Hastings International Chess Congress

The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess tournament which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the knock out format; while in 2005/06 and 2006/07 it was played using the Swiss system. Alongside the main event there is the challengers section, which is open to all players. The winner of the challengers event earns an invitation in the following year's Premier.

In addition to the annual international tournament at the Christmas Congress, Hastings has also hosted international tournaments at irregular intervals in its Summer Congress. The most celebrated of these is Hastings 1895, which featured two world champions and nearly all of the world's best players.

Every World Champion before Garry Kasparov except Bobby Fischer played at Hastings: Wilhelm Steinitz (1895), Emanuel Lasker (1895), José Raúl Capablanca (1919, 1929/30, 1930/1 and 1934/5), Alexander Alekhine (1922, 1925/6, 1933/4 and 1936/7), Max Euwe (1923/4, 1930/1, 1931/2, 1934/5, 1945/6 and 1949/50), Mikhail Botvinnik (1934/5, 1961/2 and 1966/7), Vasily Smyslov (1954/5, 1962/3 and 1968/9), Mikhail Tal (1963/4), Tigran Petrosian (1977/8), Boris Spassky (1965/6), and Anatoly Karpov (1971/2). The only champions to play Hastings while currently holding the title were Lasker at Hastings 1895, Alekhine at the 1933/4 Christmas Congress and Botvinnik in 1961/62.[1][2]

Vera Menchik (Czechoslovakia), who was then the Women's World Champion, was the first woman to play in the Premier section, participating in seven tournaments from 1929/30 through 1936/37. In 1963/4 Nona Gaprindashvili (USSR) won the Challengers section when she also was Women's World Champion, earning a spot in the next years Premier. In the 1964/5 Premier she scored 5/9 to place fifth, beating all of the British masters in the tournament.[3][4] Judit Polgár tied for first place in the 1992/3 Premier tournament.

The 2021/22 edition of the Congress was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Hastings Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined takes its name from the game Victor Berger (né Buerger) – George Alan Thomas, Hastings 1926/7, which began 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.Nc3 c6 7.Qb3.[5]

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
  1. ^ Sunnucks, Anne (1970), The Encyclopaedia of Chess, St. Martin's Press, pp. 161–204, 459–461, LCCN 78106371 (background and crosstables through 1968/9)
  2. ^ Congress History at the official website of the Hastings International Chess Congress
  3. ^ Golombek, Harry, ed. (1977), Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Crown Publishing, pp. 137–139, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
  4. ^ Sunnucks 1970, p. 162
  5. ^ Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 170, ISBN 0-19-280049-3