1969/70 "The Times" Hastings Premier, 29 December 1969 - 7 January 1970, Falaise Hall

1969/70 Hastings Premier		Title	Fed	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Lajos Portisch	g	HUN	&;	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	7
2	Wolfgang Unzicker	g	GER	½	&;	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	6½
3	Svetozar Gligoric	g	YUG	½	0	&;	½	1	1	1	1	½	½	6
4	Vassily Smyslov	g	RUS	½	½	½	&;	½	½	0	1	1	1	5½
5	Jan Timman	m	NED	½	½	0	½	&;	0	1	1	½	1	5
6	Dolfi Drimer	m	ROU	0	0	0	½	1	&;	½	0	1	1	4
7	Martyn J Corden		ENG	0	0	0	1	0	½	&;	½	1	0	3
8	Antonio Medina Garcia	m	ESP	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	&;	1	½	3
9	David N L Levy	m	SCO	0	½	½	0	½	0	0	0	&;	1	2½
10	John E Littlewood		ENG	0	½	½	0	0	0	1	½	0	&;	2½

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1969/70 Hastings Challengers, 29 December 1969 - 7 January 1970

1969/70 Hastings Challengers		FED	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	SOS
1	Peter R Markland	ENG	Turton	w23+	b12+	w16=	b4=	w13+	w9=	b2=	b8+	w7+	7	47.00
2	Ove Kinnmark	SWE	Sweden	w4=	b20+	w7+	b13=	w8=	b5=	w1=	b15+	w9+	6½	49.00
3	Michael J Franklin	ENG	London	w20=	b19+	w15+	b8=	w24+	b7-	b10=	w12+	b4+	6½	43.50
4	David Parr	ENG	Wokingham	b2=	w22+	b10+	w1=	b9=	w11+	b5+	b7=	w3-	6	51.00
5	Hans Bohm	NED	Netherlands	w25-	b28+	b6=	w29+	b23+	w2=	w4-	b18+	w10+	6	41.00
6	Edward W Formanek	USA	USA	b16-	b31+	w5=	b15-	w30=	b20+	w21+	w17+	b14+	6	37.00
7	Louis De Veauce	ENG	Pirbright	w28+	b18+	b2-	w11=	b16+	w3+	b9=	w4=	b1-	5½	49.00
8	Alan Phillips	ENG	London	b13+	w24+	b9=	w3=	b2=	w10=	b11=	w1-	w15+	5½	48.50
9	George S Botterill	WLS	Oxford Univ	w29+	b17+	w8=	b16+	w4=	b1=	w7=	b10=	b2-	5½	47.00
10	Milan Bajovic	YUG	Yugoslavia	w15=	b27+	w4-	b19+	w12+	b8=	w3=	w9=	b5-	5	47.00
11	Tamas Giorgadze	USSR	Georgia	w19=	b23=	w17+	b7=	w15+	b4-	w8=	b14-	w21+	5	43.00
12	Ralf Runau	GER	W Germany	b22=	w1-	b26+	w25+	b10-	w24+	b18+	b3-	w13=	5	42.50
13	Manfred Krause	GER	W Germany	w8-	b32+	w21+	w2=	b1-	b25-	w19+	b20+	b12=	5	42.00
14	Adrian S Hollis	ENG	Oxford Univ	w27=	b21=	w18-	b20=	b26+	w17=	b23+	w11+	w6-	5	38.50
15	Jeff Horner	ENG	Bolton	b10=	w26+	b3-	w6+	b11-	w16+	b24+	w2-	b8-	4½	46.00
16	Victor W Knox	ENG	Cheadle	w6+	b25+	b1=	w9-	w7-	b15-	b22=	w23+	b17=	4½	44.00
17	Peter W Hempson	ENG	London	w30+	w9-	b11-	b21+	w18=	b14=	w25+	b6-	w16=	4½	40.50
18	Zahiruddin Farooqui	PAK	Pakistan	w31+	w7-	b14+	w24-	b17=	b19+	w12-	w5-	b27+	4½	39.50
19	Miroslav Radojcic	YUG	Yugoslavia	b11=	w3-	b22+	w10-	b29+	w18-	b13-	w30+	b24+	4½	38.50
20	Gerald Abrahams	ENG	Liverpool	b3=	w2-	b23=	w14=	b25=	w6-	b26+	w13-	w32+	4	41.50
21	Terry C Fox	ENG	Worcester Park	b26=	w14=	b13-	w17-	b31+	w27+	b6-	w22+	b11-	4	38.50
22	Ronald F A Harman	ENG	London	w12=	b4-	w19-	w26-	b32+	b29+	w16=	b21-	w25+	4	35.50
23	(Robert) Walter L Moberly	ENG	Whiteleaf	b1-	w11=	w20=	b28+	w5-	b30+	w14-	b16-	w26=	3½	41.00
24	John W Naylor	ENG	Ilkley	w32+	b8-	w27+	b18+	b3-	b12-	w15-	b25=	w19-	3½	39.50
25	Richard Joseph Laver	USA	USA	b5+	w16-	b29=	b12-	w20=	w13+	b17-	w24=	b22-	3½	39.00
26	Pank A Hoogendoorn	NED	Netherlands	w21=	b15-	w12-	b22+	w14-	b28=	w20-	w31+	b23=	3½	35.50
27	John N Sugden	ENG	Beckenham	b14=	w10-	b24-	w31=	w28+	b21-	w30=	b32+	w18-	3½	32.00
28	(Philip) Stuart Milner-Barry	ENG	London	b7-	w5-	b32+	w23-	b27-	w26=	b31-	w29+	b30+	3½	31.00
29	Alan K May	ENG	Surbiton	b9-	b30+	w25=	b5-	w19-	w22-	w32-	b28-	b31+	2½	33.50
30	James L Harkins	USA	USA	b17-	w29-	b31=	w32+	b6=	w23-	b27=	b19-	w28-	2½	32.00
31	Peter G Moore	CAN	Heald Green	b18-	w6-	w30=	b27=	w21-	b32-	w28+	b26-	w29-	2	32.00
32	Francesco Kusterle	SWE	Sweden	b24-	w13-	w28-	b30-	w22-	w31+	b29+	w27-	b20-	2	30.50

BCM, February 1970, ppn 30-50

The Times and Hastings 45th Annual International Congress By H. GOLOMBEK

At 3.30 in the afternoon of Monday, December 29th, the Congress was opened by General Sir John Glubb, deputizing most efficiently for Denis Howell, the Minister for Sport, who, some days before the actual function, found himself prevented from coming owing to another engagement.

The Congress that Glubb Pasha opened was to prove, in many respects, one of the best I have ever witnessed. One sad aspect is that this is the last of the three which bore the full title I have given above; The Times has alas been compelled to withdraw its financial support.

Nevertheless, the competitors, all unwitting of the gathering financial clouds, played with a fire and an energy of almost unprecedented force. So-called grandmaster draws were as rarely seen in the Hastings Premier as the sun in a Manchester Test Match. The negative policy of playing so as not to lose which had so bedevilled the event two years ago was utterly absent. Partly this was due to the care with which the participants had been selected, partly it was pure luck.

This, in conjunction with a great variety of nationalities and styles (only England had as many as two representatives) resulted in some extraordinarily interesting chess. Again, there was an element of luck in the very variety. It has been the custom of recent years of the Soviet Chess Federation to send two grandmasters to the Premier Tournament. This has the laudable effect of greatly strengthening the tournament, but it does to some extent detract from the sporting element. Almost inevitably it means that the first prize-winner must come from one of these two and the only sporting consideration is usually which one of these two will succeed in winning. This time only one grandmaster was sent, leaving the issue much more open.

True, the grandmaster in question was no less a person than the former World Champion, Vassily Smyslov, the winner of the first prize in the previous year. True too that he had shown in his play in the past year, notably at the 37th Soviet Championship a month or so earlier, that he was coming back to something like the form that had won him the world title. But, to set against this, there was the strain of being favourite, of realizing that he was expected to repeat his triumph and of knowing that, if he won again, he would be doing something no one had achieved before during the institution of the Cusson Trophy. In fact, if Smyslov had won first prize he would, under the terms of the award, win the trophy outright.

A description of the course of the event will be coming from Ritson Morry so I will not attempt to anticipate this in anyway and merely, as last year, confine myself to a few comments on the players and their achievements.

The Hungarian grandmaster, Lajos Portisch, one of the members of that small group that can hold its own with the Soviet grandmasters, thoroughly deserved to win first prize. He was the only competitor who played with a consistent blend of force and brilliance throughout the event. It is always a pleasure to watch him play. His style has something original which is hard to define—perhaps one might call him a modern Charousek.

In winning second prize the West German grandmaster, Wolfgang Unzicker, never for one moment departed from the strictly classical lines of play he has laid down for himself. He started dully with a number of draws but worked himself into form as the tournament proceeded and then produced quite a number of beautiful games.

Gligoric, that gallant war-horse amongst chess-masters, was third and at one time looked like coming higher. He must have been disappointed at failing in the last round but the cheerful smile with which he resigned against Unzicker showed what a fine sportsman he is. In any case he has won first prize so often at Hastings that he can afford to miss it now and again.

Smyslov was fourth, producing on and off (notably against Levy and Medina) some games of world championship calibre. But, for reasons already advanced, he was not at the peak of his known form and this fourth prize must be reckoned as a comparative failure.

In direct contrast the fifth place of Jan Timman must be deemed an outstanding success. Incredibly, he is only seventeen years of age and yet he plays already almost with grandmaster strength. Certainly this is the strongest player the Netherlands have produced since Donner, some would say even since Dr. Euwe.

Drimer's sixth place was exactly right. His style is pleasingly direct and he plays interesting chess; but it is not deep enough for the grandmasters.

Corden and Medina tied for the next places. The eighteen-year-old Corden, promoted from the Challengers which he won last year, covered himself in glory by becoming the first English player to beat Smyslov. He is a player of the utmost promise. Medina had a curious tournament. At the end of Round 3 he was sharing the lead with 2½ points out of 3. During the remaining six rounds he added only ½ point to his score!

The Scottish international master, Levy, also tailed away as the tournament proceeded. According to his own words, he has had a little too much chess lately (can such things be?) and so was rather jaded when he came to the event. All the same, he did enough in his draws with Gligoric and Unzicker to show that his winning of the international master title at Praia da Rocha was no flash in the pan.

John Littlewood, talented though he is, seems to suffer from lack of hard international practice; but he too had draws with Unzicker and Gligoric to his credit. In fact, he should have beaten Gligoric comfortably but failed to do so through an inability to find the simple winning line, led away by his love for the colourful and the complicated.

