |
| 18 | Smyth, Kevin | 1958 | ENG | +12B | −2N | =19B | F | −8N | 1.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.25 | 1698 | -26.0 |
| 19 | Dorman, Orla | 1710 | IRL | −17N | +25B | =18N | −10B | −13N | 1.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.75 | 1603 | -7.0 |
| 20 | Brown, Gavin | 0 | ENG | F | +17B | −6N | −7N | −11B | 1.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 2.00 | 1819 | 0.0 |
| 21 | Saharkar, Sharvari | 1587 | ENG | F | −3B | +23N | −16N | −14B | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.00 | 1618 | -0.4 |
| 22 | Findley, Keith C | 1876 | ENG | −6N | −12B | −13N | +25N | −23B | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.00 | 989 | -70.8 |
| 23 | Bigi, Francesco | 1497 | ITA | F | −7N | −21B | −14N | +22N | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.00 | 1606 | +12.9 |
| 24 | Bourne, Johnathan D | 1915 | ENG | =2B | −8N | F | −9B | F | 0.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 2.00 | 2095 | +4.8 |
| 25 | FIDE 343478603 | 0 | — | −16B | −19N | −9N | −22B | F | 0.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 1029 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Carpenter-Friend, BenENG+29.22.5 pts · #5
- 2Graham, David BCMENG+18.84.0 pts · #2
- 3Marsden, SamuelENG+13.23.5 pts · #3
Top rating losers
- 1Findley, Keith CENG-70.81.0 pts · #25
- 2Smyth, KevinENG-26.01.5 pts · #21
- 3Compton, AlistairNZL-11.23.0 pts · #12
Biggest upsets
- R5+379 Elo gap
- R5+142 Elo gap