ECF/Red Cross Charity Marathon for Ukraine – results

The English Chess Federation’s 24-hour charity marathon for Ukraine took place over the weekend of 02/04 to 03/04 on Chess.com to raise funds for the Red Cross DEC appeal in support of Ukraine. You can read more about the great feedback we have received here — https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-red-cross-charity-marathon-for-ukraine/

We had a an impressive turn out of English GMs, WGMs, IMs and WIMs playing and/or streaming as part of the round the clock commentary stream which was also broadcast on Chess.com on Sunday morning. Titled players and others taking part included GM Mickey Adams, GM Matthew Sadler, GM Keith Arkell, GM Mark Hebden, GM Peter Wells, GM John Emms, GM Chris Ward, GM Jon Speelman, WFM Kanwal Bhatia, WIM Natasha Regan, IM Tom Rendle, IM Ali Mortazavi, MrDodgy, WFM Shohreh Bayat, FM Jonathan Blackburn, and Freddy Gordon!

We were also joined by a big contingent of Ukrainian players including GM Mikhail Golubev, IM Viktor Skliarov, Oleksander Matlak (CEO of the Kyiv Chess Federation), Mykola Fuzik, Mikhail Safronov (who finished 6th), and many colleagues joining us from Kiev and other parts of Ukraine.

A total of 461 competitors joined the event with over 6,000 games played in total during the 24 hours, making it the largest ECF marathon to date. GM Keith Arkell (left), who played all the 24 hours, won the marathon with a massive score of 728 points with 204 wins, 21 losses and 23 draws across 248 games played. IM Chris Baker was second on 399 points and GM Mark Hebden 3rd on 386 points.

The livestream commentators included GM Mickey Adams, GM Matthew Sadler, GM Peter Wells , GM John Emms, GM Danny Gormally, GM Chris Ward, GM Jon Speelman, WFM Kanwal Bhatia, WIM Natasha Regan, IM Tom Rendle, IM Ali Mortazavi, MrDodgy, WFM Shohreh Bayat, FM Jonathan Blackburn, and Freddy Gordon!

The list below shows the top 20 finishers in the event. We are currently in the proccess of allocating prizes and will be in touch shortly with all prizewinners for the event. Prizes will be awarded to the highest placed players in the marathon based on points accumulated across the 24 hours. Players are eligible for a place prize where they have donated £5.00 or more in advance. Places will be as shown on the Chess.com tournament page for eligible players at the end of the tournament. As well as the main place prizes there will be a separate prize for highest placed junior ECF member/ supporter and highest placed female ECF member/supporter (more on the prizes here)

Rank Fed Title Name Rating Points
1 ENG GM GM Keith Arkell 2536 728
1 ENG IM IM Chris Baker 2191 399
1 ENG GM GM Mark Hebden 2493 386
1 ENG   Matthew Dignam 2336 342
1 ZAF   Lance Leslie-Smith 2036 278
4 UKR   FlyZubr 2187 271
1 ENG   Queensandpawns 2078 257
1 ENG   Amenhotep04 2050 238
260 VNM   Tristan Cox 2306 230
194 ENG   hapehansen 2162 227
272 INT IM IM Nikolai Vlassov 2617 210
1 ENG   Liam Bellwood 1842 201
103 ENG   Blair Connell 2394 200
1 ENG   FlyingChessKestrel13 2041 199
10 ENG   JohanKjeldahl 1885 188
1 ENG   Stephen Bolton 1800 188
5 UKR GM Mikhail Golubev 2427 186
1 UKR   Mykola Fuzik 1989 173
10 ENG   Andrew Brett 2105 171
1 UKR IM Viktor Skliarov 2502 169

We would like to thank our prize donors for their generous support including —

Chessable – https://www.chessable.com –  15 x 1-year membership of Chessable PRO,  5 x Best of British Chessable course, 5 x 1-year of Aimchess
Chess.com – https://www.chess.com – who are matching up to $1000 of donations for an hour which will be broadcast on Chess TV
Elk and Ruby – https://www.elkandruby.com – who are supplying various books including Eight Good Men: The 2020-2021 Candidates Tournament by Dorian Rogozenco, Magnus Wins With White by Zenon Franco, One Knight Saves the Day: A World Champion’s Favorite Studies by Sergei Tkachenko and many others …
Forward Chess – https://forwardchess.com – who are supplying vouchers for various books