24th Hastings Premier, 30 December 1948 - 8 January 1949

1948/49 Hastings Premier		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Nicolas Rossolimo	France	&;	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	6½
2	Imre König	Yugoslavia	½	&;	½	1	0	½	1	1	½	1	6
3	Willem Jan Mühring	Netherlands	0	½	&;	0	½	1	1	1	½	1	5½
4	William Albert Fairhurst	Scotland	0	0	1	&;	0	½	1	1	1	½	5
5	Baruch Harold Wood	Sutton Coldfield	½	1	½	1	&;	0	0	½	½	1	5
6	Dr Paul Felix Schmidt	Germany	½	½	0	½	1	&;	½	½	½	½	4½
7	Sir George A Thomas	London	½	0	0	0	1	½	&;	½	½	1	4
8	Robert G Wade	New Zealand	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	1	½	3½
9	W Arthur Winser	Hastings	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	&;	½	3
10	Theodore Henry Tylor	Oxford	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	&;	2

---

A note on the rest day: evidence suggests that the rest day was on Sunday 2 January, though neither the bulletin, nor the Times nor magazines make this clear. The Manchester Guardian report published on Monday 3 January, with the third round results, gives the place and date of their correspondent's report as 'Hastings, Saturday'. Perhaps more convincing is the short report in The Observer, Sunday 2 January, reporting that Thomas and Rossolimo drew their third round game. This suggests that round 3 took place on 1 January with no scheduled play on 2 January.

---

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves (Major)

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves Major		Draw No.	Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Herbert Gibson Rhodes	7	Southport	&;	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	7½
2	Leonard William Barden	1	Croydon	0	&;	0	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	5½
3	Dennis Morton Horne	5	Oxford	0	1	&;	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	5
4	(David) Bernard Scott	8	Hornchurch	½	0	1	&;	½	½	1	0	½	1	5
5	Andrew Rowland Benedick Thomas	4	Tiverton	½	½	0	½	&;	1	0	½	1	1	5
6	Dr. Hans Georg Schenk	3	Oxford	0	0	1	½	0	&;	½	1	½	1	4½
7	Edward Guthlac Sergeant	9	Kingston	0	0	1	0	1	½	&;	1	0	½	4
8	Capt. Percivale David Bolland	10	Winscombe	0	½	0	1	½	0	0	&;	½	1	3½
9	Jacques Mieses	2	London	½	½	0	½	0	½	1	½	&;	0	3½
10	Donal J O'Sullivan	6	Dublin	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	&;	1½

As no.1 in the draw, Barden met opponents thus: 1 w v Mieses, 2 b v Schenk, 3 w v Thomas, 4 b v Horne, 5 w v O'Sullivan, 6 b v Rhodes, 7 w v Scott, 8 b v Sergeant, 9 w v Bolland.

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves A

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves A		Nat'y	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Alan Phillips	Buxton	&;	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	7
2	Hugh Edward Guy Courtney	Canterbury	1	&;	0	½	1	1	1	0	1	1	6½
3	Patrick Alphonsus Duignan	Dublin	½	1	&;	0	½	1	0	½	1	1	5½
4	(Francis) Percival Wenman	Kew	0	½	1	&;	0	½	1	1	1	½	5½
5	James Chrismas Waterman	Hastings	½	0	½	1	&;	0	½	½	1	1	5
6	(Henry) Peter Swinnerton-Dyer	Cambridge	0	0	0	½	1	&;	1	1	0	1	4½
7	Leonard Illingworth	Cambridge	0	0	1	0	½	0	&;	½	1	½	3½
8	C H Llijs §		0	1	½	0	½	0	½	&;	0	½	3
9	D Smith	Consett	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	&;	½	2½
10	Leo Derby	London	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	&;	2

§ The name 'C H Llijs' is puzzling. No trace found anywhere. Is it a typo?

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves B

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves B		Nat'y	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	M Jacobsen	Netherlands	&;	½	1	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	7
2	Ronald Speirs	Ealing	½	&;	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	6
3	Pierre Berlacki	Paris/Poland	0	½	&;	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	5½
4	John Morley Holford	Colchester	½	½	½	&;	1	½	0	0	1	1	5
5	Graham Russell Mitchell		0	0	1	0	&;	1	0	1	1	1	5
6	Marcel Barzin	Brussels	½	0	½	½	0	&;	1	0	1	1	4½
7	Henry Holwell Cole	Brockley	0	0	0	1	1	0	&;	½	1	1	4½
8	M V Schaik		½	½	0	1	0	1	½	&;	0	1	4½
9	Arthur Charles Samuel Pindar	Farnborough	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1	2½
10	(Edward) Douglas Fawcett	London	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	½

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves C

1948/49 Hastings Premier Reserves C		Nat'y	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Ernst Robert Reifenberg	Cambridge	&;	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	7½
2	Harry Frederick Moxon	Oxford	½	&;	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	7
3	Alfred Dempster Whyte	Hastings	0	0	&;	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	6
4	Lt.Commander Graham Powell Britton	Cambridge	0	1	0	&;	0	0	1	1	1	1	5
5	(William) George Whitaker	London	0	½	½	1	&;	0	0	1	1	1	5
6	Francis (Frank) Samuel Woolford	Cinderford	0	0	½	1	1	&;	½	½	1	½	5
7	William Broome	Barrow in Furness	0	0	0	0	1	½	&;	0	½	1	3
8	Willington Lucette Wakefield	Coventry	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	&;	1	0	2½
9	Ralph Carter Woodthorpe	Hastings	1	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	&;	1	2½
10	George Spencer Brown	Cambridge	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	&;	1½

1948/49 Hastings Major A

1948/49 Hastings Major A		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Kenneth J Bloodworth	Plymouth	&;	1	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	1	7½
2	Newman Clissold	Wallasey	0	&;	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	7
3	Thomas Lindsay Moodie	Sutton	½	0	&;	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	7
4	Patrick Humphrey Sullivan		0	0	0	&;	1	½	½	½	1	1	4½
5	A Ballard		0	1	0	0	&;	1	0	0	½	1	3½
6	F Calvert	Chesterfield	0	0	0	½	0	&;	1	1	0	1	3½
7	Thomas Tormey	Dublin	½	0	½	½	1	0	&;	½	½	0	3½
8	Edward James Fairchild		½	0	0	½	1	0	½	&;	½	0	3
9	Hugh Windsor Fiesch Heneage		0	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	&;	½	3
10	Thomas Eagle Lovell Chataway	Stourbridge	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	½	&;	2½

1948/49 Hastings Major B

1948/49 Hastings Major B		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Harold John Francis Stephenson	Hastings	&;	1	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	1	7½
2	Stephen O N Hawes	London	0	&;	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	7
3	Frank Arthur Rhoden	Hastings	0	½	&;	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	6½
4	Alfred Dudley Barlow	London	½	0	½	&;	1	1	½	½	1	1	6
5	Miss Minnie Musgrave	Hastings	0	0	½	0	&;	1	1	½	1	½	4½
6	Everard Woods	Ulster	1	0	0	0	0	&;	1	½	1	1	4½
7	Clive R Berry	Hillingdon	0	½	0	½	0	0	&;	½	½	1	3
8	Alfred Herman Reeve		0	0	0	½	½	½	½	&;	0	1	3
9	A C Hopkinson	West London	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	&;	0	1½
10	Wilfred Partington	Stroud	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	&;	1½

1948/49 Hastings Major C

1948/49 Hastings Major C		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Percy B Cook	Ilford	&;	½	½	0	1	1	½	1	½	1	6
2	J Egginton	Wallasey	½	&;	0	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	6
3	Noel Ernest Ackroyd Moore	Cambridge	½	1	&;	1	½	1	0	0	1	1	6
4	D C B Jones	Woodford Green	1	½	0	&;	0	1	1	½	1	1	6
5	P A Cooke		0	0	½	1	&;	½	½	½	1	½	4½
6	Francis Harry Senneck	Yeovil	0	½	0	0	½	&;	½	1	1	1	4½
7	Miss Joan Frances Doulton (later Hay)	London	½	0	1	0	½	½	&;	½	0	1	4
8	Rodney E James	London	0	0	1	½	½	0	½	&;	½	1	4
9	M O'Gara	London	½	½	0	0	0	0	1	½	&;	0	2½
10	F Silk		0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	&;	1½

1948/49 Hastings Major D

1948/49 Hastings Major D		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
1	Patrick/Paul M Foster	Hastings	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
2	Herbert Francis Gook	Croydon	0	&;	1	1	½	1	0	1	1	5½
3	Clement John Stapley	Ashford	1	0	&;	½	½	½	0	1	1	4½
4	G C Kelly	Great Malvern	0	0	½	&;	1	0	1	1	0	3½
5	Norman Henry Stewart Lavers		0	½	½	0	&;	0	1	½	1	3½
6	A Prieditis		0	0	½	1	1	&;	½	0	½	3½
7	Ralph Frederick G Wright		0	1	1	0	0	½	&;	0	1	3½
8	Mrs Edith Mary Ann Michell (née Tapsell)		0	0	0	0	½	1	1	&;	0	2½
9	George Arthur Peck		0	0	0	1	0	½	0	1	&;	2½

1948/49 Hastings First Class (Mornings A)

1948/49 Hastings First Class (AM A)		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	William Henderson	London	&;	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	8
2	Edmund George Ansell	Heston	½	&;	½	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	6
3	D H Stroud	Stanmore	0	½	&;	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	5½
4	W D Brown		0	0	0	&;	1	½	1	½	1	1	5
5	W S Walters		0	0	1	0	&;	1	0	1	1	1	5
6	Miss (Patricia) Anne Sunnucks		0	0	1	½	0	&;	½	½	½	1	4
7	Ernest Ephraim Weedon		0	1	0	0	1	½	&;	½	½	½	4
8	S A Robinson		½	1	0	½	0	½	½	&;	½	0	3½
9	Edmond Julien Thomas Leyns	Great Hallingbury	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	1	2½
10	Stanley Charles Hilliam	Isle of Wight	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	&;	1½

1948/49 Hastings First Class (Mornings B)

1948/49 Hastings First Class (AM B)		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Reginald John Manfield	Chelmsford	&;	1	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	½	8
2	N S Coles	Enniskillen	0	&;	½	1	½	1	1	1	0	½	1	1	7½
3	Eric Leyns (aged 15, Rugby School)	Great Hallingbury	½	½	&;	1	0	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	7½
4	F Willan	Blackburn	0	0	0	&;	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	7
5	Keith Edward Charles Budge	Devon	½	½	1	0	&;	0	1	½	0	1	1	1	6½
6	M Biggs		0	0	½	½	1	&;	½	0	1	1	½	1	6
7	Archibald Snelling Dance	Andover	½	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1	1	1	1	1	6
8	Geoffrey George Homan	Chatham	½	0	0	½	½	1	0	&;	1	1	0	1	5½
9	Robert Douglas Graham		0	1	½	0	1	0	0	0	&;	½	1	½	4½
10	(Edward) Norman Kerr		½	½	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1	1	4
11	H Robinson	Eastbourne	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	0	&;	1	2½
12	Mrs Melita Ida Elizabeth Seyd (née Krohn)	Bexhill	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	&;	1

1948/49 Hastings First Class (PM)

1948/49 Hastings First Class (PM)		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Richard Hughes-Hallett	London	&;	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	5½
2	Francis Avery Sisley	Chelmsford	1	&;	1	0	0	1	1	1	5
3	L Fitzgerald	London	0	0	&;	1	½	1	0	1	3½
4	Miss Kate Harris Passmore	Exeter	½	1	0	&;	0	0	1	1	3½
5	W G Watson	Hastings	0	1	½	1	&;	0	0	1	3½
6	W H Jones		0	0	0	1	1	&;	0	1	3
7	I R Plummer		0	0	1	0	1	1	&;	0	3
8	Samuel Frederick Dalladay		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1

1948/49 Hastings Second Class

1948/49 Hastings Second Class		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	J Raeburn	London	&;	0	½	1	1	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	8
2	Ernest John Seymour	Flackwell Heath	1	&;	½	1	1	1	½	0	½	½	1	1	8
3	Sydney Gothard	Burton-on-Trent	½	½	&;	0	1	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	7
4	J C Alexander		0	0	1	&;	1	1	½	0	1	0	1	1	6½
5	R J Cohen		0	0	0	0	&;	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	6½
6	J Greig	Hastings	1	0	½	0	0	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	6½
7	Frank Ernest Tanner	Gloucester	0	½	½	½	½	0	&;	1	0	1	1	1	6
8	C Snook		½	1	0	1	0	1	0	&;	1	0	0	½	5
9	Peter Bernard Ginner	Hastings	0	½	0	0	0	0	1	0	&;	1	1	1	4½
10	Mrs C Lewis	Hastings	0	½	½	1	0	0	0	1	0	&;	½	1	4½
11	Robert George Sang Mackechnie	Rye	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	1	0	½	&;	½	2½
12	J Homes		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	&;	1

1948/49 Hastings Third Class

1948/49 Hastings Third Class		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total
1	A H Harris	Hastings	&;	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8½
2	L L M Jones	Guernsey	1	&;	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
3	Cedric A Selway §	Tiverton	½	0	&;	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	8
4	Rupert Aleck Selway §	Tiverton	0	1	0	&;	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
5	Mrs Jessy Hilliam	Isle of Wight	0	1	0	0	&;	1	0	0	1	1	1	5
6	Miss Westall		0	0	½	0	0	&;	½	1	1	1	1	5
7	R H Wilson	Rugby School	0	0	0	0	1	½	&;	1	0	1	1	4½
8	E Gasson		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	&;	1	1	1	4
9	Miss Mannington		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	&;	0	1	2
10	W A Dutton		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	0	1
11	Miss Johnston		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1

§ - obituary of Rupert Aleck Selway (14 January 1931 - 16 March 2016), written by his brother Cedric A Selway (born 1932). They both attended Blundell's School where they "had a great interest in chess - very much helped by Bundy Thomas, the then West of England Champion." Presumably 'Bundy' was a school nickname for Andrew Rowland Benedick Thomas (1904-85) who taught there.

