1999/2000 (75th) Hastings Congress, 29 December 1999 – 12 January 2000

1999/2000 Hastings Premier, 4-12 January, Cinque Ports Hotel

1999/2000 Hastings Premier		Fed	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2597g	&;	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	½	6½
2	Alexey Dreev	RUS	2680g	½	&;	½	½	1	0	1	1	1	½	6
3	Jonathan Speelman	ENG	2604g	½	½	&;	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	6
4	Klaus Bischoff	GER	2544g	0	½	½	&;	1	0	½	1	½	1	5
5	John M Emms	ENG	2546g	0	0	½	0	&;	1	½	½	1	1	4½
6	Luke J McShane	ENG	2438m	½	1	0	1	0	&;	½	½	½	0	4
7	Bogdan Lalic	ENG	2548g	½	0	0	½	½	½	&;	0	½	1	3½
8	Murray Chandler	ENG	2527g	0	0	½	0	½	½	1	&;	½	½	3½
9	Ivan Sokolov	BIH	2637g	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	&;	1	3½
10	Irina Krush	USA	2399wm	½	½	0	0	0	1	0	½	0	&;	2½

Average Elo: 2552, Category 13, GM norm = 5

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1999/2000 Hastings Challengers, 29 December 1999 - 6 January 2000, Hastings YMCA