I am back again really where I started. The colour and the excitement of this event was in the first instance due to the players and I must thank them for giving me, and all the other spectators, a veritable feast of good chess.

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PREMIER COMMENTARY, By W. Ritson Morry

Round 1—Monday, December 29th

Any fears of the pessimists that we should have a dull tournament were quickly laid to rest with the first round still in its infancy. The adoption of the Goring Gambit by Levy and Alekhine's Defence by Timman showed a spirit of enterprise which other young players could profitably emulate.

Unfortunately for Levy he chose a line recommended by Keres in Dreispringerspiel bis Konigsgambit (page 124) and quickly found that putting one's trust in princes is still inadvisable even in these modern times. This game was later awarded the special prize for the most brilliant game given by Mr. Paul H. Little of Chicago in memory of the late Mrs. Leona M. McGrew.

Corden also overplayed his hand in the early stages and was skilfully outplayed by Timman, who allowed him to create a passed Queen's Bishop's pawn only to find that the supporting Queen's pawn was untenable against a concentrated attack by minor pieces. Poor opening play also caused difficulties for Drimer who lost a centre pawn at move 11. At move 17 he had to choose between taking Portisch's Queen's pawn or Queen's Knight's pawn. The first capture would have left him a long, though uphill, fight, but the story of the Austrian nobleman who left his son a fortune provided that he never played Q x Q Kt P has never penetrated the borders of Roumania! Drimer took the Queen's Knight's pawn and found that two moves later he had either to lose his Queen for a Rook or be mated.

The draws were anything but "grandmaster" affairs. In an involved Sicilian Defence position [Littlewood] gave up a pawn at move 21 and was able thereafter to attack strongly with his pieces. Unzicker had to defend very carefully and, during the adjournment, agreed to a draw.

Despite a quiet opening which led spectators to believe that there would be an early draw, the grandmaster encounter [Smyslov -Gligoric] was stubbornly contested and was also only agreed drawn after adjournment analysis.

Round 2 —Tuesday December 30th

In this round we suffered our first taste of grandmasterly inactivity when Unzicker and Smyslov agreed to draw in the position shown in Diagram 1. In view of what was to happen to him in Round 5 one might well ask, "Could Smyslov afford to sacrifice half a point so willingly?" My own principal objection to this kind of agreement is that two such draws have just the same points value as a loss and a win and they do not help to win prizes which is what, in my rustic innocence, I assume players enter tournaments to achieve. Let the devotees of "Loss Avoidance" ponder the fact that a win for Smyslov would have ultimately enabled him to share third prize, whilst victory for Unzicker would have meant a tie for first. Moreover, either player would have gained £25 more prize money by winning the game. Neither player would have ranked lower in the prize-list by losing, but Unzicker would have lost £25 or Smyslov £12 10s. As the poet did not quite say, "One crowded hour of glorious chess is worth an age without a name" ... or perhaps the grandmasters cannot see it in such an irresponsible and cavalier spirit!

In refreshing contrast was the hard slog of the Levy-Gligoric draw. Throughout the first session Levy tried hard to win and after the position turned against him.

Drimer atoned for his weak play in Round 1 with a good win against Timman. Another interesting game was the Medina-Corden encounter which the late A. J. Mackenzie would undoubtedly have described as "very chessy" throughout, thrust and counter thrust balancing each other until the draw was forced upon Corden, who apparently shares with the late Dr. Alekhine a dislike of being mated!

Portisch retained his 100 per cent record and took the lead alone with another win as Black. Littlewood appeared to come quite well out of the opening but lost a pawn later and was gradually reduced to submission by the customary processes.

Round 3—Wednesday, December 31st

Another grandmaster draw came early in this round. This time Portisch gave up the effort to win at move 21 after failing to gain any opening advantage [against Timman]. Nevertheless there was plenty of interest in the round as a whole.

Littlewood, much below his best form, tried for too much too early and had a completely hopeless position by move 23 when he resigned only a pawn down but with much worse to follow.

Levy showed that he was not discouraged by his first round defeat, for he again essayed his gambit line and soon had Unzicker looking worried. The German found an improvement on known lines and held on until the adjournment when Levy decided to take the forced draw by perpetual check which was available.

Corden also tried a gambit, but with less success. He never recovered the pawn he had sacrificed and was steadily outplayed by Gligoric. Medina joined Portisch in the lead by overwhelming Drimer who had been displaying nothing like the form he has produced in previous visits to England.

Round 4—Thursday, January 1st

Hard fighting was the universal pattern in this round, for not a single game was drawn. Smyslov's game with Levy was one of the best of the tournament. His clever play to gain space and exploit the position of Black's Queen's Bishop was a joy to watch and extremely instructive for the student of strategy and tactics. Levy was in a virtual Zugzwang for many moves before he finally resigned.

Littlewood's game [vs Timman] was a personal tragedy for him, for he had rosy winning prospects for most of the game, despite missing two decisive lines, but a blunder at move 37, whilst in time-trouble, was the final cause of his downfall.

Unzicker had to work hard for victory. Although he gained two pieces and pawn for a Rook, he encountered a long resistance from Corden. At the end of the second session Unzicker even disclosed his sealed move in the hope of encouraging resignation, but only after 24 hours' consideration did this ploy prove successful.

Gligoric and Drimer took us back a generation or two by playing the once popular Rubinstein Variation. Despite simplification, Gligoric established a winning ending which only required technique which he applied with deadly accuracy.