---

Special Prize for brilliancy subscribed for by some of his competitors: J Mieses (London), aged 84.

---

Hastings Chess Tournament 1948-49 by H Golombek and W Ritson Morry (En Passant Chess Publication, 1949)

SUPPLEMENT TO LONDON AND MIDLAND CHESS BULLETINS Supplement No. 1. FEB. 1949 PRICE 1/6, Post Free

ROSSOLIMO WINS 24th HASTINGS CONGRESS

Joins select band of victors

Club officials stress need for greater financial support

The 24th annual international Xmas congress of the Hastings Chess Club was officially opened at 3-45 p.m. on Thursday December 30th, 1948 by Neil Cooper-Key Esq., M.P. for Hastings, supported by the Mayor and other important members of the municipality.

The entry of 131 competitors was a good one, but as was the case last year the Premier section was by no means of the strength which distinguished it in the pre-war period. In 1934, for instance, we saw a triple tie between Sir Geo. Thomas, Flohr and Euwe with Capablanca and Botwinnik below them! In 1937 Reshevsky was the winner with Keres and Alexander in second place and Fine and Flohr just below. Indeed the list of winners: Yates, Kostich, Rubinstein, Euwe, Maroczy, Alekhine, Vidmar, Tartakower, Marshall, Takacs, Colle, Capablanca, Flohr, Thomas, Reshevsky, Szabo and Alexander is in itself an almost complete catalogue of the grandmasters of the past 20 years. These great chessplayers made Hastings and its chess congress world famous. Because of their presence a tradition was built and Hastings was never "just another chess tournament” such as it is now seriously in danger of becoming.

Right from the start it was clear that the club’s officers were keenly aware that the drop in standard was more than unfortunate, but they made it clear that finance was the only cause. Although the cost of everything has risen, the grant of £250 which they receive from the Corporation towards the expenses of the tournament has not been increased, and they are accordingly unable to invite the same number of distinguished foreign players as of yore. The Mayor pointed out, on the other hand, that the town was having a struggle to make its budget balance and that chess tournaments were not the only activities which cost more.

At the same time we feel that neither the town nor the club can completely escape criticism for the following reasons:-

1. The Mayor admitted that this congress is of great publicity value to a town which lives largely by advertising itself and thus attracting visitors. We know from the volume of cuttings received through our press cutting agency that the publicity this tournament brings Hastings in the world press could not be bought in the form of advertisements for many times the £250 earmarked for the congress.

2. The club could in our opinion make better use of the help available from certain important chess figures who could use their personal influence with many foreign masters to secure their appearance on favourable terms. Again we know that two years ago a great opportunity to secure the attendance of Najdorf was missed only through failure to act promptly when he offered to appear, and by the time it was decided to invite him he had been forced to accept other offers. We also must confess ourselves stupefied by the failure to invite Alexander, twice a prize-winner in this event, for he is still one of the greatest British masters and is always likely to beat the best although often the victim of his mercurial temperament.

Nevertheless, fate was unkind to the organisers, for at the last moment the star performer, Szabo, fell ill and there was no time to replace him by inviting another grandmaster. I. Konig was a good choice in the circumstances and fully justified his selection by playing very good chess to finish within a point of the victor.

The French champion, N. Rossolimo was never seriously extended in his quest for honours. His chess is very enterprising and his opening play is original and full of ideas. This is the type of play which always attracts the gallery. It would have been interesting to see how he would have fared against Szabo, for he has not had the same range of experience in international tournaments as most continental masters.

Muhring played some good games, but his form was patchy and he has not the consistency necessary for high honours in big tournaments.

Paul Schmidt was a big disappointment. At one time he was thought to be more promising than Keres, but in this tournament his play was lifeless and he was always far to ready to agree to the draw.

Of the British contingent, B. H. Wood undoubtedly maintained the position he gained as a result of the tie he made for second place in the British Championship. Although favoured to some extent by tournament luck and he is now a very dangerous opponent for anyone. Fairhurst also played very determined chess and showed that he is still a force in British chess. Sir George Thomas fought valiantly, but anno domini is now a big handicap for him and he was obviously very tired at the end. Tylor played better than his score suggests and only requires practice to recover the place he occupied in British chess before the war.

Premier Reserves Surprise

Photo below (from London Chess Bulletin, Vol.1 No.6, 25 March 1949) shows Jacques Mieses nearest camera, then Dr Schenk, then ARB Thomas, then possibly Donal O'Sullivan - probably rd 1, 30 December 1948, when Mieses had Black vs Leonard Barden - looks like their game began 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6. The score is unavailable.

There was again a strong major section of the Premier Reserves, and the favourite for this was D. M. Horne, who has recently shown signs of becoming one ol our foremost players. The first few rounds, however, found him quite out of form and although he later played some bright chess, he could not recover the ground he had lost. H. G. Rhodes cantered home an easy winner, and L. B. Barden [sic] deservedly took second prize. The latter is still very young and he was promoted from Sec. B of the Reserves to fill a last minute vacancy. It was a feature of this congress that a number of the prize-winners were young men and their successes augur well for the future of British chess. It is clearly good policy for tournament organisers to give them every chance to meet the strongest opposition, and they should even take some risk of putting them a little too high rather than somewhat too low. We should, for instance, very much liked to see Jonathan Penrose invited to the Premier for he showed at the London Congress that he has abundant talent. Russia only has young stars like Smyslov and Bronstein because they were brought on very early. Reuben Fine played for his country at Folkestone in 1933 when he was still in his ’teens. Capablanca had beaten Marshall and won the San Sebastian tourney by the time he was 22. Botvinnik was Soviet Champion at 20. Next year will be the silver jubilee of the Hastings Congress. We urge the organisers to make youth the keynote of a really great congress.

BEST GAME COMPETITION

The proprietors of the “ London Chess Bulletin” and “Midland Chess Bulletin” offered a prize in each class of the congress for the best game and a total entry of 37 games was received.

In the Premier Tournament the prize was awarded to N. Rossolimo for his win against W. Muhring. (See Game No. 23).

The winning games in the other sections were as follows:—

Premier Reserves: D. Horne 1-0 D. O'Sullivan
Major Open: J. Egginton 1-0 P.Cooke
First Class: [game score given in the bulletin but the names were left out! We now know it to be the game R. J. Manfield 1-0 M. Biggs - see game viewer - JS]
Second Class: R.J. Cohen 0-1 S. Gothard
Third Class: L. L. M. Jones 0-1 R. A. Selway

---

The Times, 30 December 1948: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. HASTINGS TOURNAMENT. from our chess correspondent

" The twenty-fourth Hastings international chess congress opens to-day at the White Rock Pavilion. The entry for the premier tournament is W. Mühring (The Netherlands), N. Rossolimo (France), P. Schmidt (Germany), I. König (Yugoslavia), R. G. Wade (New Zealand) and, from Great Britain, W. A. Fairhurst, Sir George Thomas, T. H. Tylor, W. H. Winser [sic], and B. H. Wood.
König, now living in this country, takes the place of L. Szabo, the Hungarian master, who has been unable to come.

"On the whole the standard of entry is about the same as last year. The foreign competition is stronger, while on the other hand the British is distinctly weaker. For among those not playing are C. H. O'D. Alexander, who so brilliantly won first prize at Hastings two years ago, R. J. Broadbcnt, the present British champion, and H. Golombek, the previous year’s champion.

"Nevertheless, the British contingent should give a good account of itself and it is to be expected that some, at any rate, will figure in the prize list. Last year both Sir George Thomas and Fairhurst played very well, and these two must be regarded as the main British hopes for distinction. Tylor has not played in a tournament for several years, so his form and results are incalculable, though he has produced some excellent games in recent matches. Winser is the local representative, being the Hastings and Sussex champion. This is his first appearance in international chess. With B. H. Wood much depends on the question of stamina. He is in the habit of starting off tournaments in fine style and then tailing off miserably towards the end.

"The entry for the premier reserves tournament is, in the order of the draw: Professor Runta [or Runte: the professor from Germany could not get a visa and his place went to Leonard Barden - JS], J. Mieses, Dr. H. G. Schenk. A. R. B. Thomas, R. M. [Dennis Morton] Horne, J. O’Sullivan, H. G. Rhodes, R. B. [David Bernard] Scott, E. G. Sergeant, and Captain P. D. Bolland. Of these, the British player Horne would appear to have the best chance of coming first."

The Times, 31 December 1948: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. FIRST ROUND OF PREMIER 1 TOURNAMENT. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT. HASTINGS, Dec. 30

"Three games were finished in the first round of the premier tournament at the Hastings chess congress to-day, and on the whole the play was good. B. H. Wood held the advantage out of the opening against Mühring, but this soon vanished, and an early draw was agreed after 22 moves. Shortly afterwards a correctly played game ended with the same result between Schmidt and Tylor.

"Fairhurst obtained a promising position against Rossolimo’s irregular method of defence. but. in trying for too much too quickly, over-reached himself, and when on the twenty-eighth move he exceeded the time limit he had in any case a lost game. Konig broke up Wade’s king side pawns, and on adjournment was about to win one of them with much the better position. Sir George Thomas lost a pawn by a blunder in the middle game against Winser. Thereafter his position rapidly worsened, and a little before the adjournment he lost another pawn. He can hardly hope to save the game.

"It is learned that the much-regretted absence of Szabo, the Hungarian master, is due to illness, and that his doctor has forbidden him to travel."

The Times, 1 January 1949: "SECOND ROUND OF CHESS CONTEST. ROSSOLIMO’S LEAD. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT. HASTINGS, Dec. 31

"At the end of round two of the Hastings international chess tournament Rossolimo leads with two clear points. He has played bright, interesting chess and has never hesitated to enter into deep, almost incalculable, lines through fear of complication.
Winser lost to him to-day as a result of passive play. Rossolimo built up a strong attacking position on the King’s side, and instead of counter-attacking on the other wing Winser pursued the fatal policy of merely trying to hold White’s attacks back. He accelerated his defeat by a blunder that lost the exchange.

"A distinct contrast to this was Fairhurst’s excellent win over Mühring, which was achieved by a most vigorous counter-attack
through which he won his opponent’s Queen. Tylor had an up-and-down game against B. H. Wood. His opening play was admirable, and when he caught Wood in a trap that won a piece it looked as though all was over. Wood, however, had other ideas. Taking advantage of Tylor’s lack of precision, he established a strong passed pawn and in turn won material by another trap, this time decisively.

"The game between König and Schmidt was a peaceful draw, though it appeared that Black had the advantage when the draw was agreed and Schmidt might well have continued.

"The game between Sir George Thomas and Wade might be regarded as a by-product of the 1948 World Championship. Wade tried some prepared analysis of the open line of defence through the Ruy Lopez which had been much used in that tournament. Sir George Thomas refuted this, but missed the most conclusive move which would have won and entered into an ending where he had the better chances. However, on resumption of play after adjournment he was unable to get more than a draw."

"The two adjourned games from round one were finished this afternoon, König beating Wade and Sir George Thomas drawing with Winser. The former game went much as expected, but Winser mishandled the ending and missed several winning chances.

"The present scores ore:—Rossolimo 2, König and Wood 1½, Fairhurst, Schmidt, and Sir George Thomas 1, Mühring, Tylor, Wade, and Winser ½.

The Times, 3 January 1949: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. HARD FIGHT IN HASTINGS TOURNAMENT. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT. HASTINGS, Jan. 2

"With a third of the Hastings international tournament over the lead is shared by Rossolimo and Wood with 2½ points, followed by Fairhurst, König, Sir George Thomas, and Schmidt with 1½, and Mühring, Tylor, Wade, and Winser with one.

"Rossolimo dropped his first half-point in the third round by drawing a carefully played game against Sir George Thomas. Wood, on the other hand, had a most exciting struggle with Konig, whose violent King side attack was almost but not quite successful. But when the attack was at an end König was a great deal of material to the bad. After the game König thought he had missed a winning line, but analysis showed that Wood always had an adequate counter.

"The Fairhurst-Tylor game was very hard fought, perhaps the most difficult so far.Tyior’s opening play was faulty, and in consequence his pawn formation on the Queen side was broken up. Fairhurst took admirable advantage of this to win a pawn, but missed the, best line which would have led to g clear win. This gave Tylor the chance to exert his redoubtable powers of resourceful play, and after two adjournments a drawn position was forced.

"The other two draws were less eventful. For the second time in three rounds Winser tried the minority pawn attack on the Queen side, with which, however, he achieved exactly nothing. Wade lost first the initiative and then the exchange against Schmidt, but escaped with a draw as his opponent mistakenly returned the rook for the bishop.

"In the Premier Reserves Rhodes leads with three points, followed by Barden, E. G. Sergeant, and D. B. Scott, two and a-half."

The Times, 4 January 1949: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. ROSSOLIMO STILL LEADING. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT. HASTINGS, Jan. 3

"Though Rossolirao only drew in the fourth round of the Hastings international Chess tournament, he is still in the lead, as B. H. Wood met with his first defeat at the hands of Paul Schmidt.

