The Tradewise 94th Hastings International Chess Congress was opened today (28/12/18) by Cllr Peter Chowney, leader of Hastings Borough Council. The opening was also attended by Mayor of Hastings Cllr Nigel Sinden. Congress Chairman Paul Smith introduced the guests, and Kevin Boorman and Trustees of Horntye Park Sports Complex also attended.
The number of players in the Masters is not significantly different to last year with 80 players from over 20 countries taking part. The number of juniors taking part has increased year on year, and this year there are 22. A notable entry in the Masters event is 10 year-old Shreyas Royal, a member of the England Junior Team.
A newcomer to Hastings is Carlos Carullo from Barcelona. It has been his ambition for many years to play at “the most famous and historic chess event”. He was relating how, on his travels internationally, chess players have always heard of Hastings. He was welcomed by Cllr Chowney in his opening speech.
At the same time, the five-round Christmas Tournament for club players began. This will be followed by the 5 round New Year Morning and Afternoon events, and a five round Weekend Congress, with Open, Intermediate and U130 sections, will take place on 4th, 5th and 6th January.
At the end of today’s play in the Masters 14 players were on 1 point – IM J. Sarkar, GM Jonathan Hawkins, GM Oleg Korneev, IM Richard Bates, FM Vignir Stefansson, GM Sarunas Sulskis, GM Danny Gormally, FM Adam Taylor, IM Martin Petrov, FM Borna Derakhshani, FM Jonah Willow, IM Gudmundur Kjartansson, GM Alexander Cherniaev and Stuart White.
Round 2 of the Masters will begin at 14.15hrs on Saturday 29th December (today)