Another most impressive game was Portisch's win against Medina which removed the Spaniard from the lead and started him on a disastrous run in which he scored only another 5 point in six rounds, a cleverly constructed positional advantage was consummated with a crushing combination.

Round 5—Saturday, January 3rd

Littlewood never gave himself a real chance. He gave up a piece quite unsoundly in the opening and all his attempts to complicate thereafter were carefully refuted. In the end Levy gave up his Queen to take all the fire out of the counter-attack and Littlewood resigned when his Queen (for which he had lost two Rooks, Bishop, and Knight) had to be lost or a mate inflicted.

This was a wonderful round for the many spectators who had come from London and other places. Cold as it was outside, the heat was soon turned on by the players and the appearance of a Scotch Gambit and a Breyer Gambit quickly attracted interest. Towards the end of the session the big sensation unexpectedly developed and the visitors basked in the sunshine of a British victory over the ex-World Champion.

Drimer's choice of the Breyer Gambit was hardly more fortunate. He followed a game Spielmann-Grünfeld, Baden-Baden, 1925 (which was drawn) for the ten moves given by Keres with an assessment that it is good for Black, and in another six it no longer needed an expert of the eminence of Keres to discover that Black was winning. Nine moves later Unzicker had given a most entertaining mate.

The game which attracted the most attention for most of the afternoon was that between the leaders, Portisch and Gligoric. Throughout its length it was a stern battle and at one stage Gligoric appeared to be gaining the upper hand.

Timman also won with a bright and imaginative attack against Medina.

As the time-scramble approached the Corden-Smyslov game,which had seemed likely to be the most sedate of the round suddenly developed complications, as Smyslov miscalculated. Corden was desperately short of time, but he showed great presence of mind and executed the winning attack in fine style. At the adjournment it was clear that the grandmaster must lose, but we had to wait for some time in the second session before he acknowledged defeat. It was one of the great moments of Hastings and the subsequent spate of press and radio publicity must have done immense good both to Hastings and to the cause of British chess in general. For several days I was continually answering phone calls from such unexpected sources as Italian Television and "Voice of America" not to mention the more predictable enquiries from London newspapers and home and foreign services of the B.B.C. It was well that I had an able deputy to keep the routine work of the Congress running smoothly!

Round 6—Sunday, January 4th

After the excitement of Saturday, we naturally had to expect a rather quieter day on Sunday, but there proved to be plenty of interest despite the early conclusion of the Littlewood—Medina game, which was the shortest encounter of the tournament and the last of the very few grandmaster draws.

The great question was how would Smyslov, now a point behind the leader, Portisch, react to his disappointment of the day before. A Lasker would have come back even more grimly determined than usual, thirsting for blood and dangerous as a wounded tiger. An Alekhine, in his heyday, would have been a no less ugly customer at such times. Even Botvinnik, passing his prime and beaten in Round 3 by Keene in 1967, had come back to take first place by a clear point in front of Uhlmann. Could Smyslov emulate his great predecessors in the role of champions, we asked? The answer we received was not very reassuring. He obtained a good position from the opening with attacking prospects and it seemed that the fight was reaching a climax— [Here] the spectators were busily predicting that the ex-Champion would win with 21 B—B 5, which certainly looks very promising, but he tried [a different move and drew] With this same result it became clear that any danger that the Cussons Trophy might be going to Russia this year had been almost completely averted.

Meanwhile the leader was not having it all his own way against Unzicker. ... This draw allowed Gligoric to draw level with Portisch by winning a well-played game against Timman and this left Smyslov lying in fourth position still a clear point behind the joint leaders.

The game between the two young British players was well contested throughout. Levy appeared to be gaining an advantage when the position on Diagram 6 arose. Corden continued calmly... and the first session ended with the experts predicting a draw as the likely outcome. [Corden won - JS]

Round 7—Monday, January 5th

The tournament took another interesting turn in this round when Portisch had to take a draw by repetition of moves against Smyslov and was deprived of the lead by Gligoric, who won an ending against Medina which gained him the special prize for the best played ending.

The remaining games of the round were full of fighting chess. Drimer and Levy castled on opposite sides and attacked each other's Kings vigorously. Levy sacrificed the exchange, but it was soon clear that Drimer's attack was making the greater impression. After returning the exchange Drimer eventually won a piece for two pawns and finished the game by forcing Levy's King into the open.

Littlewood played his best game of the tournament. He developed a counter-attack which gained two pawns, but Corden had many ingenious resources and the pressure eventually caused Littlewood to return them. In doing so he created the opportunity for a clever Rook-sacrifice which exposed Corden's apparently securely defended King and led to its being hunted to its death all the way from the King's-Rook's file to the Queen's-Rook's file.

The young Dutch player, Timman, despite his mere seventeen years plays with a great maturity of style and his determined play against Unzicker was a good example of his fighting spirit.

Round 8—Tuesday, January 6th

The tournament was virtually decided in this round, for Gligoric with the chance to maintain his clear lead played badly against Littlewood and should have lost. Fortunately for him, Littlewood relaxed and had to be content with a draw. The position in Diagram 7 looks good for White, who is a clear pawn ahead with a perfectly developed game. Most players would have fancied their chances to win it against any opposition, but it drifted into a draw within a few moves.

