3rd Sussex Univeristy Chess Congress - Open

Open SwissStandard

44 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 29 Aug 2025 to 31 Aug 2025 in Falmer Campus, England. 7 titled players from 8 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2176, and top seed was Aaravamudhan Balaji (🇬🇧 ENG, IM, 2394).

Roland Bezuidenhout (🇿🇦 RSA, FM, 2272) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Hayk Mesropyan (4.0) and Arjun Kolani (4.0). Bezuidenhout clinched sole first place in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 5: Maharnab Choudhury (1501) beat Sidhanth Pai (1921), a +420-point gap.

Location

🇬🇧Falmer Campus, England

Dates

29 Aug 2025 → 31 Aug 2025

Time control

Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇬🇧IMAaravamudhan Balaji2394

Avg top 10

2,176

Participants

Titled players · 7

IM×1

FM×2

CM×3

WFM×1

Federations · 8 represented

🇬🇧England×37

FIDE (no federation)×1

🇬🇷Greece×1

🇱🇹Lithuania×1

🇮🇳India×1

🇺🇦Ukraine×1

🇿🇦South Africa×1

🇱🇰Sri Lanka×1

Top 3

🥇
FMRoland Bezuidenhout
🇿🇦RSA·2272
4.5pts·2391perf+10.2
🥈
Hayk Mesropyan
🇬🇧ENG·1972
4.0pts·2216perf+63.6
🥉
Arjun Kolani
🇬🇧ENG·2118
4.0pts·2272perf+42.0

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

FM Roland Bezuidenhout led from R5; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders

Bezuidenhout4.5Broom4Balaji4Mesropyan4Rastogi4Kolani4

R5 · LEADER CHANGE31 Aug

FM Roland Bezuidenhout takes the sole lead (4.5/5).

WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers

FM Roland Bezuidenhout 3 wins (R1–R3)Mark Broom 3 wins (R3–R5)IM Aaravamudhan Balaji 3 wins (R1–R3)

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1FMRoland Bezuidenhout	*	—	—	1
2Mark Broom	—	*	—	0
3IMAaravamudhan Balaji	—	—	*	—
4Hayk Mesropyan	0	1	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Bezuidenhout, RolandFM	2272	RSA	+9B	+20N	+2B	=7N	+3B	4.5	14.0	16.0	14.50	2391	+10.2
2	Mesropyan, Hayk	1972	ENG	+16B	+6B	−1N	+23N	+7B	4.0	14.0	16.0	11.50	2216	+63.6
3	Kolani, Arjun	2118	ENG	+36N	+11B	+23N	+4B	−1N	4.0	13.5	14.5	10.00	2272	+42.0
4	Balaji, AaravamudhanIM	2394	ENG	+31B	+12N	+8B	−3N	+21B	4.0	12.0	13.5	9.50	2286	-8.6
5	Rastogi, Nayan Keats	1948	ENG	+39N	−7B	+22N	+13B	+15B	4.0	10.5	11.5	8.50	2259	+74.8
6	Broom, Mark	2132	ENG	+21B	−2N	+36B	+30N	+8B	4.0	10.5	11.5	7.50	2204	+8.2
7	Adams, Henry	2114	ENG	+24B	+5N	=15B	=1B	−2N	3.0	15.0	17.0	9.50	2108	-0.2
8	Sefton, Adam	2074	ENG	+41N	+26B	−4N	+10B	−6N	3.0	13.0	13.5	5.50	2134	+17.6
9	Chapman, Luke	1921	ENG	−1N	+16B	=26N	+35B	=18N	3.0	11.5	12.5	5.75	1959	+7.2
10	Hill, Alistair	2178	ENG	=33N	+17B	+25B	−8N	=11N	3.0	10.5	12.0	6.75	2005	-19.8
11	Cove, Henry	1862	ENG	+44B	−3N	=20B	+31N	=10B	3.0	10.5	10.5	4.00	2117	+32.8
12	Patel, Zain	2048	ENG	+22B	−4B	+42N	−21N	+24B	3.0	10.0	10.5	4.50	2055	+0.8
13	Ady, Jonathan J.FM	2350	ENG	F	+24N	+35B	−5N	+27B	3.0	9.0	9.0	5.00	2143	-6.8
14	Kendall, Arthur	1826	ENG	F	+37N	=30B	=20N	+25B	3.0	6.5	6.5	4.75	2141	+66.0
15	Zhang, JunyiCM	2083	ENG	+29B	F	=7N	+32B	−5N	2.5	10.5	10.5	5.00	2046	-7.2
16	Eldridge, Albert	1791	ENG	−2N	−9N	=28B	+39B	+35N	2.5	10.0	11.0	3.00	1874	+21.6
17	Norinkeviciute, RasaWFM	1884	LTU	F	−10N	=27B	+22N	+20B	2.5	9.0	9.0	5.00	2040	+15.6
18	Ellson, Louie	1807	ENG	F	−32B	+33N	+38N	=9B	2.5	7.0	7.0	4.00	2026	+23.4
19	Gunathilake, M D Vinuda ShenalCM	1851	SRI	F	−34N	=38B	+37N	+30B	2.5	5.0	5.0	3.00	2049	+42.4
20	Faulkner, Adam	1999	ENG	+27N	−1B	=11N	=14B	−17N	2.0	13.0	15.0	5.00	1856	-40.0
21	Pellatt, Zoe	1919	ENG	−6N	F	+43B	+12B	−4N	2.0	12.0	12.5	3.50	2059	+24.8
22	Weiss, Oli	1805	ENG	−12N	+28N	−5B	−17B	+38N	2.0	11.5	12.5	3.00	1889	+10.4
23	Maharnab Choudhury	1501	IND	F	+40N	−3B	−2B	+32N	2.0	10.5	10.5	2.50	1822	+55.2
24	Fryer, David W	1906	ENG	−7N	−13B	+40N	+43B	−12N	2.0	10.0	10.5	1.50	1886	-4.2
25	Hu, Junyan	1925	ENG	+28B	F	−10N	+26B	−14N	2.0	10.0	10.0	4.00	1938	+1.6
26	Ratcliffe, James	1787	ENG	+38B	−8N	=9B	−25N	=37B	2.0	9.0	10.0	3.00	1891	+25.2
27	Welford, Richard R	1797	ENG	−20B	=31N	=17N	+42B	−13N	2.0	9.0	9.5	2.50	1908	+24.4
28	Buckland, Louis	1961	ENG	−25N	−22B	=16N	+41B	=29N	2.0	8.5	9.0	2.75	1760	-54.4
29	Razhnou, Lev	1821	FID	−15N	F	=37B	+36N	=28B	2.0	6.5	6.5	2.50	1973	+31.6
30	Idle, Oscar	1938	ENG	+40B	F	=14N	−6B	−19N	1.5	10.5	10.5	2.50	1762	-18.2
31	Ward, Cian	1929	ENG	−4N	=27B	+41N	−11B	F	1.5	9.5	9.5	1.50	1865	-20.0
32	Pai, Sidhanth	1921	ENG	F	+18N	=34B	−15N	−23B	1.5	8.5	8.5	3.25	1762	-30.4
33	Fawcett, James	1920	ENG	=10B	−35N	−18B	F	+43N	1.5	7.0	7.0	2.00	1788	-30.4
34	Kapechun, MikhailoCM	1985	UKR	F	+19B	=32N	F	F	1.5	4.0	4.0	3.25	2079	+9.2
35	Storey, Cameron	1774	ENG	F	+33B	−13N	−9N	−16B	1.0	10.0	10.0	1.50	1759	-3.4
36	Hedger, Alec	1916	ENG	−3B	+44N	−6N	−29B	F	1.0	10.0	10.0	0.00	1826	-9.4
37	Mitchell, Stephen R	1930	ENG	F	−14B	=29N	−19B	=26N	1.0	9.5	9.5	2.00	1629	-31.8
38	Freeman, Luke	1963	ENG	−26N	=41B	=19N	−18B	−22B	1.0	9.0	9.5	1.50	1574	-99.6
39	Gupta, Aditya	1741	ENG	−5B	F	F	−16N	+41N	1.0	9.0	9.0	0.50	1728	-2.8
40	Saharkar, Sharvari	1586	ENG	−30N	−23B	−24B	F	+42N	1.0	6.0	6.0	0.50	1617	0.0
41	Faulkner, Martin J	1818	ENG	−8B	=38N	−31B	−28N	−39B	0.5	7.5	8.5	0.50	1568	-25.2
42	Pack, Edgar	1893	ENG	F	=43N	−12B	−27N	−40B	0.5	6.5	6.5	0.25	1470	-79.6
43	Jennis, Alistair	1739	ENG	F	=42B	−21N	−24N	−33B	0.5	6.0	6.0	0.25	1588	-23.6
44	Giahos, Gerasimos	0	GRE	−11N	−36B	F	F	F	0.0	4.0	4.0	0.00	1089	-52.4

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Rastogi, Nayan KeatsENG
+74.8
4.0 pts · #5
2Kendall, ArthurENG
+66.0
3.0 pts · #11
3Mesropyan, HaykENG
+63.6
4.0 pts · #4

Top rating losers

1Freeman, LukeENG
-99.6
1.0 pts · #38
2Pack, EdgarENG
-79.6
0.5 pts · #41
3Buckland, LouisENG
-54.4
2.0 pts · #29

Biggest upsets

R5+420 Elo gap
Maharnab Choudhury1501 beat Pai, Sidhanth1921
R4+402 Elo gap
Rastogi, Nayan Keats1948 beat FMAdy, Jonathan J.2350
R5+307 Elo gap
Saharkar, Sharvari1586 beat Pack, Edgar1893