Hastings starts on Monday and the traditional new-year congress keeps its global appeal. Israel’s Maxim Rodshtein is the top seed and the field of over 100, 14 of them grandmasters, includes entrants from Brazil, China, India, the United States and Uzbekistan.
The event’s palmy years were the 1930s, when the world champions Alexander Alekhine and Max Euwe took part, while later the cream of the golden Soviets were regulars. Bobby Fischer was invited at 14 in 1957-58 but pulled out because the concurrent US championship was a qualifier for the world title.
Some Englishmen have been inspired by the Hastings occasion. Sir George Thomas, who was world No1 at badminton before switching to chess, beat the legends Mikhail Botvinnik and José Capablanca in successive rounds. The Bletchley code-breaker Hugh Alexander, who is currently portrayed on film in The Imitation Game, won a 120-move queen ending over several days against Russia’s David Bronstein which made Fleet Street front pages.
This year’s main UK hope is the No9 seed, Jonathan Hawkins, 31, of Durham, who has made a remarkable advance from club player to grandmaster and British champion. Several teenagers have taken advantage of a £6,000 charitable grant to encourage more junior entries.
Tradition is endemic at Hastings, where one of the oldest players this year is Bernard Cafferty, who knew all the Soviet greats of the 1960s. One of the youngest, Matthew Wadsworth, 14, has already competed in the British championship and performed well in international junior competitions.
A central problem remains. On the chess calendar Hastings is sandwiched between the London Classic in early December and Holland’s Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee (whose top seed will be world champion, Magnus Carlsen) and the Tradewise Gibraltar Open (with the world No4, Veselin Topalov) in the New Year.
All these have much higher prize funds than Hastings, which relies primarily on the loyal support, which continues despite budget cuts, of its Borough Council. Realistically Hastings cannot compete with these big guns, so needs its own niche as a training event for English talent.
Games from Hastings will be free and live online daily (2.15pm start) from Monday until 6 January. You can watch either on the official site or, with move-by-move computer analysis, on chessbomb.com.
3390 1 Rxd5! cxd5 2 Qf8+ Kh7 (if Rg8 3 Qxh6 mate) 3 Ne8! Resigns. If Qe5+ 4 f4 and Nf6+ follows. Less clear is 1 Qf8+? Kh7 2 Ne8 or 2 Rxd5 Rg8! and Black defends.
