I'm not a titled player, and I don't have any official coverage of this event to work from. Everything below, the standings aside, comes from running all 255 games through Stockfish myself, so treat the analysis as engine output rather than expert commentary.
The Sussex University Masters 2026 ran from 21 to 26 July, nine rounds, 62 players in the Masters section. Full crosstable and games are on Chess-Results, and the games were broadcast live on Lichess throughout the week.
Gasanov wins it by a clear point
Gasanov, Eldar (UKR, GM, 2443) finished on 8/9, a full point ahead of second place. That's about as decisive a winning margin as a nine round Swiss allows. In the games flagged by the engine, none of Gasanov's wins came from the other side collapsing into a big blunder, no single move scored above the Puzzle Candidate threshold either way. It reads as a tournament won on consistency rather than on catching people out, round after round of solid conversions rather than fireworks.
Zilka, Stepan (CZE, GM, 2526), the top seed, took clear second on 7/9. Kjartansson, Gudmundur (ISL, GM, 2395) rounded out the podium on 6/9.
Simon Williams: a near-miss against Raposo
Williams, Simon K (ENG, GM, 2455), well known outside this event for his chess YouTube channel and commentary work, finished on 5.5/9, tied on points for fifth but placed tenth on tiebreak. Most of his games were quiet by the engine's standard, a string of draws either side of two wins, but his loss to Maxwell Raposo stands out.
The engine flags two separate moments in that game where Williams let a winning position slip back to level, first with 28...Rc8 (Impact Score 40.0, engine preferred Rxe3), then again much later with 58...Nc5 (Impact Score 44.4, engine preferred Ke3). Two Critical Moment-tier swings in the same game against a much lower rated opponent (Raposo was rated 1890 to Williams' 2455) is a rare thing to see from a GM, and it's the standout individual result of the whole event by that measure.
Full games
All 255 games from the event are on the Lichess broadcast, and the full crosstable with individual player pages is on Chess-Results. Below are the full nine-round runs of the winner and of GM Simon Williams, each game opens into its own embedded, annotated study.
Full Games — Gasanov, Eldar and Williams, Simon K
Winner · Gasanov, Eldar
Game 1 · Ammar, Sedrani vs Gasanov, EldarNot played, awarded to Gasanov
Game was not played. Based on the date gap in Gasanov's schedule (round 1, 21 July, the only round he has no recorded game for), this looks to be the round it fell in, though that's inferred from the pattern rather than confirmed against a round-by-round pairing sheet.
Game 2 · Badacsonyi, Stanley vs Gasanov, EldarDraw
Semi-Slav Defense: Marshall Gambit, Main Line
Game 3 · Gasanov, Eldar vs Bezuidenhout, RolandGasanov, Eldar won
French Defense: King's Indian Attack
Game 4 · Jackson, James P vs Gasanov, EldarGasanov, Eldar won
English Opening: Romanishin Gambit
Game 5 · Gasanov, Eldar vs Zilka, StepanDraw
Bogo-Indian Defense: Exchange Variation
Game 6 · Gasanov, Eldar vs Damodaran, PatrickGasanov, Eldar won
Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack
Game 7 · Kjartansson, Gudmundur vs Gasanov, EldarGasanov, Eldar won
King's Indian Attack: Keres Variation
Game 8 · Fava, Lorenzo vs Gasanov, EldarGasanov, Eldar won
Sicilian Defense: Godiva Variation
Game 9 · Gasanov, Eldar vs Buckley, Graeme NGasanov, Eldar won
Sicilian Defense
Simon Williams
Game 1 · Williams, Simon K vs Shearsby, JudeDraw
King's Indian Defense: Smyslov Variation
Game 2 · Southcott-Moyers, Indy vs Williams, Simon KWilliams, Simon K won
Dutch Defense: Classical Variation
Game 3 · Williams, Simon K vs Zilka, StepanDraw
Torre Attack: Classical Defense
Game 4 · Khoury, Theo vs Williams, Simon KDraw
French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation
Game 5 · Williams, Simon K vs Kolani, ArjunDraw
Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Basman-Williams Attack
Game 6 · Raposo, Maxwell vs Williams, Simon KRaposo, Maxwell won
French Defense: King's Indian Attack
Game 7 · Williams, Simon K vs Large, Peter GWilliams, Simon K won
Marienbad System
Game 8 · Kothari, Jai vs Williams, Simon KDraw
Modern Defense: Standard Defense
Game 9 · Williams, Simon K vs Steiners, EmilsWilliams, Simon K won
Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System
Every critical moment the engine flagged across all 255 games has been pulled into a free 37 puzzle puzzle book, positions to solve yourself before checking what was actually played. Download the Sussex University Masters 2026 puzzle book.