London Chess League FIDE Weekender - March 2026 - U1650
Open SwissStandard
24 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 20 Mar 2026 to 22 Mar 2026 in London, England. 4 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1596, and top seed was Matthew Helsby (🇬🇧 ENG, 1799).
Reno Gobayashi (🇬🇧 ENG, 0) won with 4.0/5, ahead of Michael Celaya (4.0). Gobayashi shared the lead from round 2, winning on tie-break.
Location
🇬🇧London, England
Dates
20 Mar 2026 → 22 Mar 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Federations · 4 represented
🇬🇧England×16
🇮🇳India×1
🇮🇲Unknown (IOM)×1
🇬🇧Wales×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsTight race until R5; 3 players tied at 4.0/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 3 at the finish.
Co-leaders
10
2
3
2
3
R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER
3 players finish on 4.0/5. Gobayashi takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (12.0).
R2 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
FIDE 343488862 drew with Michael Celaya (Black).
R1–R5 · UNBEATEN
FIDE 343488862 went unbeaten across 5 games (R1–R5).
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1FIDE 343488862 | * | ½ | ½ | — |
| 2Michael Celaya | ½ | * | — | 1 |
| 3Reno Gobayashi | ½ | — | * | ½ |
| 4Gary Slegg | — | 0 | ½ | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobayashi, Reno | 0 | ENG | +8B | +9N | =4N | +11B | =3N | 4.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 10.50 | 1605 | 0.0 |
| 2 | Celaya, Michael | 0 | ENG | +19N | =3B | =7N | +4B | +12N | 4.0 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 9.25 | 1619 | 0.0 |
| 3 | FIDE 343488862 | 0 | — | +10B | =2N | +?B | +?N | =1B | 4.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 6.00 | 1629 | 0.0 |
| 4 | Slegg, Gary | 1605 | WLS | +14B | +18N | =1B | −2N | =5B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 6.00 | 1657 | +2.4 |
| 5 | Guan, Evan | 1480 | ENG | −15B | +17N | +18B | =13N | =4N | 3.0 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 4.50 | 1413 | -6.0 |
| 6 | Sunil, Krishna | 0 | ENG | −?N | −14N | +19B | +18B | +?N | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.00 | 1380 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Aserkoff, Daniel | 0 | ENG | +17B | =15N | =2B | =9B | −11N | 2.5 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 5.00 | 1607 | 0.0 |
| 8 | FIDE 343471021 | 0 | — | −1N | −10N | +17B | +14B | =13N | 2.5 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 3.50 | 1529 | 0.0 |
| 9 | FIDE 343491340 | 0 | — | +22N | −1B | +16B | =7N | −?B | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.75 | 740 | 0.0 |
| 10 | Watkinson, Colin | 1607 | IOM | −3N | +8B | =14N | −12B | =16N | 2.0 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 4.00 | 1308 | -15.8 |
| 11 | FIDE 343473750 | 0 | — | F | F | +15B | −1N | +7B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.00 | 1627 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Oudet, Charlotte | 1552 | ENG | −13N | F | +22B | +10N | −2B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.00 | 2408 | +23.2 |
| 13 | Kerobyan, Mark | 0 | ENG | +12B | F | −?N | =5B | =8B | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 4.75 | 1523 | 0.0 |
| 14 | Adebayo, Ayodeji | 1447 | ENG | −4N | +6B | =10B | −8N | −19N | 1.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 4.00 | 1414 | -3.2 |
| 15 | Widdicombe, Ben | 1607 | ENG | +5N | =7B | −11N | F | F | 1.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 4.25 | 2277 | +12.8 |
| 16 | Agarwal, Sparsh | 0 | ENG | F | −?B | −9N | +17N | =10B | 1.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 2.00 | 1381 | 0.0 |
| 17 | Wang, Noah Yinuo | 0 | ENG | −7N | −5B | −8N | −16B | +22N | 1.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 677 | 0.0 |
| 18 | FIDE 343490174 | 0 | — | +?B | −4B | −5N | −6N | F | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0.00 | 1422 | 0.0 |
| 19 | Ewart, Sarah | 0 | ENG | −2B | −?N | −6N | F | +14B | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.50 | 1504 | 0.0 |
| 20 | Williams, Joseph | 1759 | ENG | F | +24B | F | F | F | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2354 | +9.6 |
| 21 | Helsby, Matthew | 1799 | ENG | F | F | F | F | +23N | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2347 | +7.6 |
| 22 | Elischberger-Ong, Marcus | 0 | ENG | −9B | F | −12N | −?N | −17B | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.00 | 755 | 0.0 |
| 23 | Siddhartha Shankar Srivastava | 1547 | IND | F | F | F | F | −21B | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.00 | 1001 | -3.8 |
| 24 | Ramundo, Giuseppe Joe | 1553 | ENG | F | −20N | F | F | F | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.00 | 958 | -4.8 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Oudet, CharlotteENG+23.22.0 pts · #10
- 2Widdicombe, BenENG+12.81.5 pts · #6
- 3Williams, JosephENG+9.61.0 pts · #11
Top rating losers
- 1Watkinson, ColinIOM-15.82.0 pts · #17
- 2Guan, EvanENG-6.03.0 pts · #16
- 3Ramundo, Giuseppe JoeENG-4.80.0 pts · #22