CChessStats

The Sligo Chess and Culture Festival Weekender 2026 Major

Open SwissStandard

27 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 30 Jan 2026 to 01 Feb 2026 in The Diamond Coast Hotel, Bartragh, Enniscrone, Co. Sligo, F26 E9F9, Ireland, Ireland. 3 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1560, and top seed was Kevin Fitzpatrick (🇮🇪 IRL, 1591).

Niall P. Whelan (🇮🇪 IRL, 1572) won with 4.5/5, ahead of James Godson O`doherty (3.5) and Nicu Boldijar (3.5). Whelan won solo starting round 4.

Location
🇮🇪The Diamond Coast Hotel, Bartragh, Enniscrone, Co. Sligo, F26 E9F9, Ireland, Ireland
Dates
30 Jan 2026 → 01 Feb 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Top seed
🇮🇪Kevin Fitzpatrick1591
Avg top 10
1,560
Participants
27
Federations · 3 represented
🇮🇪Ireland×25
🇧🇪Belgium×1
🇩🇪Germany×1
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Niall P. Whelan led from R4; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders
9
4
2
1
1
1.52.545R1R2R3R4R5
Whelan4.5Boyle3.5Bhushan3.5Putar3.5Godson O`doherty3.5Boldijar3.5
R4–R5 · LEAD HELD

Niall P. Whelan never relinquished the lead after R4; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.

R1–R4 · WIN STREAK

Niall P. Whelan won 4 in a row (R1–R4).

R3 · LATE SURGE

Shaun Boyle was #12 at R3, climbed to #1 over the final stretch.

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers
Player1234
1Niall P. Whelan*—
½
—
2Shaun Boyle—*——
3Adhiraj Bhushan
½
—*—
4Lorena Putar———*

Grille américaine

#PlayerEloFedR1R2R3R4R5PtsBu C1BuSBPerfΔ
1Whelan, Niall P.1572IRL+20B+3N+7B+2N=4B4.513.515.013.251772+14.0
2Godson O`doherty, James0IRL+10B+17N+12N−1B=3B3.513.515.59.2515370.0
3Boldijar, Nicu1494IRL+27N−1B+16N+9B=2N3.513.013.57.25772-15.6
4Bhushan, Adhiraj1536IRL=9N=23B+22B+8N=1N3.512.013.59.001661+20.0
5Boyle, Shaun0IRL+26B=13N−8B+14N+12B3.510.511.06.7515900.0
6Putar, Lorena1482IRL=16N+11B=13B=12N+20B3.510.011.58.001677+31.6
7Gleeson, Eavan1468IRL+19N+21B−1N+10B−11N3.012.514.06.501555+9.4
8Quinn, Sean1505IRL=21N+16B+5N−4B=18N3.011.012.57.251401-16.8
9Burke, Aoibhin0IRL=4B=24N+17B−3N+19B3.011.012.06.2515410.0
10Brown, Callum0IRL−2N+25B+24B−7N+13B3.010.011.04.5015680.0
11Dimitrov, Nikolai1539IRLF−6N+26B+15N+7B3.09.59.56.001629+7.0
12Mabhena, Vladimir1546IRL+18N+14N−2B=6B−5N2.513.015.06.251783+16.8
13Martin, Seamus1570IRL+22N=5B=6N=18B−10N2.512.013.56.001480-10.0
14Vandurme, Philippe1572BEL+15N−12B=20N−5B+17B2.510.512.05.25746-10.6
15Prior, Ronan0IRL−14B=26N+21N−11B+23N2.58.59.03.2515530.0
16Gilmore, Adrian0IRL=6B−8N−3B+26N=25B2.011.011.52.7514330.0
17Ramesh, Aiden Jos0IRL+25N−2B−9N+22B−14N2.010.511.52.5015270.0
18Sharma, Eva1476IRL−12BF+23N=13N=8B2.09.59.54.251538+14.0
19O`Connell, Michael Joseph1543IRL−7B−22N+27N+21B−9N2.09.09.52.001517-1.4
20Kavanagh, Kurt0IRL−1N+27B=14BF−6N1.511.512.01.7512690.0
21Rudroju, Aarav1566IRL=8B−7N−15B−19N+26B1.510.511.02.001432-30.0
22Schwab, Gerhard0GER−13B+19B−4N−17N=27B1.510.010.52.2514250.0
23Latorre, Leo1531IRL=24B=4N−18B=25N−15B1.59.010.02.751435-22.4
24Fitzpatrick, Kevin1591IRL=23N=9B−10NFF1.09.09.02.251531-1.6
25Apukhtina, Anastasiia1483IRL−17B−10NF=23B=16N1.08.58.51.751531+2.8
26Downey, Stephen1560IRL−5N=15B−11N−16B−21N0.511.012.51.25753-40.8
27Pentony, Frank0IRL−3B−20N−19BF=22N0.58.58.50.757190.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers