Press Desk · Tournament Recap 19 Jul 2026

Wood Green Blitz 2026 Recap: Badacsonyi Wins It on Tiebreak After Nearly Giving It Away Twice, Find Their Mistakes in the Free Puzzle Book

Source: Chess-Results.com

This one's my own read of the games, not reporting on someone else's article. I'm not a titled player myself, I lean on Stockfish to help me see what actually happened over the board, and I'll flag it clearly whenever a piece is mine like this.

The 6th Wood Green Invitational Blitz ran on the 18th of July at Oddfellows Hall in Stafford, 9-round Swiss, 3 minutes plus 2 seconds a move, thirteen players down to twelve after one withdrew straight after round one. Top seed was FM Stanley Badacsonyi, and he won it, but not cleanly, and not without a couple of moments where the whole thing nearly slipped through his fingers.

Round 2 was the first wobble. Badacsonyi had Banerjee in real trouble on the queenside, a clean winning position, then missed Nef4 at the critical point and the advantage evaporated into a draw. Nothing fatal on its own, plenty of players draw a game they should have won. But it set the tone.

Round 3 was worse. Against Bowcott-Terry, Badacsonyi reached a position where Rxg3+ was winning outright, missed it, let the game level out, then a few moves later missed Ra1 too and watched a balanced position collapse into a lost one. Two chances, gone in the same game, and his only loss of the tournament.

What followed was four straight wins. Dicen in round 4, a long grind converted in a pawn endgame. Shearsby in round 5, clean. Willow in round 6, a 2301-rated player and the best scalp of the run, though Badacsonyi wasn't flawless there either, missing Nxb5 before Willow handed the game back with a blunder of his own. Then round 7, the game that actually decided the tournament: Fava, who'd go on to finish level with Badacsonyi on 7 points out of 9. Fava blundered early with Kf2 instead of Qxd5 and fell into a lost position, Badacsonyi then let his own advantage slip to roughly equal missing Qc7, and still found a way to win it anyway.

A steady draw against Vijayakumar in round 8, a comfortable round 9 win over Whatmore to close it out, and Badacsonyi finished on 7/9. So did Fava. Tiebreak was direct encounter, and that's exactly the game from round 7, the one Badacsonyi very nearly let slip too. He didn't, and that's the whole tournament in one result.

Full standings and every board are on Chess-Results and the Lichess broadcast.

Thirty-three positions from across the whole event, including three from Badacsonyi's own games, are in the free puzzle book. See if you can find the moves the players missed before checking the answer. Download it here.

Season 1

Follow the build and join the club

Join Inter Mezzo Sporting Club for free and follow the launch of Lega Inter Mezzo, the Training Centre and the Season One shop preview.

Join