Hastings Chess Festival Gets Underway
The town of Hastings on the southern coast of England is most famous for a pivotal historical battle 'The Battle of Hastings' in 1066, but since the late 19th century it has been better known among chess fans for it's association with the royal game.
The latest edition of what is now called the Hastings Chess Festival gets underway on the 28th December and runs until the 5th January 2009. The official website is here. The top seed this year is Emanuel Berg from Sweden (Elo 2623) and the full entry list can be found here.
Fans of historical chess should also enjoy reading about the famous Hastings 1895 tournament, which is regarded as one of the greatest tournaments of all time.
Back row (l to r): Albin, Schlecter, Janowski, Marco, Blackburne, Maroczy, Schiffers, Gunsberg, Burn, Tinsley
Front row (l to r): Vergani, Steinitz, Tchigorin, Lasker, Pillsbury, Tarrasch, Mieses, Teichmann
You can read more about the participants in 1895 here. The final result was:
| Hastings 1895 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Total | |
| 1 |
Harry Pillsbury (USA) | X | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16½ |
| 2 |
Mikhail Chigorin (Russia) | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| 3 |
Emanuel Lasker (Germany) | 1 | 0 | X | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 15½ |
| 4 |
Siegbert Tarrasch (Germany) | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 5 |
William Steinitz (USA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 6 |
Emanuel Schiffers (Russia) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 7 |
Curt von Bardeleben (Germany) | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | X | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11½ |
| 8 |
Richard Teichmann (Germany) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | X | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11½ |
| 9 |
Carl Schlechter (Austria) | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | X | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 |
Joseph Henry Blackburne (England) | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | X | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10½ |
| 11 |
Carl August Walbrodt (Netherlands) | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | X | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 12 |
David Janowski (France) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | X | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9½ |
| 13 |
James Mason (Ireland) | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | X | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9½ |
| 14 |
Amos Burn (England) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9½ |
| 15 |
Isidor Gunsberg (Hungary) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | X | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 16 |
Henry Bird (England) | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | X | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 9 |
| 17 |
Adolf Albin (Romania) | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8½ |
| 18 |
Georg Marco (Romania) | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 8½ |
| 19 |
William Pollock (England) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 20 |
Jacques Mieses (Germany) | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 21 |
Samuel Tinsley (England) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 1 | 7½ |
| 22 |
Beniamino Vergani (Italy) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 |
One of the most famous games from the 1895 tournament:
