Drogheda Chess Congress 2025 - Fox Major 2025
34 players participated in this 6-round tournament, held from 31 May 2025 to 01 Jun 2025 in St Mary's Parish Primary School, Bryanstown, Drogheda A92 XD80, Ireland. 1 titled players from 3 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1696, and top seed was Owen Johnston (🇮🇪 IRL, 1737).
Beril Bayrak (🇹🇷 TUR, 1666) won with 5.0/6, ahead of Robert Nielsen (5.0) and Owen Johnston (5.0). Bayrak shared the lead from round 2, winning on tie-break.
The biggest upset came in round 2: Rodrigo Alves (1503) beat Dylan Booysen (1628), a +125-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 6 roundsTight race until R6; 3 players tied at 5.0/6, decided on Buchholz.
3 players finish on 5.0/6. Bayrak takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (20.0).
Robert Nielsen beat Beril Bayrak (White).
Robert Nielsen 3 wins (R4–R6)Beril Bayrak 5 wins (R1–R5)Owen Johnston 3 wins (R1–R3)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Robert Nielsen | * | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2Beril Bayrak | 0 | * | 1 | — |
| 3Owen Johnston | 1 | 0 | * | — |
| 4Denis Lynch | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayrak, Beril | 1666 | TUR | +23N | +13B | +10N | +3B | +8B | −2N | 5.0 | 20.0 | 23.0 | 18.00 | 1899 | +33.2 |
| 2 | Nielsen, Robert | 1662 | IRL | +33B | +12N | −3N | +17B | +6N | +1B | 5.0 | 20.0 | 20.5 | 15.50 | 1904 | +35.2 |
| 3 | Johnston, Owen | 1737 | IRL | +34B | +20N | +2B | −1N | +13B | +5N | 5.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 15.00 | 1895 | +42.0 |
| 4 | Lynch, Denis | 1628 | IRL | −14B | +25N | +12B | =9N | +11B | +8N | 4.5 | 16.5 | 18.5 | 13.75 | 1792 | +44.0 |
| 5 | McGrady, Seth | 1623 | IRL | =9N | +7B | =16N | +15N | +14B | −3B | 4.0 | 18.5 | 21.5 | 13.25 | 1833 | +34.8 |
| 6 | Baczkowski, Stefan | 1667 | IRL | −8B | +28N | +20B | +18N | −2B | +26N | 4.0 | 16.5 | 18.5 | 10.00 | 1728 | +9.4 |
| 7 | Syms, Thomas | 1641 | IRL | =24B | −5N | +30B | +21N | =9B | +16N | 4.0 | 16.0 | 17.5 | 10.50 | 1828 | +50.8 |
| 8 | Corry, Shane | 1609 | IRL | +6N | =15N | +14B | +16B | −1N | −4B | 3.5 | 19.5 | 22.5 | 11.50 | 1742 | +45.2 |
| 9 | Greenan, Paul | 1720 | IRL | =5B | =18N | +19N | =4B | =7N | =10B | 3.5 | 19.0 | 22.0 | 12.50 | 1615 | -14.4 |
| 10 | Scott, Shay | 1572 | IRL | +30B | +31N | −1B | =11N | =15B | =9N | 3.5 | 16.5 | 18.0 | 8.00 | 1735 | +27.4 |
| 11 | Howlett, Cillian | 1645 | IRL | =19N | =29B | +26N | =10B | −4N | +13B | 3.5 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 9.25 | 1664 | +3.6 |
| 12 | Brearley, Thierry | 1508 | IRL | +22N | −2B | −4N | +25B | =17N | =23B | 3.0 | 18.5 | 20.5 | 8.00 | 1436 | -13.6 |
| 13 | Dimitrov, Nikolai | 1571 | IRL | +26N | −1N | +31B | +22B | −3N | −11N | 3.0 | 18.5 | 20.0 | 6.50 | 1573 | 0.0 |
| 14 | Hung, Tak Yuen Dennis | 1734 | HKG | +4N | =17B | −8N | +19B | −5N | =22B | 3.0 | 18.0 | 21.0 | 10.50 | 1533 | -44.8 |
