Grandmasters at Hastings

GM Alexander Cherniaev

Oleg Korneev became a Grandmaster in 1995. He currently represents Spain but was born in the Soviet Union in 1969. Included in his tournament successes he has had first-place finishes in the Cappelle-la-Grande Open and the Chigorin Memorial in St Petersburg. He has most recently played in Britain at the 1st 4NCL International Open.

Making a return visit to Hastings is Sarunas Sulskis. Sarunas is from Lithuania, as of course is WFM Rasa Norinkeviciute, who lives locally and is also competing. Sarunas is one of his country’s top players and represented Lithuania in the 2018 Olympiad. He is a past winner of the Guernsey International. Amongst his other chess titles is FIDE Arbiter and FIDE Trainer – the latter title was confirmed this year.

Lasha Janjghava became a GM in 1990, and he has represented Georgia in 4 Olympiads. In recent years his over-the-board chess has taken place almost exclusively in his native country. He is now better known for his writing on chess and is the author of several books on chess openings. 

One of the most solid players on the tournament circuit is Croatian GM Bogdan Lalic. In over two and a half thousand games he has lost less than 6%. Although a regular in England, Bogdan has played in tournaments all over the world. This year alone, countries he has played in include France, Italy, Serbia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Bogdan has also had a number of books published.

Alexander Cherniaev (pictured) is a Russian Grandmaster who is a regular at Hastings, where his best performance was to finish 2nd in the Masters in 2006. He is another globe-trotter, and in October finished 1st equal in the Oslo Chess Festival.  Other recent performances included a 4th place in the Canadian Open in Quebec. Both he and Oleg competed in the Alekhine Memorial Open during the summer in the south of Russia.

Daniel Gormally became a GM in 2005. Possibly his best result was to finish first equal in the Politiken Cup. He has also represented England in the European Team and Olympiad tournaments. He has also finished in second place in the British Championship. Danny has appeared on TV in several quiz shows, including 15 to 1 and The Chase.

Simon Williams became a GM in 2008 after he achieved his third norm and reached the required 2500 rating at Hastings Masters. He too has achieved a second place in the British Championship (twice). He has also won the British Blitz Championship and the London Chess Classic Open.Simon also goes under the pseudonym of the GingerGM, producing ebooks and DVDs.

Keith Arkell, like a good wine, improves with age. He has won the European Senior Championship, and narrowly failed to win the World Senior title when the tie-break went against him. He regularly finishes near the top of events like these. He has also been English Champion, and only failed to win the British title when he lost a play-off.