Unzicker had an easy win against Medina who seemed quite demoralized after his run of ill fortune, but Corden was fortunate to find Drimer in generous mood. [drawn]

Levy found Portisch in no mood to give anything away and was steadily outplayed all through the session which ended with Portisch sharing the lead with Gligoric.

Smyslov worked hard to find some chances in his game with Timman, but was well held.

Round 9—Wednesday, January 7th

Littlewood suffered an early disaster in this round in a game [vs Drimer] which did not affect the prize list and only five pounds consolation money and the possibility of winning a best game award were at stake. He lost a piece in the opening and was never given a chance to recover.

All the other games in this round had a bearing on the prize list. Portisch, Unzicker, and Gligorid still had a chance to take first prize outright, so that short draws were of little interest to any of them. Smyslov could do no more than tie for third, but, if he drew and Timman won, he would easily take fifth prize. It was a situation reminiscent of the last round of the six-master tournament in 1922 when the Mayoress of Hastings had to wait for many hours before she could present the prizes owing to a long game between Rubinstein and Sir George Thomas. This time we had more playing time in which to avoid such a contingency, but the prospect of an all-night vigil was not at all remote.

Portisch, at any rate showed no wish to keep us out of bed. He set about Corden with a will and won well inside the first session.

Meanwhile Smyslov also rose to the occasion by dealing drastically with Medina. He subsequently expressed the view that this was his best game of the tournament.

Timman had a long hard game with Levy and was thought to have the advantage at the adjournment, but the Scottish player's dour defence made it certain that Smyslov would take the fourth prize outright.

Much interest had been concentrated on the struggle between Gligoric and Unzicker. At first it seemed to be going well for Gligoric, but he conceded the pawn-majority on the Queen's side in return for chances in the centre, and eventually Unzicker, after relinquishing a pawn, obtained a supported passed pawn on his Q B6 which proved to strong to hold. Although clearly losing at the adjournment, Gligoric fought tenaciously until after midnight. It was not quite the last game to finish; that honour fell, as is now customary, to the Challengers Tourney where Parr and Franklin were still hard at work.

This was a climax to one of the most entertaining tournaments I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Throughout the play had been of high quality and there were very few bad or dull games. This was, in no small measure, due to the careful choice of players by the Committee which was at great pains to prevent any likelihood of the fiasco of two years ago recurring. Their judgment did them credit and deserves the gratitude of the chess public. More tournaments of this kind would do much for the improvement of British chess.

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THE CHALLENGERS' TOURNAMENT By G. S. Botterill

Nobody could deny that the Challengers this year was an exceptionally strong tournament. Nineteen of the competitors were home players, thirteen visitors from abroad. The most formidable of the visitors appeared to be T. Georgadze, the Soviet Junior Champion, who had played most impressively at the Students' Olympiad in Dresden. Other notable members of the foreign contingent were Kinnmark (Sweden), Bohm (Holland), Formanek (U.S.A.), Runau (West Germany), and Farooqi (Pakistan). But with such players as Franklin, who in recent years has been making a habit of coming second here, Adrian Hollis, Knox, and Parr there was little danger of the home challenge being swamped.

Round 1 - 29 December 1969

Franklin should certainly have scored the whole point [against Abrahams] since he won three minor pieces for a rook and three pawns. Georgadze, however, made no impression at all on Radoicic. Here are some of the more interesting games of the round— [see download]

Round 2 - 30 December 1969

An excellent day for Black. It was amazing that Franklin's opening should allow him to generate such a rapidly decisive attack upon the King's side. Perhaps Radoicic had only reckoned on 18...Bxh4 19 Qg7, winning the exchange. Markland scored a fine win against Runau. Hempson must have regretted his 20th move [v Botterill], so often the ruin of a King's side. There was no sign of any challenge for Georgadze yet. In fact he lost his Queen for two minor pieces against Moberly and was lucky to escape with a draw.

Round 3 - 31 December 1969

So now nobody had a clear score. Markland and Knox had a very steady draw, the equilibrium never being disturbed. Phillips, however, won a pawn against Botterill. But then, having run into some trouble on the board and much greater trouble on the clock, offered a draw which was accepted by his opponent on an objective assessment of the position. Bojovic lost in ridiculous fashion: with a winning position on the Queen's side he disdained all precautions on the other wing and was deservedly mated.

Kinnmark completely outplayed de Veauce in the following game [see download]

Round 4 - 1 January 1970

This round was followed by the rest day, so that for two days at least the tournament had a sole leader. Botterill provoked a sharp struggle by adopting the Polugaievsky Variation of the Najdorf. Knox missed his chances and was lost.

Parr tried long and hard against Markland despite opening with a symmetrical variation of the English generally considered dead drawn. Markland lost a pawn, but had no great difficulty in holding a queen and pawn ending with pawns only on one side of the board.

Round 5 - 3 January 1970

After 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 O-O 6 Be3 e5 7 d5 c6 8 Bd3 cxd5 9 cxd5 Na6 10 Nge2 Bd7 11 O-O Ne8, Botterill got a plus out of the opening with 12 Qb1! - a much stronger move than the routine 12 Qd2. However, Parr defended resolutely and earned the half point. Thus Franklin and Markland were able to take a share in the lead. Franklin met with only feeble resistance, whilst Markland dealt very severely with Krause.