| 15 | Lynch, Peter J. | 1704 | IRL | +27N | =8B | =17N | −5B | =10N | =19B | 3.0 | 17.0 | 19.0 | 8.50 | 1519 | -20.8 |
| 16 | Crowe, John | 1712 | IRL | =18B | +24N | =5B | −8N | +28N | −7B | 3.0 | 17.0 | 19.0 | 8.00 | 1547 | -45.6 |
| 17 | Prabhith, Ayaan | 1623 | IRL | +25B | =14N | =15B | −2N | =12B | =18N | 3.0 | 17.0 | 19.0 | 8.00 | 1573 | -14.4 |
| 18 | Leung, Hoi TingWCM | 1618 | HKG | =16N | =9B | +21N | −6B | =22N | =17B | 3.0 | 16.5 | 19.5 | 9.25 | 1681 | +8.8 |
| 19 | Duffy, James | 0 | IRL | =11B | +32N | −9B | −14N | +24B | =15N | 3.0 | 15.5 | 17.0 | 7.25 | 1615 | 0.0 |
| 20 | Palihawadana, Aken Pinitha | 1617 | IRL | +21N | −3B | −6N | −26B | +33N | +31B | 3.0 | 15.5 | 16.0 | 5.00 | 1641 | +8.0 |
| 21 | Akobo, D N | 1682 | IRL | −20B | +27N | −18B | −7B | +25N | +30N | 3.0 | 14.0 | 15.5 | 5.50 | 1441 | -50.8 |
| 22 | Ryan Smith, Charlie | 0 | IRL | −12B | +33N | +29B | −13N | =18B | =14N | 3.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 5.50 | 1531 | 0.0 |
| 23 | Martin, Seamus | 1604 | IRL | −1B | =30N | =32B | =31N | +34B | =12N | 3.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 3.75 | 1623 | +6.4 |
| 24 | Guy, Hugh | 0 | IRL | =7N | −16B | −25N | +27B | −19N | +32N | 2.5 | 14.0 | 15.5 | 5.50 | 1662 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Roddy, Mark | 0 | IRL | −17N | −4B | +24B | −12N | −21B | +33N | 2.0 | 16.0 | 16.5 | 3.00 | 1365 | 0.0 |
| 26 | Alves, Rodrigo | 1503 | IRL | −13B | +34N | −11B | +20N | F | −6B | 2.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 3.00 | 1547 | +11.6 |
| 27 | Baker, Jake | 0 | IRL | −15B | −21B | =33N | −24N | =32B | +34N | 2.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 1.00 | 1568 | 0.0 |
| 28 | Fitzpatrick, Kevin | 1611 | IRL | −31B | −6B | +34N | +32N | −16B | F | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 1.50 | 1584 | -3.8 |
| 29 | O` Connor, Carl | 0 | IRL | =32B | =11N | −22N | F | +30B | F | 2.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 4.00 | 1667 | 0.0 |
| 30 | Stacey, Derek | 1661 | IRL | −10N | =23B | −7N | +33B | −29N | −21B | 1.5 | 15.5 | 16.0 | 2.00 | 1467 | -52.4 |
| 31 | Brady, John | 1672 | IRL | +28N | −10B | −13N | =23B | F | −20N | 1.5 | 14.5 | 16.5 | 3.50 | 1446 | -61.2 |
| 32 | Martin, Desmond | 1634 | IRL | =29N | −19B | =23N | −28B | =27N | −24B | 1.5 | 12.5 | 14.5 | 3.50 | 1415 | -11.4 |
| 33 | Greenan, David | 1582 | IRL | −2N | −22B | =27B | −30N | −20B | −25B | 0.5 | 15.0 | 16.5 | 1.00 | 847 | -49.2 |
| 34 | Booysen, Dylan | 1628 | IRL | −3N | −26B | −28B | F | −23N | −27B | 0.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.00 | 814 | -76.4 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Syms, ThomasIRL+50.84.0 pts · #6
- 2Corry, ShaneIRL+45.23.5 pts · #8
- 3Lynch, DenisIRL+44.04.5 pts · #7
- 1Booysen, DylanIRL-76.40.0 pts · #34
- 2Brady, JohnIRL-61.21.5 pts · #28
- 3Stacey, DerekIRL-52.41.5 pts · #27
- R2+125 Elo gap
- R3+125 Elo gap
- R4+114 Elo gap