DCU Challengers 2026
Open SwissStandard
68 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 20 Feb 2026 to 22 Feb 2026 in Education Building, St. Patrick's Campus, DCU, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland. 4 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1592, and top seed was Tony Bregazzi (🇮🇪 IRL, 1643).
Alexandros Sykaras (🇬🇷 GRE, 1599) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Eoin Dunne (4.5) and Jayden Amrolan (4.5). Sykaras won on tie-break after catching the field in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Cillian McBrien (1442) beat Jp Butler (1610), a +168-point gap.
Location
🇮🇪Education Building, St. Patrick's Campus, DCU, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland
Dates
20 Feb 2026 → 22 Feb 2026
Time control
Standard: 60 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Federations · 4 represented
🇮🇪Ireland×47
🇬🇷Greece×1
🇵🇱Poland×1
🇬🇧England×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsTight race until R5; 3 players tied at 4.5/5, decided on Buchholz. Title race narrowed from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 3 at the finish.
Co-leaders
33
13
6
2
3
R5 · TIEBREAK CLUSTER
3 players finish on 4.5/5. Sykaras takes the title on Buchholz Cut1 (13.5).
R5 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
Jayden Amrolan drew with Eoin Dunne (Black).
WIN STREAKS · 3 top finishers
Jayden Amrolan 4 wins (R1–R4)Eoin Dunne 4 wins (R1–R4)Alexandros Sykaras 3 wins (R3–R5)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Jayden Amrolan | * | ½ | — | — |
| 2Eoin Dunne | ½ | * | — | — |
| 3Alexandros Sykaras | — | — | * | — |
| 4Rohan Megadi-Walia | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sykaras, Alexandros | 1599 | GRE | +37B | =10N | +13B | +18N | +11B | 4.5 | 13.5 | 15.5 | 13.75 | 1616 | +0.8 |
| 2 | Dunne, Eoin | 0 | IRL | +?N | +?B | +24N | +22B | =3B | 4.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 8.25 | 1557 | 0.0 |
| 3 | Amrolan, Jayden | 0 | IRL | +?N | +?B | +43N | +25B | =2N | 4.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 7.25 | 1631 | 0.0 |
| 4 | Pentony, Liam | 1598 | IRL | −15N | +12B | +58N | +27B | +9N | 4.0 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 11.00 | 2278 | +13.6 |
| 5 | Megadi-Walia, Rohan | 1624 | IRL | +30B | +28N | =18B | +17N | =7B | 4.0 | 12.5 | 15.0 | 11.50 | 2288 | +25.2 |
| 6 | Khrushch, Artem | 0 | IRL | +32N | −52B | +59N | +38B | +35N | 4.0 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 8.00 | 1631 | 0.0 |
| 7 | Cashin, Stephen | 0 | IRL | =?N | +?B | +52N | +21B | =5N | 4.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 6.50 | 1595 | 0.0 |
| 8 | McGuinness, Max | 0 | IRL | +?B | +?N | =20B | =?N | +?B | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.50 | 1583 | 0.0 |
| 9 | FIDE 2546396 | 0 | — | +40B | +60N | +10B | =11N | −4B | 3.5 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 8.25 | 1520 | 0.0 |
| 10 | McBrien, Cillian | 1442 | IRL | +38N | =1B | −9N | +53B | +29N | 3.5 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 8.25 | 1799 | +37.2 |
| 11 | Ozolins, Ronaldo | 0 | IRL | +?N | +?B | +19N | =9B | −1N | 3.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 4.75 | 1551 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Kosynskyy, Vladimir | 0 | IRL | +?B | −4N | +?B | +20N | =23B | 3.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.50 | 1620 | 0.0 |
| 13 | Conneely, Andrew | 0 | IRL | =?N | +?B | −1N | +?B | +41B | 3.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.00 | 1577 | 0.0 |
| 14 | O`dowd, Paul | 0 | IRL | +53N | =?B | +?N | =15B | =?N | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.00 | 1602 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Abiltarov, Emir | 0 | IRL | +4B | =?N | +48B | =14N | −17B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 7.75 | 1604 | 0.0 |
| 16 | Zou, Nuoheng | 1617 | IRL | +31N | =19B | −22N | +52B | =18N | 3.0 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 7.00 | 1660 | +4.0 |
| 17 | Papadopoulos, Sotirios | 0 | IRL | F | +31B | +39N | −5B | +15N | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 7.50 | 1533 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Fernandez, Lucas Cunningham | 0 | IRL | +?B | +?N | =5N | −1B | =16B | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 3.50 | 1604 | 0.0 |
| 19 | Duppalapudi, Shreyansh | 1484 | IRL | +34B | =16N | −11B | =44N | +40B | 3.0 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 7.00 | 1617 | +7.2 |
| 20 | Chan, Karina | 1642 | ENG | =58N | +64B | =8N | −12B | +43N | 3.0 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 5.00 | 1645 | 0.0 |
| 21 | Scanlan Gleeson, Theo | 0 | IRL | +42N | +46B | F | −7N | +28B | 3.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 6.50 | 1522 | 0.0 |
| 22 | FIDE 2541700 | 0 | — | +?B | +47N | +16B | −2N | −?B | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 5.00 | 1576 | 0.0 |
| 23 | Turcin, Tara | 0 | IRL | F | +61B | =?N | +24B | =12N | 3.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 5.75 | 1525 | 0.0 |
| 24 | Bermingham, Erica | 0 | IRL | +?B | +?N | −2B | −23N | +?B | 3.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 1609 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Patterson, Alan | 0 | IRL | +?N | +65B | +45B | −3N | −?B | 3.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.00 | 1606 | 0.0 |
| 26 | Ogbuchi, Ike | 0 | IRL | +?B | −37N | −?B | +47N | +?B | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.00 | 1365 | 0.0 |
| 27 | Lo Moriello, Diego Joseph | 0 | IRL | +?B | =?N | =?B | −4N | +?B | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 | 1570 | 0.0 |
| 28 | Sharma, Eva | 1502 | IRL | +66N | −5B | +54N | =29B | −21N | 2.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 2.75 | 824 | -13.2 |
| 29 | FIDE 2519453 | 0 | — | +44B | +34N | −?B | =28N | −10B | 2.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 5.75 | 1231 | 0.0 |
| 30 | Putar, Lorena | 1474 | IRL | −5N | =55B | =57N | +42B | =32N | 2.5 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 4.75 | 824 | -12.0 |
| 31 | Bhushan, Addhrit | 1449 | IRL | −16B | −17N | =60B | +56N | +61N | 2.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 3.00 | 817 | -11.2 |
| 32 | Potru, Riyansh | 0 | IRL | −6B | −?N | +?B | +37N | =30B | 2.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 3.25 | 1459 | 0.0 |
| 33 | Kumar, Adhvik | 1602 | IRL | =64N | −39B | +42N | −36B | +59N | 2.5 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 3.25 | 1252 | -36.4 |
| 34 | Hickey, Reece | 0 | IRL | −19N | −29B | +?N | +?B | =52N | 2.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.75 | 1497 | 0.0 |
| 35 | Pentony, Frank | 0 | IRL | F | +41N | =?B | +?N | −6B | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.00 | 1552 | 0.0 |
| 36 | McGrail, Max | 0 | IRL | =54N | +67B | −?B | +33N | −?B | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.25 | 1440 | 0.0 |
| 37 | McMahon, Conor | 1404 | IRL | −1N | +26B | −38N | −32B | +53N | 2.0 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 4.50 | 806 | -9.6 |
| 38 | Butler, Jp | 1610 | IRL | −10B | +50N | +37B | −6N | F | 2.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 4.00 | 1423 | -19.6 |
| 39 | Tang, Hezhang | 1465 | IRL | F | +33N | −17B | −41N | +54B | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 4.00 | 2402 | +27.2 |
| 40 | Pesca, Sean | 0 | IRL | −9N | −53B | +?N | +58B | −19N | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 1.00 | 1481 | 0.0 |
| 41 | Turcin, Anita Atelj | 0 | IRL | F | −35B | +66N | +39B | −13N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.00 | 1485 | 0.0 |
| 42 | FIDE 2534606 | 0 | — | −21B | +?N | −33B | −30N | +65B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.00 | 738 | 0.0 |
| 43 | Jaiganesh, Saicharan | 0 | IRL | +?B | +?N | −3B | −?N | −20B | 2.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 1567 | 0.0 |
| 44 | Mallett, Adam | 0 | IRL | −29N | +?B | =53N | =19B | −?N | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 2.25 | 1347 | 0.0 |
| 45 | Bregazzi, Tony | 1643 | IRL | F | =58B | −25N | =60B | +55N | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.50 | 1478 | -8.8 |
| 46 | Dukanam, Sathvika | 0 | IRL | −?B | −21N | +56B | +?N | −48B | 2.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.50 | 721 | 0.0 |
| 47 | FIDE 2536056 | 0 | — | −?N | −22B | +67N | −26B | +?N | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 786 | 0.0 |
| 48 | FIDE 2545233 | 0 | — | F | +66B | −15N | −?B | +46N | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.00 | 786 | 0.0 |
| 49 | FIDE 2537176 | 0 | — | −?N | +62B | −?N | −59B | +?N | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.00 | 756 | 0.0 |
| 50 | Meier, Niklas | 0 | IRL | +?N | −38B | −?N | −?B | +?N | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 1370 | 0.0 |
| 51 | Kurochkin, Nikodim | 0 | IRL | F | −54B | +65N | +?B | −?N | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 1562 | 0.0 |
| 52 | FIDE 2539365 | 0 | — | F | +6N | −7B | −16N | =34B | 1.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 5.25 | 817 | 0.0 |
| 53 | Sklym, Piotr | 0 | POL | −14B | +40N | =44B | −10N | −37B | 1.5 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 3.00 | 623 | 0.0 |
| 54 | FIDE 2545527 | 0 | — | =36B | +51N | −28B | −?N | −39N | 1.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.25 | 705 | 0.0 |
| 55 | Oconnor, Sophie | 0 | IRL | +56B | =30N | −?B | −?N | −45B | 1.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.75 | 1238 | 0.0 |
| 56 | FIDE 2545977 | 0 | — | −55N | =?B | −46N | −31B | +67B | 1.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 650 | 0.0 |
| 57 | O'Reilly, William | 0 | IRL | −?B | +?N | =30B | −?N | −?N | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.25 | 1195 | 0.0 |
| 58 | Elioutin, Michael Afanasiev | 1478 | IRL | =20B | =45N | −4B | −40N | F | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 2.50 | 1503 | +4.0 |
| 59 | FIDE 2546361 | 0 | — | −63N | F | −6B | +49N | −33B | 1.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 2.00 | 802 | 0.0 |
| 60 | Katuri, Ganesh | 0 | IRL | F | −9B | =31N | =45N | −?B | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.25 | 1418 | 0.0 |
| 61 | FIDE 2546280 | 0 | — | F | −23N | −?B | +?N | −31B | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.00 | 665 | 0.0 |
| 62 | FIDE 2534630 | 0 | — | F | −49N | +64B | F | −?B | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.50 | 1473 | 0.0 |
| 63 | FIDE 2532948 | 0 | — | +59B | −?N | −?B | −?N | F | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.00 | 707 | 0.0 |
| 64 | Siruk, Danyil | 1425 | IRL | =33B | −20N | −62N | F | F | 0.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.25 | 1429 | +0.4 |
| 65 | FIDE 2546302 | 0 | — | −?B | −25N | −51B | F | −42N | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.00 | 769 | 0.0 |
| 66 | FIDE 2525844 | 0 | — | −28B | −48N | −41B | −?N | F | 0.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 719 | 0.0 |
| 67 | FIDE 2546388 | 0 | — | F | −36N | −47B | −?B | −56N | 0.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 709 | 0.0 |
| 68 | FIDE 2546329 | 0 | — | −?B | F | F | −?N | −?B | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 743 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1McBrien, CillianIRL+37.23.5 pts · #16
- 2Tang, HezhangIRL+27.22.0 pts · #26
- 3Megadi-Walia, RohanIRL+25.24.0 pts · #3
Top rating losers
- 1Kumar, AdhvikIRL-36.42.5 pts · #43
- 2Butler, JpIRL-19.62.0 pts · #29
- 3Sharma, EvaIRL-13.22.5 pts · #55
Biggest upsets
- R1+168 Elo gap
- R2+137 Elo gap