After 40 moves Kinnmark and Phillips agreed the draw without so much as a pawn having been exchanged. It was a game of manoeuvre without contact. Yet it is easy to underestimate the value of such a game. There may be little action on the board, but the players' heads are swimming with "possibilities." Meanwhile, Georgadze, who had had much the worse of the draw against de Veauce in the previous round, came into the picture with a methodical positional victory.

Round 6 - 4 January 1970

Markland always had some pressure against Botterill, but was unable to prevent Black liquidating into a drawn Rook and pawn ending. Parr checked Georgadze's challenge in spectacular style. De Veauce's victory over Franklin was a magnificent effort sustained through three sessions. One may more fully appreciate the excellence of de Veauce's tactical play when one realizes that between moves 25 and 40 he was in great time-trouble.

It was not surprising that May's draughty King position proved fatal, but the manner in which Harman exploited this [was] rather striking.

Round 7 - 5 January 1970

So Parr broke out of the four-way tie into a clear lead. However, he was extremely fortunate to do so, as an excess of ambition had compromised his game until ... he was quite lost. ... Bohm made the biggest blunder of the tournament. ... Of course he was in some time-trouble—but not that much!

Botterill and de Veauce had a chaotic scramble in which the resources available in the position were regarded, at least by White, not without admiration and astonishment—to borrow a phrase from Descartes.

Round 8 - 6 January 1970

For a long time it seemed as if Parr must win, but de Veauce saved himself with a neat tactical resource in spite of his customarily acute time-trouble. Phillips went astray in one of Markland's pet variations and was treated mercilessly.

There could be no better time to produce such a powerful game. Markland was now in a strong position, since Parr would have to play Franklin in the last round and Franklin is a redoubtable last-round fighter. Meanwhile Formanek continued the string of victories which carried him high up the tournament table, and Georgadze . . . seemed rather disinterested. Botterill, on a surfeit of draws, tried hard to beat Bojovic in an inferior ending. But the Yugoslav only wanted a draw and that was what he got.

Round 9 - 7 January 1970

Franklin had been playing at midnight the last two years. He was playing at midnight again. He and Parr had a tremendous struggle, although it was by no means a flawless game as Parr blundered away a pawn in a position in which he had quite good chances. After that Franklin should have won much more rapidly than he did. Still, it was an achievement of great determination.

By the time that Parr had lost his chances of a win, Markland had already scored the full point. The pattern of de Veauce's games in the last few rounds had been inferior opening play redeemed by tactical virtuosity under time-pressure. Now he got a good opening and the pattern was reversed. However, one can forgive Markland this piece of good fortune for his performance owed nothing to luck. In fact I would say that he never had a losing position in any of his games.

Kinnmark and Botterill were intent upon a decisive result. This was achieved when Black committed himself to a wrong combination. Thus he suffered his first loss and dropped right out of the prize list.

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THE GENERAL CONGRESS

By W. Ritson Morry

The remodelling process started last year evidently met with general approval, for despite the influenza epidemic, there was a fall of only eight from last year's figure of 229 and six of these were last minute withdrawals from the New Year Special "B."

This time it was decided to make the Challengers' Reserves an afternoon event with the same time-limit and playing hours as the Challengers' Tournament for which it is a qualifying event. It was also decided to abolish afternoon sections in the Main and Open tournaments, and, whilst this may have displeased a few regular customers, it certainly improved the organization and presentation of the congress.

The entry for the Challengers' Reserves was very strong and certainly justified its increased stature. It seemed for most of the time that it would result in a convincing victory for the Warwickshire Champion, Peter Griffiths, whose demotion from the Challengers despite his sweeping success in the Major Open at Rhyl was somewhat surprising, but after reaching the last round assured of at least equal first place he was soundly beaten by M. Stean, the British Under-sixteen Champion, who thus equalled him on points and scored a superior Sonneborn-Berger count. Fortunately for Griffiths, the other first prizewinner, D. G. Ellison, scored only 33j S-B points to his 33J and Griffiths will accompany Stein into next year's Challengers' Tournament. If any further evidence be needed of the value of this Reserves Section, one need only point to the fact that this year's winner of the Challengers, P. R. Markland, was the runner-up in last year's Reserves.

The following is a summary of results of the General Congress (names in bold type indicate the prizewinners)—

Challengers Reserves: (1-3) Michael F Stean (Kew), Peter C Griffiths (Solihull), D George Ellison 6½/9; (4) David M Adams (Nuneaton) 6; (5-10) Ivor A Friedlander (Westcliffe), Hon. Julian A Hardinge (London), Richard C Lemon (Sheffield), Alan T Ludgate, Abraham C van der Tak, Sean Thrower (Leeds Univ) 5½; (11-13) Paul Hershman, David J Masters, Svend Ove van Seelen (Denmark) 5; (14-18) Ruth V Cardoso, Heinrich Jühe (West Germany), Harry Lamb (Bolton), Keith Maudsley (Burnley), S Zeuthen 4½; (19-21) F N Barnett, Percy B Cook (London), Richard Hughes-Hallett 4; (22-26) Gerald H Bennett (Bournemouth), Dinah M Dobson (London), Lewis Johnstone Mills (Bromborough), Andrew P Sombor (Sutton Coldfield), Alan G Trangmar 3½; (27) Dr. Gerald S Katz 3; (28-29) Paul E O Durrant (New Malden), Martin H Hawley (London) 2½; (30) J Berglund (Sweden) 1½.

