The Blackpool Chess Conference is now over for another year, with over 375 entries across five sections, it was another successful congress. Thanks to Bill O’Rourke and his team for putting on another wonderful event.
UPDATE: A full round up will follow. The main surprise on Day 3 was both IM’s losing their games to lower rated players. Just goes to show that anything can happen on the chess board. This led to some interesting games in the final round. In the end, Sooraj Menothuparambil won the FIDE Open Section with a score of 4.5, six players came in 2nd place with 4 out of 5.
Round One
No major shocks in the first round of the Open Section, although Oleg Verbytski had to settle for a draw on board 4. It seems Oleg missed a winning continuation and had to settle for a perpetual. We will provide a roundup of the best games after the event.
In the meantime, you can follow the Live Board on Lichess.
Blackpool Chess Conference 2026 | Lichess Live Boards
Below is the 1st Round game from top seed, IM Jonah Willow.
Round 2
Round 2 in the Open section did not spring any surprises with both the IMs in the field maintaining their 100% record. IM Jonah Willow beating Mahin Rughani with the black pieces, and IM Hao Wang beating local Lancashire player Martyn Hamer. With the rating point difference between 348 and 461, it was a reasonable assumption that the results will go with the stronger IMs.
We will stick with the Board One encounter, please note the commentary is from Lichess evaluation in the downloaded PGN. I am no expert to rule whether anything is a blunder or not at this level. All I can say, is that they forget about King Safety at this level. Great game!
Round 3
Well Round 3 did not disappoint, both IM’s dropped points in this round with draws. It sets it up for a great final day, with Sooraj Menothuparambil from India the only player left with an 100% record.
This has resulted in the IM’s being kept apart in Round 4, with Hao Wang playing Sooraj and Jonah being paired against Samuel Milson.
Our Board 1 matchup for Round 3 was Jonah against local Lancashire player Daniel Gomez. Daniel played really well and nullified the play of his stronger opponent.
Round 4
Wow! What a round, full of shocks and surprises. Well maybe not shocks, but goes to show that anyone on their day can beat a much fancied stronger opponent. The shock, if you want to call it that, was both IM’s in the field lost their games to lower ranked players. The game we showcase is the one from Board On, where Sooraj (eventual winner) beat IM Hao Wang. Not to be outdone, Samuel Milson took down IM Jonah Willow on Board Two.
Remember the evaluation is from Lichess – don’t shoot the messenger.
Round 5
After the shocks in Round 4, we had an outright leader with Soorag, chased by three others just half a point behind. Local Lancashire player Daniel Gomez (Clitheroe) was paired against Sooraj, could he cause a mini upset with a win, which would guarantee at least a share of first place.
It was not to be, in the end a draw was agreed. The evaluation seems to show that Daniel did at one point have a winning edge, the line does look complicated and not 100% clear cut that it is winning. We will look at this in our more detailed round up to follow. With the top two boards drawn that left players behind to catch up.
In the end Soorag is the winner, with a performance rating of 2544, and nearly 35 FIDE rating points. Next year is the 50th year for the event. Make sure you watch our for updates. Hope to see you there.