Durham Annual Weekend Chess Congress - Open

Open SwissStandard

40 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 08 May 2026 to 10 May 2026 in Darlington, England. 7 titled players from 8 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2149, and top seed was Daniel W Gormally (🇬🇧 ENG, GM, 2366).

Daniel W Gormally (🇬🇧 ENG, GM, 2366) won with 5.0/5, ahead of Aaron Rich (4.0) and Gustavo Leon Cazares (3.5). Gormally won solo starting round 3.

The biggest upset came in round 3: Tristan Isaac Del Mar (1938) beat David J Walker (FM, 2206), a +268-point gap.

Location

🇬🇧Darlington, England

Dates

08 May 2026 → 10 May 2026

Time control

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

System

Swiss · 5 rounds

Top seed

🇬🇧GMDaniel W Gormally2366

Avg top 10

2,149

Participants

Titled players · 7

GM×1

FM×4

CM×1

WCM×1

Federations · 8 represented

🇬🇧England×24

🇬🇧Scotland×7

🇨🇾Cyprus×2

🇳🇬Nigeria×2

🇮🇪Ireland×1

🇺🇸United States of America×1

🇲🇽Mexico×1

🇺🇦Ukraine×1

Top 3

🥇
GMDaniel W Gormally
🇬🇧ENG·2366
5.0pts·2896perf+9.4
🥈
CMAaron Rich
🇬🇧ENG·2011
4.0pts·2232perf+28.4
🥉
Gustavo Leon Cazares
🇲🇽MEX·2069
3.5pts·2134perf+8.4

How it unfolded

Top 6 · 5 rounds

GM Daniel W Gormally led from R3; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up.

Co-leaders

Gormally5Rich4Leon Cazares3.5Armbruster3.5Townsend3.5Wall3.5

R3–R5 · LEAD HELD

GM Daniel W Gormally never relinquished the lead after R3; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.

R1–R5 · WIN STREAK

GM Daniel W Gormally won 5 in a row (R1–R5).

Key matchups · top 4

Head-to-head between the four finishers

Player	1	2	3	4
1GMDaniel W Gormally	*	—	1	1
2CMAaron Rich	—	*	—	—
3Gustavo Leon Cazares	0	—	*	—
4David Armbruster	0	—	—	*