1999/2000 Hastings Challengers		Fed	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
1	Sergei Beshukov	RUS	2506g	b57=	w74+	b30+	w45+	b5=	w16=	b13+	w10+	w2=	7
2	H James Plaskett	ENG	2513g	b39+	w17=	b45=	w32+	b25=	w9+	b16+	w5+	b1=	7
3	Mark L Hebden	ENG	2510g	w42+	b16-	w37+	b15-	w52+	b36+	w31+	b18=	w8+	6½
4	Semon Palatnik	USA	2490g	w73-	b29+	w19+	b31+	w27+	b10=	w5=	b7=	w18+	6½
5	Nicholas Pert	ENG	2425m	b58+	w6+	b17+	b8=	w1=	w12+	b4=	b2-	w13+	6½
6	Sergey Zagrebelny	UZB	2521g	w15+	b5-	w44+	b36+	w28+	b8=	w10-	b12+	w16+	6½
7	Babakuli Annakov	TKM	2600g	b27+	w28-	b32+	w26+	b9=	w25+	b8=	w4=	b10=	6
8	Keith C Arkell	ENG	2462g	b59+	w9+	b12+	w5=	b13=	w6=	w7=	b24+	b3-	6
9	Simon J B Knott	ENG	2348f	w50+	b8-	w29+	b38+	w7=	b2-	w14+	b15=	w19+	6
10	Neil R McDonald	ENG	2429g	b23+	w53+	b28=	w39+	b16=	w4=	b6+	b1-	w7=	6
11	Andrew A Webster	ENG	2427m	b26=	def-	w63-	b64+	w43+	b29+	bye=	w44+	b25+	6
12	Inon Boim	ISR	2424f	w46+	b14+	w8-	b52+	w15=	b5-	w35+	w6-	b40+	5½
13	Alexander Cherniaev	RUS	2432m	w20+	b73+	w16-	b44+	w8=	b15+	w1-	b26+	b5-	5½
14	Vladimir Chtivelband	RUS	2219	bye=	w12-	b57=	w69=	b48+	w38+	b9-	w49+	b27+	5½
15	Carsten Gottschlich	GER	2246	b6-	w67+	b21+	w3+	b12=	w13-	b32+	w9=	b17=	5½
16	Brian R Kelly	IRL	2417m	b47+	w3+	b13+	w28=	w10=	b1=	w2-	b22+	b6-	5½
17	Petr Marusenko	UKR	2406m	w31+	b2=	w5-	b65+	w42=	b19=	w22=	b36+	w15=	5½
18	Gozewijn Van Laatum	NED	2361f	b53-	w40+	b52=	w60+	b45+	w26=	b44+	w3=	b4-	5½
19	Matthew P Broomfield	ENG	2164	b49-	w66+	b4-	w75+	b56+	w17=	b25=	w39+	b9-	5
20	Martin Owen Costley	ENG	2226	b13-	w45-	bye=	w70+	b69+	w40-	b38=	w57+	b44+	5
21	Chetan Deva	ENG	2127	w75+	b42-	w15-	b37+	w31-	b66+	w50+	b28=	w26=	5
22	Nigel P Donovan	ENG	2169	b25=	w33=	b67=	w51=	w49=	b68+	b17=	w16-	w43+	5
23	Andreas Moen	NOR	2235	w10-	b44-	w66-	b47+	w34+	b41-	w65+	b63+	w48+	5
24	Richard G Pert	ENG	2308	b30=	w52=	b26=	w67+	b32-	w60+	b40+	w8-	b28=	5
25	Frank Prescha	GER	2303	w22=	b37=	w55+	b49+	w2=	b7-	w19=	b31+	w11-	5
26	Francis Rayner	WLS	2218	w11=	b64+	w24=	b7-	w68+	b18=	w28+	w13-	b21=	5
27	Bert Van der Linden	NED	2290	w7-	b69+	w41+	b54+	b4-	w32=	b30=	w37+	w14-	5
28	Simon K Williams	ENG	2421m	w35+	b7+	w10=	b16=	b6-	w30+	b26-	w21=	w24=	5
29	Richard J A Almond	ENG	2138	b66+	w4-	b9-	w34+	b39=	w11-	bye=	w54+	b47=	4½
30	Bernard Cafferty	ENG	2197f	w24=	b43+	w1-	bye=	b63+	b28-	w27=	b41=	w33=	4½
31	Andrew J C Hammond	ENG	2212	b17-	w57+	b33+	w4-	b21+	w53+	b3-	w25-	b38=	4½
32	Helmut Haselhorst	GER	2161	w48+	b61+	w7-	b2-	w24+	b27=	w15-	b35=	w36=	4½
33	(James) Nick Hawkins	ENG		w68=	b22=	w31-	b50-	b75+	w63=	b60=	w52+	b30=	4½
34	Tim Hebbes	ENG	(2125)	w37-	b60=	w50=	b29-	b23-	w61+	b56=	w64+	w55+	4½
35	Stefan Hirsch	GER	2215	b28-	w56+	b49-	w61+	b40=	w45+	b12-	w32=	b37=	4½
36	Ingo Lentze	GER	2247	b74-	w49+	b40+	w6-	b51+	w3-	b57+	w17-	b32=	4½
37	Frank Parr	ENG	2123	b34+	w25=	b3-	w21-	b72+	w39=	w42+	b27-	w35=	4½
38	Roy Royce	ENG	2115	w65=	b50=	w73+	w9-	b59=	b14-	w20=	b60+	w31=	4½
39	Hans Gerd Schmedders	GER	2249	w2-	b55+	w69+	b10-	w29=	b37=	w52+	b19-	w41=	4½
40	Lawrence Trent	ENG	2139	w41+	b18-	w36-	b66+	w35=	b20+	w24-	b46+	w12-	4½
41	Mark A Whitehead	ENG	2054	b40-	w70+	b27-	w56=	b58=	w23+	b45=	w30=	b39=	4½
42	Torbjorn Hansen	NOR	2259	b3-	w21+	b51=	w72+	b17=	w44-	b37-	w47=	b49=	4
43	Jan Krensing	GER		b56=	w30-	b59-	w62+	b11-	w67=	b66+	w53+	b22-	4
44	Fabian Kroeger	GER	2160	b61+	w23+	b6-	w13-	b54+	b42+	w18-	b11-	w20-	4
45	Gavin R Lock	ENG	2103	w54+	b20+	w2=	b1-	w18-	b35-	w41=	b50=	w46=	4
46	Jeremy F S Menadue	ENG	2216	b12-	w51=	b75=	w48=	b67+	w57=	b49=	w40-	b45=	4
47	Peter J Mercs	ENG	2123	w16-	b54-	w68-	w23-	b64+	w72+	b67+	b42=	w29=	4
48	Adrian O Pickersgill	ENG	2098	b32-	w72=	b56=	b46=	w14-	w62+	b53=	w58+	b23-	4
49	Arpi Shah	IND	2079	w19+	b36-	w35+	w25-	b22=	b50=	w46=	b14-	w42=	4
50	Ian L Snape	ENG	2200	b9-	w38=	b34=	w33+	b57=	w49=	b21-	w45=	b52=	4
51	Burak Akguc	TUR	2146	bye=	b46=	w42=	b22=	w36-	bye=	w55+			3½
52	R Alan Barton	ENG	2149	w63+	b24=	w18=	w12-	b3-	w54+	b39-	b33-	w50=	3½
53	Andrew J Bigg	ENG	2208	w18+	b10-	w65=	b63=	w55=	b31-	w48=	b43-	w54=	3½
54	Godfrey Bisereko	UGA		b45-	w47+	b58+	w27-	w44-	b52-	w68+	b29-	b53=	3½
55	Jonathan S Friedland	ENG	2113	b70+	w39-	b25-	w58+	b53=	w59-	b51-	w62+	b34-	3½
56	David Parr	ENG	2131	w43=	b35-	w48=	b41=	w19-	b65=	w34=	b68=	w70=	3½
57	Thomas E Rendle	ENG	2119	w1=	b31-	w14=	b73+	w50=	b46=	w36-	b20-	w64=	3½
58	Theo Rieke	GER	2218	w5-	b68+	w54-	b55-	w41=	b69+	w63=	b48-	w60=	3½
59	Wilfried Schroeder	GER	2234	w8-	b65=	w43+	b68=	w38=	b55+				3½
60	Timothy R Spanton	ENG	2147	b67-	w34=	bye+	b18-	w65+	b24-	w33=	w38-	b58=	3½
61	Sophie E Tidman	ENG	2073	w44-	w32-	b62+	b35-	w66-	b34-	w70=	b72+	w67+	3½
62	Viraf Avari	IND	2156f	bye=		w61-	b43-	w70+	b48-	w72+	b55-	w65=	3
63	Spyridon Bousbouras	GRE	2100	b52-	w75=	b11+	w53=	w30-	b33=	b58=	w23-	def-	3
64	Manuel Lopez	MEX	2150	bye=	w26-	b72-	w11-	w47-	b70+	w69+	b34-	b57=	3
65	J Ezra Lutton	ENG		b38=	w59=	b53=	w17-	b60-	w56=	b23-	w67=	b62=	3
66	John Rety	ENG	2037	w29-	b19-	b23+	w40-	b61+	w21-	w43-	bye=	b69=	3
67	(David) Ian Calvert	ENG	2076	w60+	b15-	w22=	b24-	w46-	b43=	w47-	b65=	b61-	2½
68	Ying Min Low	SIN	2130	b33=	w58-	b47+	w59=	b26-	w22-	b54-	w56=		2½
69	Kristiane Prescha	GER	2117	b72+	w27-	b39-	b14=	w20-	w58-	b64-	b70=	w66=	2½
70	James S Macrae	SCO		w55-	b41-	w71=	b20-	b62-	w64-	b61=	w69=	b56=	2
71	Stewart Reuben	ENG	2191	w76+		b70=							1½
72	Melvyn J Young	ENG		w69-	b48=	w64+	b42-	w37-	b47-	b62-	w61-		1½
73	Feliks J Kwiatkowski	ENG	2229	b4+	w13-	b38-	w57-						1
74	Geoffrey Makumbi	UGA		w36+	b1-								1
75	Ilya Shevelev	KAZ	2219	b21-	b63=	w46=	b19-	w33-					1
76	Ayodele Awojuola	NGA		b71-									0

1st (tie-break) Sergei Beshukov (RUS) £1,025
2nd (tie-break) Jim Plaskett (ENG) £1,025

3-6th Mark Hebden (ENG), Nicholas pert (ENG), