The 87th Hastings International Chess Congress, held at Horntye Park Sports Complex, ended on Thursday 5th January 2012. The event attracted a total of 412 entries from a total of 21 countries. Players included 13 Grandmasters and Indian Woman Grandmaster, Padmini Rout.
The Masters Tournament which ended on Thursday 5th January was son by the Chinese grandmaster Yue Wang with 7.5 points out of 9. He won £2,000 and holds the Golombek Trophy for one year. In joint second place were Indian International Masters Shyam Sundar and Lalith Babu and Grandmaster Andrei Istratescu of France with 7/9 points. They won £816.67 pence each. The presentations were made by Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye and Maureen Charlesworth former Mayor of Hastings and member of Hastings Congress Committee. Maureen Charlesworth also presented a trophy for Best Performance by a Local Player which was won by Marc Bryant. Horntye Park’s prize of £100 for the “Best Game” was shared by Simon Williams and Sam Franklin. Alan Hustwayte also presented a prize for best performance against rating to Czech player, Karolina Olsarova.
Live commentary on the top games in Masters Tournament was given daily by English grandmaster Chris Ward and it was also broadcast on the Congress website. Up to 20 games were also transmitted live on the website via electronic boards. This year Twitter was introduced which added another dimension. The Congress was also linked to the Times Chess column Twitter page which 2350 recorded followers – thought to be a record for a UK newspaper column.
During the Congress the World’s first FIDE rated Blitz event took part at the White Rock Hotel. It was well attended and well received. Hopefully it will become a regular part of the programme.
The Congress was once again generously sponsored by Hastings Borough Council. Additional valuable support came from the White Rock Hotel, The Lansdowne Hotel, Orion Energy, Pig in Paradise, KC Computers and Deutsch UK.
RESULTS
Masters Tournament
1. GM Yue WANG (CHN) 7.5 points £2,000
2= IM Shyam SUNDAR (IND) 7 £816.67
IM Babu LALITH (IND) 7 £816.67
GM Andrei ISTRATESCU (FRA) 7 £816.67
5= GM Yuri VOVK (UKR) 6.5 £266.67
GM Deep SENGUPTA (IND) 6.5 £266.67
IM Arghyadip DAS (IND) 6.5 £266.67
Highest Female Player – WGM Padmini ROUT (IND) 6/9 £200
Highest non-IM/GM – Padmini ROUT (IND) 6 £200
29th HASTINGS WEEKEND CONGRESS
Major
1= Paul BATCHELOR (Brighton) 4/5 £250
Jeffrey BOARDMAN (Haywards Heath) £250
3= Dave FAULKNER (Welwyn-Hatfield) 3.5
Charles MCALEENAN (Athenaeum)
Conor MURPHY (Charlton)
Grading Prize: David FOWLER (Southampton University)
Minor
1. Russell GOODFELLOW (Tunbridge Wells) 4.5/5
2= Duncan BADHAM (Brighton) 4
Charles COSTELOE (Muswell Hill)
Ted WICKMAN (Weald of Kent)
Grading Prize: Tony BRYNNERSLEY (West London) 3
Timothy CROUCH (Kings Head)
Anthony ROBERTS (Wallasey)
U-120
1. Caroline ROBSON (Enfield) 4.5
2. Koby KALAVANNAN (Surbiton) 4
3. Paul BUSWELL (Hastings) 3.5
Grading Prize:= Lee BULLOCK (Coulsdon 3)
Donald CREASEY (Maidstone)
Chris FRASER (Nottingham)
CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT “A” SECTION
1= Christopher HOWELL(Redhill) 4/5 £97.50
Andrej VOSPERNIK (Slovenia) £97.50
3= Allan PLEASANTS (Weymouth) 3.5/4 £25
Victor RUMSEY (Folkestone) £30 including Grading Prize
U160 Grading Prize: Thomas STONEHOUSE (Rainham) 3/5 £25
CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT “B”SECTION
1. Marc BRYANT (Hastings) 4.5/5 £120
2. Tom RIXON (Hemel Hempstead) 4/5 £75
3. Gary HOPE (South Birmingham) 3.5/5 £50
U 145 Grading Prize:= Joshua PINK (Colwyn Bay) 3/5 £15
Reinhard SCHMERWITZ(Germany) 3/5 £15
CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT “C” SECTION
1. Michael GUNN (Guildford) 4.5/5 £120
2. Alicia MASON (Surbiton) 4 £75
3= Timothy CROUCH (Kings Head) 3.5 £25
John MOORE (Eastbourne) £25
U133 Grading Prize: Timothy Allen 3 £30
CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT “D” SECTION
1. David EVERITT (Haywards Heath) 4.5/5 £120
2= Helen EVANS (Ilford) 4/5 £62.50
Caroline ROBSON (Enfield) £62.50
U100 Grading Prize:= Stephen OAKMAN (Hastings) 2.5 £15
Robert SMART (Hastings&St.Leonards) £15
NEW YEAR MORNING TOURNAMENT
Section A
1. Francis RAYNER (Hastings) 3.5/4
2= Jorgen BRUSTKERN (Sweden) 3
Andrew FLEMING (Bexhill)
Russell GOODFELLOW (Tunbridge Wells)
Christopher LOWE (Brighton)
Mel YOUNG (Hastings)
Grading Prize:= David OPENSHAW (Cavendish) 2.5
Peter WOOD (Hastings)
Section B
1. Daniel GIBBS (Ilford) 3.4/4
2. Matthew WILSON (Leics) 3
3= Jeff FLEISCHER (Coulsdon) 2.5
David GUTTRIDGE (Yarmouth)
Robert WALLACE (Melton Mowbray)
Grading Prize: Raymond SAYER (Ashfield) 2.5
Section C
1. Caroline ROBSON (Enfield) 3.5/4
2= Guy BAKER (Herne Bay) 3
Lee BULLOCK (Coulsdon)
Jim O’Grady (Newton Abbot)
Gary WILLSON (Hastings)
Grading Prize:= Alfred MIKURENDA (Hastings) 2.5
Robert SMART (Hastings & St.Leonards)
FIDE RATED BLITZ RESULTS
Champions Section: 1. Mark HEBDEN (Leics) 7.5/10
2. Keith ARKELL 7
Premier League: 1. Jack RUDD 7.5
2= David HAYDON, Stig Martinsen 7
Division 1 1. Jurgen BRUSTKERN (SWE) 7.5
2.Alexander Longson, Petr Marusenko (UKR) 7
Division 2 1. Malcolm Armstrong (Stoke on Trent) 6
2=John Sargent, Anthony Bourached 5.5
Division 3 1. Ali January (Dukinfiel) 7.5
2. Hamish Olson 7