Grille américaine

#	Player	Elo	Fed	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts	Bu C1	Bu	SB	Perf	Δ
1	Gormally, Daniel WGM	2366	ENG	+20B	+5N	+3B	+14N	+6B	5.0	13.0	15.0	15.00	2896	+9.4
2	Rich, AaronCM	2011	ENG	+35B	=10N	+36B	+7N	=12B	4.0	10.5	11.5	8.50	2232	+28.4
3	Leon Cazares, Gustavo	2069	MEX	+24N	+11B	−1N	=4B	+15N	3.5	14.0	16.0	9.25	2134	+8.4
4	Ridge, Michael	1892	SCO	+33N	+8B	=7B	=3N	=5B	3.5	14.0	15.0	9.75	2197	+31.0
5	Armbruster, David	2015	ENG	+18N	−1B	+39N	+16B	=4N	3.5	13.5	13.5	6.75	2074	+8.8
6	Burnett, AndrewFM	2171	SCO	+28B	+9N	=12B	+21N	−1N	3.5	13.0	14.5	8.00	2201	+5.2
7	Wall, Tim PFM	2170	ENG	+29N	+16B	=4N	−2B	+17N	3.5	12.5	14.0	8.25	2090	-8.2
8	Townsend, M Paul	2153	ENG	+13B	−4N	+19B	=9N	+21B	3.5	12.0	14.0	9.00	2065	-9.0
9	Skettos, Nicolas	1957	CYP	+34N	−6B	+18N	=8B	=16N	3.0	12.0	13.0	6.50	2047	+12.0
10	Walker, David JFM	2206	ENG	+31N	=2B	−15N	=11B	+23N	3.0	11.5	13.0	7.00	1974	-24.8
11	Irving, Neil	1892	SCO	+22B	−3N	+35B	=10N	=14B	3.0	11.0	12.0	5.75	2084	+23.0
12	Quaite, Toby	2061	ENG	+38B	F	=6N	+15B	=2N	3.0	10.5	10.5	6.75	2177	+24.4
13	Sykes, Chris	1846	SCO	−8N	+34B	−17N	+33B	+32N	3.0	8.5	9.5	3.50	1972	+12.4
14	Ashton, Adam GFM	2258	ENG	F	+27N	+25B	−1B	=11N	2.5	12.0	12.0	5.50	2141	-8.8
15	Del Mar, Tristan Isaac	1938	SCO	=23N	+26B	+10B	−12N	−3B	2.5	11.5	13.5	6.00	1955	+5.2
16	Burnett, Walter	1941	SCO	+30B	−7N	+38B	−5N	=9B	2.5	11.5	12.0	3.50	1939	-0.4
17	Ashton, AlannahWCM	2004	ENG	F	=19N	+13B	+22N	−7B	2.5	11.0	11.0	6.25	1995	-0.8
18	Mize, Dylan	1812	USA	−5B	+28N	−9B	+20N	=25B	2.5	10.5	12.0	4.50	1937	+16.4
19	Brencher, Paul	1866	ENG	F	=17B	−8N	+28N	+22B	2.5	9.5	9.5	4.75	2028	+16.4
20	Ilett, Raymond J	1865	ENG	−1N	−23B	+24N	−18B	+31N	2.0	11.5	13.0	3.50	1830	-7.4
21	Sasikumar, Srivathsan	2017	ENG	F	+32B	+23N	−6B	−8N	2.0	10.5	10.5	3.50	1998	-2.4
22	Wright, Reese	1716	ENG	−11N	+24B	+40N	−17B	−19N	2.0	10.0	10.0	2.00	1707	-2.8
23	Bellwood, Liam	1734	ENG	=15B	+20N	−21B	=25N	−10B	2.0	9.5	11.5	4.25	1917	+40.8
24	May, Paul	1836	ENG	−3B	−22N	−20B	+38N	+33B	2.0	8.5	9.0	1.50	1674	-17.2
25	Ekanem Nathan	1991	NGR	F	+37B	−14N	=23B	=18N	2.0	8.0	8.0	3.25	1902	-9.4
26	Pitel, Benedikt	1707	ENG	F	−15N	+29B	−27N	+30B	2.0	7.5	7.5	3.00	1867	+32.8
27	Fegan, Chris	1935	ENG	F	−14B	+37N	+26B	F	2.0	5.5	5.5	3.00	2048	+8.0
28	Webb, Nick	1859	IRL	−6N	−18B	+33N	−19B	=37N	1.5	9.5	10.5	1.50	1591	-25.6
29	Nandi, Robin J	1857	ENG	−7B	=30N	−26N	F	+36B	1.5	8.0	8.0	1.75	1745	-14.0
30	Nield, Christopher	1738	SCO	−16N	=29B	=32N	=31B	−26N	1.5	7.5	9.0	2.25	1711	-4.0
31	Walker, Jack	1862	ENG	−10B	−35N	+34B	=30N	−20B	1.5	7.5	8.5	1.75	1735	-19.0
32	Dyshliuk, Fedir	1934	UKR	F	−21N	=30B	+36N	−13B	1.5	7.5	7.5	1.75	1741	-41.6
33	Melas, Pavlos	0	CYP	−4B	+38N	−28B	−13N	−24N	1.0	10.0	10.5	0.50	1610	0.0
34	EKPIKEN, Magnus Etim	1798	NGR	−9B	−13N	−31N	=37B	=38B	1.0	8.5	9.0	0.75	1617	-21.8
35	Smith, Justin	1812	ENG	−2N	+31B	−11N	F	F	1.0	8.5	8.5	1.50	1797	-2.4
36	Pitel, Dominik	1711	ENG	F	+40B	−2N	−32B	−29N	1.0	7.0	7.0	0.00	1134	-26.8
37	Hall, Nigel	1804	ENG	F	−25N	−27B	=34N	=28B	1.0	6.5	6.5	1.25	1703	-20.4
38	Tatters, Ethan	1817	ENG	−12N	−33B	−16N	−24B	=34N	0.5	8.5	9.5	0.50	1587	-41.2
39	Norman, Stuart	0	ENG	F	F	−5B	F	F	0.0	6.5	6.5	0.00	1065	-3.2
40	FIDE 343496660	0	—	F	−36N	−22B	F	F	0.0	3.0	3.0	0.00	914	0.0

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers

1Bellwood, LiamENG
+40.8
2.0 pts · #21
2Pitel, BenediktENG
+32.8
2.0 pts · #23
3Ridge, MichaelSCO
+31.0
3.5 pts · #13

Top rating losers

1Dyshliuk, FedirUKR
-41.6
1.5 pts · #26
2Tatters, EthanENG
-41.2
0.5 pts · #36
3Pitel, DominikENG
-26.8
1.0 pts · #40

Biggest upsets

R3+268 Elo gap
Del Mar, Tristan Isaac1938 beat FMWalker, David J2206
R2+261 Elo gap
Ridge, Michael1892 beat Townsend, M Paul2153
R4+159 Elo gap
CMRich, Aaron2011 beat FMWall, Tim P2170