Main A: (1) Brian L McCague 6½/9; (2-4) Joseph Andrew Flood, Paul F Habershon, Alan H Prizant 6; (5-7) P Bond, Richard W O'Brien, Brian F O'Sullivan 5½; (8-9) Dr. Reinhard Cherubim, Roland A Gronau 5; (10-13) Michael Brown, Nigel W Dennis, John B Goodman, Eileen B Tranmer 4½; (14-17) Raymond M Ellison, R E Evans (Blacon, Chester), John A Felton, Duncan W Reed 4; (18) Leslie E Vine (Eastleigh) 3; (19) Alfred Milner 2.

Main B: (1) Sydney Ross Capsey (Harrow) 6½/9; (2-3) Robin J A Bavin, Walter R Rayner (Surrey) 6; (4-5) Olive Richards (Harrow), J C G Wood 5½; (6-7) Ronald E Rushbrook, Graham Varty (Loughborough) 5; (8-11) C J Jowett, A Niedra, Truman V Parrott, D J Towers 4½; (12-13) E Chambers (St Leonards), J W Prosser (Newcastle) 4; (14-16) K R Claudius (Mayfield), D T Fairbank (Warley), J Johnson (Liverpool) 3½; (17) J A Yeo 3; (18) D B Huggins 2.

Open: (1-2) R L Baker, Lucien P Mouillaux 7/9; (2) P F Dyson 6; (3) W Latey 5½; (4-8) E C Baker, B Bartle, P A Bond, S W Ruthen, C Sottocasa 5; (9-10) W Oliver, J Sottocasa 4½; (11) M A Marshall 4; (12-13) S Blewitt, P O'Connor 3½; (14-15) W E Busbridge, P Wills 3; (16) Lady Herbert 2½; (17) Miss E Whyte 2.

Christmas Special A: (1) N Anthony Perkins 4½/5; (2) Malcolm Firth 4; (3) Stewart Reuben 3½; (4-6) A Sottocasa, A Wallenberg, W Arthur Winser 3; (7-10) Mike J Conroy, Charles Ambrose Scott Damant, John M Ripley, Robert P Ross 2½; (11-12) Michael P Cook, A Torn 2; (13-14) H Beattie, R J Nash 1½; (15-16) Dr. Helmut Lachmann, H Olsen 1.

Christmas Special B: (1-2) H Trevor Jones, Leigh A Trangmar 4/5; (3-5) J W Dick, A Doelman, R A Oxenham 3½; (6) Walter James E Yeeles 3; (7-9) John G Collins (Nottingham), Peter Hannan, Ewart J Smith 2½; (10-13) C W Bryan, Melvin N Sutton, John F Turnock, D A R Vallat 2; (14) K H Staines 1½; (15) P R Rooke 1; (16) J G Wright ½.

Christmas Special C: (1) Rev. Peter Robert Kings 5/5; (2) E Houghton 4; (3) H Moberg (Sweden) 3½; (4-6) D A Burrows (St Helens), Christopher F Randell (Leicester), C M Read (Lincoln) 3; (7-9) A Larssen, R Quaye (London), C Richards 2½; (10-13) E H Goodwin, J Hobden, D Judge (Upminster), J W Scanlan 2; (14-15) R T Berry, G G Birch 1½; (16) D N Harrison 0.

Christmas Special D: (1) K Berg 5/5; (2-3) H Rawcliffe, Mrs S Roper 3½; (4-7) N Brat, I B Collins, H G Crews, R Glew 3; (8-10) P A Baldwin (London), B Morris, H A Thurgood 2½; (11-13) I Baker, C Conboy (London), J T Hodgkinson 2; (14) G Burnett (Worcester) 1½; (15) E Peck 1;(16) A Towner 0.

Christmas Special E: (1-3) John R C Cotterill, Martin J Cowley (London), P W D Mack 4/5; (4) P Hann 3½; (5-6) E Stone, C Woods 3; (7-10) D E Begarnie, A C Finney (Stoke-on-Trent), C Hann, Eric Leyns (Bishops Stortford) 2½; (11-13) J Halliwell, I New, E Newham 2; (14) F N Copping 1½; (15) Miss Elsie Grace Coulson 1; (16) A Hills 0.

New Year Special A: (1) A Sottocasa 5½/6; (2) Norman H S Lavers 4½; (3) D A Watt 4; (4) Ian W Cordon 3½; (5-9) A Gray, Graham Russell Mitchell, J Rushton, Stephen J Taylor, W Arthur Winser 3; (10-15) A B Bamford, Charles A S Damant, J E Kuiken, R A Oxenham, Robert P Ross, B A Fewell 2½; (16) Jack Alfred Spiegel ½.

New Year Special B: (1) C M Cornforth (Chester) 5/6; (2) F A Winter 4½; (3) E Mitchell 4; (4-5) V S J Litvin, J Rethi 3½; (6) C L E Katona 3; (7-8) G Burnett (Worcester), D Judge 2½; (9) J W Hatton (Battle) 1½; (10) Miss Elsie Grace Coulson 0.

There were five prizes in the Challengers' Reserves, Main, and Open Tournaments, four in the Christmas Specials and New Year "A," and three in the New Year "B."

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CHESS, February 1970, Vol.35/597-8, p158

Taking over from the ebullient Frank Rhoden as chief organiser, L. A. J. Glyde made a huge success of Hastings this year, securing a record overall entry of 244 from 16 countries, and assembling a Premier tournament which produced, not entirely fortuitously, the most interesting play for years. Not fortuitously, because the players invited were fighters.

