The Southend Chess Festival 2025 took place 18-21 April in Southend, England. It included a GM round robin, an IM round robin, an open group, U1900, U1600, and U1300.
The winner of the Southend Chess Masters Grandmaster group is GM Pawel Teclaf with 6,5/9. FM Alex Golding finished second with 6,0/5, while FM Sohum Lohia received the bronze, edging GM Vojtech Plat and GM Igor Janik, who all finished with 5,5/9. Alex Golding and Sohum Lohia both won IM norms.
Paweł Teclaf, born June 18, 2003, in Kartuzy, Poland, is a Polish chess Grandmaster (GM) since 2023, having earned the International Master (IM) title in 2019. His peak FIDE rating was 2586 in August 2023, ranking him 7th in Poland and 237th globally at the time. Seven-time Polish Junior Champion in classical chess (2011–2021, ages 8–18) and six-time champion in blitz. Won bronze medals at the World Junior Championships (U10, 2013; U14, 2017). Pawel Teclaf also qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup, losing to Gukesh D in the first round.
Southend Chess Masters Grandmaster final standings
1
GM
Teclaf, Pawel
POL
2555
6.5
2
FM
Golding, Alex
ENG
2369
6
3
FM
Lohia, Sohum
ENG
2354
5.5
4
GM
Plat, Vojtech
CZE
2479
5.5
5
GM
Janik, Igor
POL
2520
5.5
6
FM
Lacan Rus, David
FRA
2378
4.5
7
FM
Lim, Zhuo Ren
MAS
2331
4
8
FM
Badacsonyi, Stanley
ENG
2320
3
9
IM
Harvey, Marcus R
ENG
2474
3
10
CM
Khoury, Theo
ENG
2164
1.5
The IM Round Robin was won by Wenxiang Li with 6,5/9, ahead of FM Koby Kalavannan with 6,0/9 and FM Kenneth Hobson with 5,5/9. For Wenxiang Li the result also brings an IM norm.
Southend Chess Masters IM group final standings
1
Li, Wenxiang
CHN
2260
6.5
2
FM
Kalavannan, Koby
ENG
2252
6
3
FM
Hobson, Kenneth
ENG
2331
5.5
4
IM
Zwardon, Vojtech
CZE
2444
5.5
5
IM
Fitzsimons, David
IRL
2303
4.5
6
FM
Ruzhansky, Elias
BEL
2332
4.5
7
FM
Badacsonyi, Frankie
ENG
2150
4
8
FM
Bezuidenhout, Roland
RSA
2311
3.5
9
IM
O’Gorman, Tom
IRL
2391
3.5
10
CM
Shearsby, Jude
ENG
2152
1.5