"Wood fell victim to a deceptively innocent looking variation of the Sicilian, which consists in an early advance of the K.B. pawn. He was unable to castle and his king appeared particularly vulnerable. But the actual decision came about through White’s queen side pawn majority. This was a well played game by Schmidt.

"Mühring, too, played good chess against Sir George Thomas, who, trying in vain for a side attack, sacrificed several pawns only to arrive at a lost ending. This game was an excellent example of the principle that one cannot neglect the centre for the sake of a flank attack.

"Wade had a narrow escape against Rossolimo. He got the worst of the opening, had to allow his opponent two bishops against his own bishop and knight, and soon lost a pawn, fortunately for Wade, however, the French champion overlooked a decisive combination based on mate on the back rank, and drifted into a forced draw by repetition of moves.

"Tylor's opening methods against Winser were quite innocuous. Winser equalized easily enough, and though Tylor had some play in the centre he never looked like getting more than half a point.

Fairhurst again figured in a hard battle, but this time he was on the losing side. He obtained a constricted position out of the opening, and König carefully built up his attack on the most academic lines. Shortly before the adjournment he was rewarded for his fine play by the gain of a pawn, and on resumption Fairhurst’s position rapidly deteriorated. He was in any case quite lost when he exceeded the time limit.

"Scores at the end of Round 4: —Rossolimo 3; König, Schmidt, and B. H. Wood 2½; Mühring 2; Fairhurst, Sir George Thomas, Tylor, Wade, and Winser 1½. The leading scores in the major section of the Premier Reserves are:—Rhodes 3½; Scott and Sergeant 3 each."

The Times, 5 January 1949: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. BEST GAME OF HASTINGS TOURNAMENT. from our chess correspondent . HASTINGS, Jan. 4

"Rossolimo’s brilliant style of play once again triumphed to-day in the Hastings Premier tournament and at the end of the fifth round he was firmly in the lead with four points, one full point ahead of his nearest rival.

"He tried a system of his own in the Giuoco Piano against Mühring, and the Dutch master wrongly allowed him to open up the game. By a neat little combination he won a pawn and then finished off his opponent by a brilliantly conducted king-side attack culminating in a rook sacrifice. This was the best game played so far in the tournament.

"Another fine game was that won by Sir George Thomas against Tylor. This proceeded exactly like the opening played by Keres against Dr. Euwe in the 1948 World Championship, but Sir George Thomas branched off on the thirteenth move and secured a better game. By means of a speculative pawn sacrifice he obtained a king-side attack, chased the black king from KKt1 to K2, picking up pawns as he went. Although the game was adjourned, Tylor resigned without resuming play.

"The Winser-König game was also reminiscent of the World Championship, this time of the game Botwinnik lost to Reshevsky. However, König played rather less aggressively than Reshevsky and could do little against Winser’s steady defence.

A LUCKY BLUNDER

"By a blunder Schmidt lost the exchange to Fairhurst. Curiously enough, this turned out to be the best line he could have adopted. For in return he obtained considerable play on the black squares. Fairhurst, in order to avoid worse, gave up a pawn, thereby partly freeing his position. Both players were relieved when the draw was agreed.

"Wade, too, made an oversight against Wood and had to surrender a pawn. But the exploitation of this advantage proved surprisingly difficult and eventually Wade won the exchange in return for another pawn. Material now was about level but the players fought on bitterly until Wood was able to reduce the ending to a clear draw.

"Scores at end of round 5 were:—Rossolimo 4; B. H. Wood, König and Schmidt, 3; Sir George Thomas, 2½; Fairhurst, Mühring, Wade, and Winser, 2; Tylor, 1½.

"In the major section of the Premier reserve H. G. Rhodes leads with the excellent score of 4½, followed by Barden, Scott, and Sergeant with three points each."

The Times, 6 January 1949: "ROSSOLIMO’S FINE PROGRESS. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT. HASTINGS, Jan. 5

"No one seems able to stop Rossolimo’s victorious progress in the Hastings Premier Tournament To-day, though he had a hard game against Tylor, the latter was always struggling and never looked like gaining the initiative.

"Tylor's treatment of the King’s Indian Defence was not particularly effective and led to a position where Rossolimo’s two bishops were very powerful. By some subtle play Rossolimo won the queen for a rook and bishop but, relaxing a little, allowed Tylor drawing chances. Thinking that he could draw the ending with rook and four pawns against Queen and three pawns, Tylor wrongly sacrificed the bishop and, with some moves worthy of an end game study, Rossolimo secured the vital point.

"This game lasted all day, but two others were finished in the first three hours. Schmidt drew a colourless game against Winser and Wade, quite out of form, blundered away a couple of pawns against Muhring.

"König had a most meritorious victory over Sir George Thomas, who made a slip in the early middle game and thereafter was gradually but surely ground down to a lost ending. The game between Fairhurst and Wood was unfinished after two sessions. Fairhurst’s position is quite hopeless and he will probably resign without further play. Wood was in excellent form, sacrificed the exchange to procure by no means obvious winning and eventually ended up with two pieces for the rook.

"Scores at the end of round six: Rossolimo 5, König 4, Schmidt 3½, B. H. Wood 3 and one adjourned, Mühring 3, Sir George Thomas and Winser 2½, Fairhurst 2 and one adjourned, Wade 2, and Tylor 1½.

"Rossolimo’s lead of a point at this stage must be regarded as formidable as he only has to draw with his nearest rivals to obtain first place. There is no doubt that his play has well deserved this distinction.

"In the Premier Reserves Rhodes increased his lead by beating Barden, and now has 5½ points followed by Scott 4."

The Times, 7 January 1949: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. ROSSOLIMO LEADS SEVENTH ROUND. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT.
HASTINGS, JAN. 6

"With two rounds to go in the Hastings Premier Tournament, Rossolimo is still in the lead a point ahead of König and B. H. Wood. In the seventh round to-day, with the exception of the Wade-Fairhurst encounter, the games were brief and without much dramatic quality.

"Rossolimo played a good variation of the Giuoco Piano but König answered correctly and obtained rather the better name. In doing so, however, he took up too much time and left himself with 14 moves to do in five minutes. In view of this time trouble he was only too glad to accept Rossolimo’s offer of a draw, a result which was also welcome to Rossolimo since it meant that be retained his lead of a point.

"Sir George Thomas had a clear pull out of the opening agamst Schmidt, and established a strong passed pawn in the centre. But he rather weakened his position in an endeavour to create attacking cnanccs on the king side, and his advantage soon dwindled away.

AN UNSOUND IDEA

"Tylor was disappointing against Mühring. He played the opening very well and had a fine game when he suddenly conceived the totally unsound idea of a mating combination by a "Philidor’s Legacy." As a result he lost much material without compensation.

