99th Hastings International Chess Congress - Con Power Under 2050

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40 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 28 Dec 2025 to 30 Dec 2025 in Hastings, England. 6 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1920, and top seed was Gerben Van Pel (🇳🇱 NED, 1983).

Gerben Van Pel (🇳🇱 NED, 1983) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Louis Buckland (4.0) and Oscar Christensen (4.0). Van Pel broke clear in the final round.

The biggest upset came in round 4: Benjamin Carter (1601) beat Paul A Batchelor (1938), a +337-point gap.

Location

🇬🇧Hastings, England

Dates

28 Dec 2025 → 30 Dec 2025

Time control

Standard: 110 minutes for game with 10 sec increment from move 1

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇳🇱Gerben Van Pel1983

Avg top 10

1,920

Participants

Federations · 6 represented

🇬🇧England×31

🇰🇷South Korea×4

🇳🇱Netherlands×2

🇮🇷Iran×1

🇬🇧Wales×1

🇩🇰Denmark×1

Top 3

🥇
Gerben Van Pel
🇳🇱NED·1983
4.5pts·2216perf+22.8
🥈
Louis Buckland
🇬🇧ENG·1883
4.0pts·2087perf+50.8
🥉
Oscar Christensen
🇬🇧ENG·1798
4.0pts·1998perf+50.0

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

Gerben Van Pel led from R5; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R5.

Co-leaders

Van Pel4.5Christensen4Skytte4Buckland4Carter3.5Li3.5

R5–R5 · LEAD HELD

Gerben Van Pel held the sole lead from R5 through R5 without losing it.