Harry Golombek waxed lyrical. "One of the most successful Premier Tournaments I have ever witnessed . . . for the quality of chess played . . . the drama and tension of the swaying struggle . . . above all, for the fighting spirit that pervaded and inspired the players from the top to the bottom of the list. . . perfect tournament chess . . . games full of radiant colour."

Of the 45 games, only 16 were drawn (only 35%) and half these were great scraps.

Smyslov failed to register the second successive win which would have secured him the Cussons golden knight trophy outright. The burden of the task bore heavily on him and his defeat by Corden affected him for several rounds. In the last round, however, he won brilliantly.

Toscorefive points on his first appearance in a Hastings Premier at the age of 17 was Jan Timman's remarkable feat. More like a "hippy" than a chess master in appearance . . . When Littlewood, short of time, forgot to press his clock, Timman unobtrusively pressed it for him. How many masters would ?

Gligoric, five times winner or co-winner of the event, was always in or close to the lead until, after winning a good pawn, he crashed to Unzicker in the last round to drop from first place to third.

Unzicker started with 3 draws, then scored 5 out of 6. Medina scored 2½ from his first 3 games, a solitary half-point from his last 6!

Influenza has sorely troubled some Hastings congresses. This one, starting at the height of an epidemic, hardly suffered, though Corden arrived feeling rather bad.

Interesting special prizes were inaugurated this year. Golombek, judging Premier games, gave Medina the brilliancy prize for his win against Levy; the best-played ending, he thought, was Gligoric's against Medina and the best-played draw Portisch v Gligoric.

The Challengers' tournament had as many changes in leadership as the Premier. Knox, Botterill, Phillips, Franklin, Kinmark, de Veauce and Markland all took the lead in turn, Markland pulling out at the finish to give Bolton, that great centre of modern chess, its second win in successive years. Franklin's second place, as last year, was a less happy repeat performance.

Here Barden split the brilliancy prize between Parr (v Georgadze) and Franklin (v Radoicic) and considered the best-played ending de Veauce's against Franklin. We shall give these three games next time.

The Challengers' Reserves Tournament ended in a tie with M. Stean (Kew), P. C. Griffiths (Solihull) and D. G. Ellison (Poulton-le-Fylde) all on 6½. Stean placed first on Sonneborn-Berger.

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Post-Hastings Simuls

BCM, March 1970, ppn 65-66 (supplemented with details of dates, sourced elsewhere)

Simultaneous Displays.—As has become customary the British Chess Federation organized a nationwide simultaneous tour from January 8th to the 24th in which took part three grandmasters who had just competed in the Premier at Hastings. The results were as follows—

V. Smyslov (U.S.S.R.): Coventry 48 (+35, =11,-2 on 10th January); Middlesbrough 52 (+41, =11); Kynoch (Birmingham) 34 (+29, =5 on 12th January); Bridgend 32 (+26, =5, —1); Perkins 38 (+27, =10, —1) and Ilford 22 (+15, =6, —1).

L. Portisch (Hungary): Newport 17 (+14, =3); Exeter 25 (+20, =5); Birmingham University 22 (+16, =6); Liverpool 28 (+12, =14, —2); Middlesex C.A. 26 (+18, =6, —2); Spalding 30 (+25, =5); Sunderland 25 (+24, =1); Gravesend and National Correspondence C.A. 31 ( + 27, =3, —1); Oxford University 30 (+18, =9, —3).

S. Gligoric (Yugoslavia): Knotty Ash 21 (+19, =1, —1); Dundee 22 (+18, =4); Glasgow 24 (+16, =6, —2); Edinburgh 15 (+12, =3) and Kent University 19 (+16, =2, —1). At Glasgow Gligoric gave also a Lecture Demonstration.

Here are details of the Coventry simul given by Smyslov on 10 January 1970 at the Morris Motors Social Club, Coventry.

Smyslov played 48 games, won 35, drew and lost 2.

Smyslov lost to Clifford J Shaw (Centre Club: see game below) and R Barnes (Dunlop Club). He drew with 11 players: M Avon, D Cheshire, R Holland (University); G L Porter and C Spracklen (Centre); I M C Bell and S Wallace (Dunlop); J Murray (Bell Green), C Powell (Holbrooks); C Green (Nuneaton); and T V O'Carroll (Self-Changing Gears).

The following game appeared in the Coventry Evening Telegraph, 17 January 1970, annotated by John A Fuller.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
1997	66 Premier games previously uploaded as part of a collection of Hastings games in zipped PGN format.
5 June 2025	Uploaded in current format, with crosstables, 34+4 games/part-games from the Challengers and Challengers Reserves.
6 June 2025	Two further Challengers games added: (1) G Abrahams 0-1 O Kinnmark (rd 2); (2) P Hoogendoorn 0-1 R Runau (rd 3). Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm for sending me the game scores. Note that I have also amended the score of M Radojcic 0-1 M Franklin to show the correct final move (24...Rxh2+, not 24...Rxg2).
7 June 2025	Amendment applied to the score of Timman-Drimer (Premier, rd 2); though the primary source gives 33...B-R3 (Bh6) it is improbable that Black would have left the e5 pawn hanging on subsequent moves, so I have amended to 33...Bf6. Many thanks to Andy Ansel for drawing my attention to this.