"Scores at end of round seven:—Rossolimo 5½, König and B. H. Wood 4½ each, Schmidt and Mühring 4, Sir George Thomas and Wlnser 3, Fairhurst and Wade 2 each with one adjourned, Tylor 1½.

"Fairhurst resigned his adjourned game from round six against Wood without resuming play.

"In the Premier Reserves Rhodes has six points, followed by Dr. Schenk four and one adjourned, and Barden, Scott, and Sergeant four each."

The Times, 8 January 1948: "INTERNATIONAL CHESS. ROSSOLIMO STILL LEADING. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT. HASTINGS, Jan. 7

"After the eighth round in the Hastings Premier tournament, Rossolimo still retained a lead of one point ahead of König, and a point and a half ahead of Wood, who lost his game to-day.

"The most exciting game of the day was B. H. Wood v. Sir George Thomas. Wood exchanged a bishop and a knight for a rook and two pawns soon after the opening and this led to a difficult game in which both sides had chances. Wood allowed his queen to get out of play through capturing two more pawns on the queen side, and Sir George Thomas, handling the middle game and his minor pieces extremely well, finished the game with a strongly executed attack on White’s king side leading to decisive gain of material.

"Fairhurst played an unusual move in the English opening and left his opponent with badly doubled pawns on the king side, although his own queen side pawns were also weakened. Winser defended well against strong play but, missing a chance to unite his rooks on his twenty-third move, succumbed to an attack from White’s heavy pieces.

"In his game with Mühring, König allowed the centre to become blocked so that his king’s bishop had no scope and Black’s knights were entrenched on the central squares. Although White always seemed to have the initiative, careful defence led to a draw on the twenty-fourth move.

"Tylor played the opening indifferently, and after a few moves Wade, with some ingenuity, gained an advantage in pawn position and development, but although he finally won a pawn in the centre partly through white attempting to make more of the position than was justified, a drawn rook ending resulted.

"Schmidt played a tame opening causing his opponent no real difficulties. After some manoeuvring in which white gained control of the queen’s rook’s file and black gained tho two bishops, a draw was agreed. There was some play left in the position but neither player seemed anxious to gain more than half a point which was all Rossolimo needed to retain his lead.

"The scores at end of round eight: —Rossolimo, 6; König, 5: B. H. Wood, Mühring, and Schmidt, 4½; Sir George Thomas, 4; Winser, 3; Fairhurst, 3 (1 adjourned); Wade, 2½ (1 adjourned); Tylor 2.

"In the Premier Reserve Tournament Rhodes, with a score of seven, cannot be overtaken. Other leading scores are : Barden 5; A. R. B.Thomas and D. B. Scott 4½; Sergeant, Schenk and Horne 4."

The Times, 10 January 1949: "TOURNAMENT WON BY ROSSOLIMO. FROM OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT HASTINGS, Jan. 9

"First prize in the Hastings Premier Tournament was won by Rossolimo (France). His success was well deserved, for he hardly ever had the inferior game and those that he won were marked by a most pleasing and natural brilliance. König, who came second, with half a point behind the winner, has had little practice in the last three years and was unfortunate not to have done better, for he played sound chess throughout the tournament.

"Of the games played yesterday in the last round, that between Mühring and Schmidt was played in advance since Schmidt had to leave early to take part in another tournament at Beverwijk, Holland. It had one of the finest finishes in the congress. Mühring played an early P–K4 against Schmidt’s Slav defence, obtained greater command of the board and and used this to initiate a violent queen-side attack. Curiously enough, the final decision came about through a mating attack on the king.

"In his game against Fairhurst, Sir George Thomas played the opening badly, leaving himself very weak pawns. He then made an oversight, allowing his rook to be pinned by a bishop. Fairhurst neatly simplified the game by exchanges to an easily won ending.

STONEWALL DEFENCE

"König played a stonewall defence against Tylor, who allowed his king’s pawns to get isolated. He apparently expected to be able to rid himself of this weakness by exchanges, but with good positional play König gained a pawn in the centre and won a difficult bishop and pawn ending. This was the best of the four games played in the final round.

"Fairhurst won his adjourned game against Wade on the ninety-fourth move after nearly 11 hours play.

"Final results in the Premier Reserves tournament—major section:—H. G. Rhodes, 7½; L. W. Barden, 5½; A. R. B. Thomas, D. M. Horne, and D. B. Scott 5; Dr. Schenk, 4½; E. G. Sergeant, 4; J. Mieses and P. D. Bolland, 3½; O’Sullivan, 1½.

"Winners of the Upper Premiers Tournament were:— Section (A).—Phillips. Section (B).—M. Jacobson. Section (CC).—E. R. Relsenberg."

---

BCM, February 1949, ppn 53-58: "THE HASTINGS CHESS TOURNAMENT [by editor Julius du Mont?]

The Mayor, Alderman F. W. Chambers, and Mr. Neil Cooper-Key, M.P., were present at the opening ceremony of the Twenty-fourth Annual Christmas Congress. After a short address, given partly in Esperanto, Mr. Neil Cooper-Key and the Mayor played the first move on a demonstration board.

The entries to the various sections of the Congress were well up to the average. In the Premier Tournament, I. König took the place of Szabo, absent—ill, while L. W. Barden, now in the R.A.F., was promoted to the Major Reserves and fully justified his promotion to such high company.

The unfortunate illness of Szabo deprived the tournament of its chief attraction. He was, apart from Paul Schmidt, the only player of present-day world-class invited to the tournament and Schmidt, after an absence of seven or eight years from competitive chess, could hardly be expected to reproduce his true form.

In König, however, the organizers invited a master whose play is always interesting and the contrast between his sound and scientific style and Rossolimo’s sound but original methods made the tournament a most interesting contest.

Their steady progress is in sharp contrast with the results achieved by Fairhurst and Wood. Once again Wood did not keep his early promise of success and, after scoring four points in six rounds, he scored one additional point only in the next three.

Fairhurst went to the other extreme. After six rounds he had the, for him, miserable score of 2 and then proceeded to win the three remaining games in great style.

Here are some interesting positions from the tournament,

After an extraordinary opening which began as an English opening and went through so many transpositions that a wag not unreasonably christened it an Anglo-Nimzo-Sicilian, the position in Diagram 1 was reached. [Fairhurst-Rossolimo]

Here Fairhurst had clearly the more promising game. He rather unnecessarily sought complications with 18 Kt—Q 5. Black could hardly risk taking the Knight for after 18 .... PxKt; 19 BPxP, Q—Q1; 20 Kt—B 6, White still has the initiative. The game went: 18 Kt—Q 5, Q—Q1; 19 KtxKtch, KtxKt; 20 P—K5, (he underestimates Black’s defensive resources and particularly the threat .... B—B4;) PxP; 21 PxP, B—B 4; 22 R—B 4, Q—Q 2; 23 Bx Kt, PxB; 24 Q— Kt4 ch, K—R1; 25 Q—R4, Q—Q1; 26 Px P, P—K4; [diagram] 27 BxB, PxR; and here White lost on time.