R1–R3 · WIN STREAK

Gerben Van Pel won 3 in a row (R1–R3).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1Gerben Van Pel	*	—	—	½
2Oscar Christensen	—	*	—	—
3Torill Skytte	—	—	*	0
4Louis Buckland	½	—	1	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Van Pel, Gerben	1983	NED	+11B	+22N	+16B	=2N	+9B	4.5	12.5	14.5	12.50	2216	+22.8
2	Buckland, Louis	1883	ENG	+17N	+15B	+4N	=1B	=6N	4.0	14.5	17.0	13.00	2087	+50.8
3	Christensen, Oscar	1798	ENG	+8B	=7N	+18B	=5N	+15B	4.0	13.0	15.5	12.00	1998	+50.0
4	Skytte, Torill	1905	DEN	+27B	+31N	−2B	+24N	+10B	4.0	11.0	12.5	8.50	1990	+9.8
5	Li, Yueci	1778	ENG	=12B	+21N	+30B	=3B	=8N	3.5	13.0	14.5	9.25	1930	+41.2
6	Barantsev, Oleg	1935	ENG	+19B	=18N	=7B	+16N	=2B	3.5	12.5	15.0	10.00	1999	+17.2
7	Sugden, John N	1919	ENG	+25N	=3B	=6N	=15B	+23N	3.5	12.0	14.0	9.00	1967	+6.6
8	Carter, Benjamin	1601	ENG	−3N	+25B	+27B	+30N	=5B	3.5	11.5	13.0	7.25	1944	+88.4
9	Jacobs, Robert	1926	ENG	=10N	+35B	=24N	+22B	−1N	3.0	11.5	12.5	5.50	1874	-5.8
10	Gartside, Carl	1739	ENG	=9B	=26N	+29B	+23B	−4N	3.0	11.0	13.0	6.50	1923	+24.6
11	Lin, William	1692	ENG	−1N	=19N	=34B	+33N	+26B	3.0	10.5	12.0	5.50	1910	+58.0
12	Orsborne, Sarah	0	ENG	=5N	=20B	=28N	=31B	+22N	3.0	10.0	11.5	6.75	1863	+8.0
13	Preuter, Carlos	1853	NED	−15N	−17B	+40N	+25B	+31N	3.0	8.5	8.5	3.50	1773	-10.0
14	Han, Yongsu	1714	KOR	−16N	+36B	−23N	+39B	+28N	3.0	7.5	8.0	3.50	1856	+19.4
15	Bhaduri, Aviraj	1702	ENG	+13B	−2N	+26B	=7N	−3N	2.5	14.5	16.5	6.75	1858	+36.1
16	Evans-White, Daniel	1890	ENG	+14B	+32N	−1N	−6B	=20N	2.5	13.5	15.0	5.75	1816	-18.4
17	Lee, Onbin	1708	KOR	−2B	+13N	−22B	=19N	+30B	2.5	11.5	13.0	5.75	1862	+20.2
18	Waldock, Adrian D P	1792	ENG	+36N	=6B	−3N	=20B	=32N	2.5	11.5	12.5	4.75	1742	-6.0
19	Polanyk, John	1770	ENG	−6N	=11B	=35N	=17B	+24B	2.5	11.0	12.0	5.25	1750	-6.0
20	Heath, David R	1771	ENG	=30B	=12N	=32B	=18N	=16B	2.5	9.5	11.0	5.50	1826	+7.4
21	Rubin, Ilan Murray	1734	ENG	=23N	−5B	=39N	=29B	+35N	2.5	8.5	9.0	3.25	1765	+7.6
22	Fleming, Andrew S J	1867	ENG	+33B	−1B	+17N	−9N	−12B	2.0	13.0	14.5	4.00	1759	-14.6
23	Rohrer, Finlo N	1922	ENG	=21B	=29N	+14B	−10N	−7B	2.0	12.0	14.0	5.25	1682	-62.8
24	Burgess, Rose	1699	ENG	=26B	+34N	=9B	−4B	−19N	2.0	11.5	13.0	4.00	1794	+24.0
25	Tracey, William F	1734	ENG	−7B	−8N	+33B	−13N	+36B	2.0	11.5	12.5	2.50	1649	-23.2
26	Carter, Steve	1838	ENG	=24N	=10B	−15N	+35B	−11N	2.0	10.5	11.5	3.50	1638	-54.4
27	Blin, Henri	1731	ENG	−4N	+40B	−8N	−28B	+39N	2.0	10.0	10.0	0.50	1678	-14.8
28	Kelly, Paul J	1842	WLS	−31B	=33N	=12B	+27N	−14B	2.0	9.5	11.0	4.25	1665	-24.2
29	Lee, Ain	1666	KOR	F	=23B	−10N	=21N	+34B	2.0	9.0	9.0	3.75	1822	+32.4
30	Batchelor, Paul A	1938	ENG	=20N	+39B	−5N	−8B	−17N	1.5	12.0	12.5	1.75	1570	-47.2
31	Oliphant, Tim	1700	ENG	+28N	−4B	F	=12N	−13B	1.5	12.0	12.0	3.50	1772	+6.6
32	Baek, Seunghan	1677	KOR	F	−16B	=20N	=34N	=18B	1.5	9.0	9.0	3.25	1750	+13.2
33	Harris, John	1705	ENG	−22N	=28B	−25N	−11B	+40N	1.5	9.0	9.0	1.00	1610	-12.6
34	Cove, Henry	1895	ENG	=35N	−24B	=11N	=32B	−29N	1.5	8.5	9.5	2.75	1541	-46.4
35	Gordon, Tim	1722	ENG	=34B	−9N	=19B	−26N	−21B	1.0	10.0	11.5	2.00	1592	-30.4
36	Sanderson, Scarlett	1527	ENG	−18B	−14N	−37B	+40B	−25N	1.0	8.5	8.5	0.00	1500	-6.8
37	Blewitt, Stephen	0	ENG	F	F	+36N	F	F	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.00	2327	+3.4
38	Honarvarmahalati, Hooman	1815	IRI	+40N	F	F	F	F	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.00	2464	+6.0
39	St Louis, Laurence	1741	ENG	F	−30N	=21B	−14N	−27B	0.5	9.0	9.0	1.25	1457	-52.0
40	Hayward, Michael	1664	ENG	−38B	−27N	−13B	−36N	−33B	0.0	7.5	8.5	0.00	926	-41.6

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Carter, BenjaminENG
+88.4
3.5 pts · #5
2Lin, WilliamENG
+58.0
3.0 pts · #10
3Buckland, LouisENG
+50.8
4.0 pts · #4

Top rating losers

1Rohrer, Finlo NENG
-62.8
2.0 pts · #22
2Carter, SteveENG
-54.4
2.0 pts · #26
3St Louis, LaurenceENG
-52.0
0.5 pts · #39

Biggest upsets

R4+337 Elo gap
Carter, Benjamin1601 beat Batchelor, Paul A1938
R5+230 Elo gap
Lee, Onbin1708 beat Batchelor, Paul A1938
R5+229 Elo gap
Lee, Ain1666 beat Cove, Henry1895