AlphaChess: Christmas Edition - North London FIDE Classical Event - Mistletoe (1750-2400)
25 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 13 Dec 2025 to 14 Dec 2025 in London EN6, England. 7 titled players from 4 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2160, and top seed was Koby Kalavannan (🇬🇧 ENG, FM, 2275).
Aaravamudhan Balaji (🇬🇧 ENG, IM, 2270) won with 5.0/5, ahead of Koby Kalavannan (4.0) and Jan Murawski (3.0). Balaji won solo starting round 3.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Benjamin Carter (1601) beat Daniel Mayer (1974), a +373-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsIM Aaravamudhan Balaji led from R3; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up.
IM Aaravamudhan Balaji never relinquished the lead after R3; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.
IM Aaravamudhan Balaji beat FM Koby Kalavannan (White).
IM Aaravamudhan Balaji won 5 in a row (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1IMAaravamudhan Balaji | * | 1 | 1 | — |
| 2FMKoby Kalavannan | 0 | * | — | — |
| 3CMJan Murawski | 0 | — | * | 1 |
| 4Felix Johnson | — | — | 0 | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Balaji, AaravamudhanIM | 2270 | ENG | +10B | +4N | +2B | +9N | +3B | 5.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 14.00 | 2900 | +30.0 |
| 2 | Kalavannan, KobyFM | 2275 | ENG | +19N | +11B | −1N | +4B | +9B | 4.0 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 8.00 | 2329 | +7.2 |
| 3 | Murawski, JanCM | 2245 | ENG | +17N | −9B | +5N | +7B | −1N | 3.0 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 6.50 | 2046 | -39.6 |
| 4 | Clarke, Connor | 2058 | ENG | +24N | −1B | +18N | −2N | +11B | 3.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 3.00 | 2114 | +9.6 |
| 5 | Johnson, Felix | 1796 | ENG | −13B | +25N | −3B | +10N | +15B | 3.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.50 | 2069 | +63.6 |
| 6 | Mayer, Daniel | 1974 | ENG | −7N | =15B | =20N | +17B | +12N | 3.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 4.25 | 1885 | -17.6 |
| 7 | Carter, Benjamin | 1601 | ENG | +6B | −16N | +10B | −3N | =18N | 2.5 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 5.50 | 1908 | +68.8 |
| 8 | Fernandez, MichaelFM | 2243 | ENG | =14B | +20N | +13B | F | F | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.00 | 2230 | +1.6 |
| 9 | Chua, Chee Sian Sebastien | 2012 | MAS | +21B | +3N | F | −1B | −2N | 2.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 4.00 | 2127 | +11.6 |
| 10 | Rubeck, Jonathan | 1913 | ENG | −1N | +24B | −7N | −5B | +17N | 2.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1.00 | 1794 | -17.0 |
| 11 | Brewer, Callum D | 2175 | ENG | +12B | −2N | F | +22B | −4N | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 3.00 | 2048 | -11.4 |
| 12 | Paulins, Michael | 1770 | ENG | −11N | =19B | +21B | =14N | −6B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 2.50 | 1848 | +14.8 |
| 13 | Kawuma, Steven MaleFM | 2186 | UGA | +5N | +18B | −8N | F | F | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 4.00 | 2067 | -5.0 |
| 14 | Saxena, Advik | 1806 | ENG | =8N | F | F | =12B | +23N | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.25 | 2018 | +29.2 |
| 15 | Yu, RockCM | 2055 | ENG | =20B | =6N | =16B | F | −5N | 1.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.75 | 1773 | -58.8 |
| 16 | Gnanagurusamy, Ganeshbabu | 1926 | ENG | F | +7B | =15N | F | F | 1.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.25 | 2022 | +12.4 |
| 17 | Pasqualetto, Lorenzo | 1899 | ITA | −3B | −21N | +25B | −6N | −10B | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.00 | 1657 | -31.0 |
| 18 | Mehta, Sophie | 1725 | ENG | F | −13N | −4B | =19N | =7B | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.75 | 1735 | -4.4 |
| 19 | Sullivan, Daniel | 1928 | ENG | −2B | =12N | F | =18B | −22N | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.50 | 1770 | -17.4 |
| 20 | Hazell, Peter | 1741 | ENG | =15N | −8B | =6B | F | F | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 2.25 | 1932 | +22.8 |
| 21 | Wilde, Grace | 1719 | ENG | −9N | +17B | −12N | −23B | F | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 1.00 | 1653 | -14.4 |
| 22 | Lebedev, LionCM | 2083 | ENG | F | F | F | −11N | +19B | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.00 | 2052 | -3.2 |
| 23 | Hill, Callum | 1704 | ENG | F | F | F | +21N | −14B | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.00 | 1763 | +6.4 |
| 24 | Bowden, Madison B | 1765 | ENG | −4B | −10N | F | F | F | 0.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.00 | 1186 | -9.0 |
| 25 | Khan, TaoHai | 1623 | ENG | F | −5B | −17N | F | F | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 1048 | -18.4 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Carter, BenjaminENG+68.82.5 pts · #8
- 2Johnson, FelixENG+63.63.0 pts · #4
- 3Balaji, AaravamudhanIMENG+30.05.0 pts · #1
- 1Yu, RockCMENG-58.81.5 pts · #16
- 2Murawski, JanCMENG-39.63.0 pts · #3
- 3Pasqualetto, LorenzoITA-31.01.0 pts · #22
- R1+373 Elo gap
- R3+312 Elo gap
- R5+259 Elo gap