From round 2 we give the position shown in Diagram 2 [Tylor-Wood] in which, by clever play Tylor had a decisive advantage and had secured the gain of a piece. The sequel is an object-lesson in courage in adversity on the part of Black even though he should have lost but for a blunder by the Oxford player, which also shows that without regular tournament practice, even the most talented are likely to fail. The play went as follows: 20 P—K 4, Kt—Kt5; 21 P—B 5, R—Q6; 22 Q—Kt 2, R—Q 5; 23 Q—Kt 3, R—Q 6; 24 Q—Kt1, R—Q B 6; 25 Kt—Q 6, Bx Kt; 26 Px K B, QxP; 27 P—Q R 3, Q–Q 5 ch; 28 K—R 2, Kt—Q6; 29 PxB, KtxB; 30 PxR P ch, KxP; 31 Rx Kt, R—Q6; 32 R—Q 1, P— B5; 33 Q—B 1, R—Q 1; 34 Rx R, Px R; 35 P—Q R 4, P—Q 7; 36 Q—Q 1, (a disastrous oversight, 35 Q—Q1, followed by 36 R—Kt 1, won easily) QxR; Resigns. [sic - the final note should really be placed after 35 P—QR4]

Thomas-Wade was an interesting opening which went as follows: 1 P—K 4, P— K 4; 2 Kt—K B 3, Kt—Q B 3; 3 B—Kt 5, P—Q R 3; 4 B—R 4, Kt—B 3; 5 Castles, KtxP; 6 P—Q4, P—Q Kt 4; 7 B—Kt 3, P—Q 4; 8 PxP, B—K 3; 9 Q—K 2, P—Kt 4; a novelty which was tried recently, we believe, in the U.S.S.R., 10 P—B4, P—K Kt 5; 11 PxQP, BxP; 12 R—Q 1. Px Kt; 13 QxBP, Kt x K P; (Diagram 3). Here White played 14 Q—B 5, and after a hard battle Wade secured the draw by tenacious play. We cannot help thinking that 14 Q—K 2, was the better continuation.

In the third round Winser held his own well against Mühring and the position in Diagram 4 was reached, with its extraordinary conglomeration of major pieces round White’s Q R 1. After 26 RxR(R2), RxR; 27 Q—B 1, the game was given up as a draw but White had winning chances with 27 Q—B 7, e.g.: 27 Q—B 7, P—B 3; 28 Q—B 7 ch, K—R 2; (28 .... K—R 1; 29 QxKt ch, QxQ; 30 Kt—Kt 6 ch, and wins the ending) 29 Kt—Kt 4, Q—Q3; 30 P—K B 4, P—Q Kt 3; 31 R—Q B 1, and R—B 7, can only be provided against by 32 ...,Q—K3; 33 QxQ, KtxQ; 34 R—B 6, with a win ending for White (34 ...,P—R4; 35 KtxPch).

In Round 4 the positions shown in Diagram 5 arose between König and Fairhurst. König had the two Bishops and a passed pawn. That the great analyst’s mind is not obscured by dogma is seen here, where he exchanges one of the Bishops and gives his opponent two passed pawns: 42 ...,Q—Q2; 43 Q—Kt4, QxQ; 44 PxQ, B—B 1; 45 K—Kt 2, B—B 4; 46 Bx Kt, PxB; 47 K— B 3, B—Q 3; 48 R—R 6, B—K 4; 49 R—Kt 6, R—Q Kt 1; 50 R—K 6, B—Kt 2; 51 P—Q 6, and wins.

Round 5 brought us an exceptionally brilliant game, Rossolimo-Mühring, which we give in full. Another good ending from Round 6 by König is shown in Diagram 6. Black has Rook and two pawns against Rook and Kt, but his King is too far from the White pawns: 46 K—B 4, K—R3; (Black avoids the snare, 46 RxP; 47 K—Kt 5, RxP; 48 R—B 7 ch, K—Kt 1; 49 KxP, K—B 1; 50 Kt—K 6 ch, K—K 1; 51 K—B 6, followed by 52 R—K 7 mate) 47 R—R 8 ch, K—Kt 2; 48 R—Kt 8, RxP; 49 R—Kt 7 ch, K—B 3; 50 RxP ch, K—K2; 51 K—K5, P—K6; 52 K—B 4, K—Q 2; 53 KxP, K—B 2; 54 R—B 6 ch, K—Kt 2; 55 P—Kt 5, R—R 6 ch; 56 K—B4, R—Q 6; 57 K—K 5, R—K Kt 6; 58 R—KB 6, R—Kt 8; 59 K—Q 5, R—Kt 6; 60 K—B 5, R—B 6 ch; 61 K—Kt 4, R—Kt 6; 62 Kt—Kt 3, R—Kt 8; 63 K—B 5, Resigns.

On move 49, White had an alternative line in 49 K—Kt 5. If then 49 .... RxP; 50 R—Kt 7 ch, K—B 1; 51 K—B 6, with much the same finish as that shown in note to move 46. Black would have to play, not 49 ....RxP; but .... R—R2; and after 50 RxP, he would lose all his pawns.

In Round 6 Wade made a rather reckless advance of his K side pawns. In Diagram 7, Mühring, already a pawn up, played the powerful 25 Q—Q 6, winning more pawns and demolishing Black’s position: 25 Q—Q 6, KR—Q1; 26 BxP ch, K—Kt 1; 27 Q—B 6, KtxB; 28 Qx Kt(K 5), RxR; 29 RxR, Kt—K3; 30 R—Q 1, Resigns.

In Round 7, Tylor again lost by a bad oversight when conducting a most promising attack against Muhring, the imperturbable Dutchman.

The clou of the round was the game Wade-Fairhurst. Wade drifted into an extremely cramped position which looked quite hopeless when he gave an exhibition of quite unusual defensive powers. Try as he would, Fairhurst could not break down his opponent’s determined resistance. It is a great pity that Wade, probably tired out, sealed the wrong 86th move and lost on the 94th.

In round 8 Winser had built up a good defensive position but dissatisfied, quite unreasonably, with the many draws in his score, instead of being proud of them, he tried to win a drawn game with the usual result.

In Round 8, Wood tried an imaginative combination which brought him indeed some material advantage, but which gave Thomas chances of counter-attack. In Diagram 8, Wood had as many as three extra pawns, but Black threatens 34 ..., KtxP ch; 35 K—R3, B—K 3. In stopping this threat White overlooked a simple but attractive combination by Thomas, as follows: 34 R—K Kt 3, R—Q 1; 35 Q—Kt 6, RxKt; White resigns because of 35 QxR, Kt—K 5 ch.

In Round 9 Wade, rather late in the day, showed that he knows all about attacking technique and his results would be more in keeping with his talent if he were at times less cautious. In Diagram 9, the play went as follows: 23 .... P—Kt6; 24 PxP, PxP; 25 B—Q 3, Q—Kt 3; 26 K—R 1, RxP; 27 B—K4, R—B7; 28 Q—B 4, KtxB; 29 KtxKt, RxQKtP; 30 P—R4, R— B 5; 31 P— Kt 3, R(B5)—B7; VVhite resigned.

BCM, March 1949, p78: "THE HASTINGS CHESS TOURNAMENT (contd.)

"Two results stood out in the Premier Reserves, Major Section, the score table of which we gave last month: the most decisive victory of H. G. Rhodes, of Lancashire, who won 6 games and drew 3, finishing up with a clear lead of 2 points, and the fact that the runner-up, L. W. Barden, was promoted at the last minute from Premier B Section. It is remarkable how often that has happened lately in the case of young players. The reason may be psychological, youth being perhaps better able to produce the extra effort needed and to respond to the incentive of promotion.

"It must be conceded that the standard of play in the two top sections was rather lower than last year. A great disappointment was the poor form shown by D. M. Horne in the early rounds. He lost his first three games after which he made a great effort which just brought him into the prize list with J. B. [D. B.] Scott and A. R. B. Thomas. J. Mieses had the satisfaction of bringing off another of his famed brilliancies, this time against no less an expert than E. G. Sergeant. His total score was, of course, not what one would have expected fifty-four years ago when he played in the first Hastings tournament of 1895. He refuses, however, to blame his 84 years for it and puts his non-success down to lack of tournament practice!"

---

Midland Chess Bulletin, Vol.1 No.5, 21 January 1949: "WOOD IN HASTINGS PRIZE LIST. Rossolimo wins Premier award. As was confidently expected by all the prophets, N. Rossolimo, fresh from drawing a match with Dr. Tartakower, carried away the honours of the recent Hastings Congress. He had taken the lead in the second round and in the last three rounds draws were all he needed to coast home comfortably. Naturally we did not see him all out in these games, but his win against Mühring in the fifth round was a brilliant game which deservedly won him the special “Best Game” Prize awarded by the proprietors of the “Bulletin” and showed him to be a most gifted and very dangerous player.

"I. Konig was second, and he played very sound convincing chess throughout. He was perhaps unlucky to lose to Wood in the following interesting position which arose after Wood’s 19th move P—K Kt 4:

"Mühring played well at times, particularly in his game against Schmidt which he conducted cleverly and vigorously, running Rossolimo very close for the “Best Game” prize.

Wood’s success.

"Midlands will be pleased with the success of Mr. B. H. Wood, who tied for fourth place with the former Wolverhampton player, W. A. Fairhurst. Both played determined chess and Wood got out of some very ugly situations with commendable coolness. Fairhurst had a game with Wade which lasted to 95 moves and finally triumphed by means of some masterly manoeuvring in a position which most observers had written off as a draw.

Rhodes wins Premier Reserves.

"In the Premier Reserves, England player D. M. Horne started a strong favourite for the Major Section, but he lost his first three games in a row, whilst Lancashire’s H. G. Rhodes forged ahead carrying all before him. In the end Rhodes won the section quite comfortably, but Horne recovered his form and produced some pretty combinative games before the end. Very encouraging was the success of L. W. Barden, who finished second. Another recent product of junior chess, Barden was promoted from a lower section at the last minute and as is usual in the case of reserves these days he did well!"

"Shropshire and Cambridge University player, P. Swinnerton Dyer started like his Oxford University rival with a depressing score, but pulled up to make 4½ (50 per cent.) in Premier Reserves “A”. W. L. Wakefield, after starting well, tailed off to finish eighth in Premier Reserves “ C ” with 2½ points."

---

Croydon Times - Saturday 15 January 1949: "Spent leave playing chess. So enthusiastic is 19-year-old Leonard W Barden, of Tennison-road, South Norwood, for his hobby, chess, that he spent the whole of his ten-day leave from the R.A.F. competing in the International Chess Tournament at Hastings last week. He came second in the premier reserves tournament—major section—with 5½ points.

"Leonard has made steady progress in the chess world ever since he started playing with the Whltglft School chess club in 1940. Before he left school he captained the team three years running. At the London Chess Congress in 1946 he was the boy champion. Leonard has won many other chess competitions, both national and local.

"He won a scholarship in 1947 and hopes to go to University when he is demobilised."

---

Pairing Table for 1948/49 Hastings Nine-Round Tournaments

Pairings	1	2	3	4	5
Rd 1	1 v 2	9 v 3	8 v 4	7 v 5	10 v 6
Rd 2	3 v 1	5 v 8	4 v 9	2 v 10	6 v 7
Rd 3	1 v 4	2 v 3	9 v 5	8 v 6	10 v 7
Rd 4	5 v 1	4 v 2	6 v 9	7 v 8	3 v 10
Rd 5	1 v 6	2 v 5	3 v 4	10 v 8	9 v 7
Rd 6	7 v 1	6 v 2	5 v 3	4 v 10	8 v 9
Rd 7	1 v 8	2 v 7	3 v 6	4 v 5	10 v 9
Rd 8	9 v 1	8 v 2	7 v 3	6 v 4	5 v 10
Rd 9	1 v 10	2 v 9	3 v 8	4 v 7	5 v 6

Irish players at the 1948-49 Hastings Congress (at the Irish Chess Records & History website)

---

File Updated

Date	Notes
(some years ago)	Games previously uploaded as part of a collection of Hastings games
23 April 2022	First upload (45 Premier games, 21 from subsidiary sections) as a separate entity, with games from subsidiary sections plus crosstables and textual material from newspapers as well as the Golombek/Morry bulletin.
23 April 2022	Amendments made to two game scores: (1) König 1-0 Fairhurst (Premier rd 4); move 40 correction and added info (given in the bulletin) that Black lost on time; (2) Schmidt ½-½ Rossolimo (Premier rd 8): 25 Ra6 was played (not 25 Ra7). My thanks to Andy Ansel for drawing my attention to these.
1 June 2022	Two further games from the Premier Reserves Major added: (1) D.Horne 0-1 D.B.Scott (rd 2); (2) E.Sergeant 0-1 H.Rhodes (rd 5). Also, we now have names for the previously anonymous prize-winning game from the First Class section: it was R.J.Manfield 1-0 M.Biggs. My thanks to Brian Denman for the new scores and information.
15 December 2023	Added a a game, a part-game and a stub, all from the Premier Reserves Major section: (1) D.Horne 0-1 H.Schenk (rd 6); (2) E.Sergeant ½-½ H.Schenk (rd 1, part-game); (3) D.Horne 1-0 L.Barden, Premier Reserves Major (rd 4, stub 1st ten moves).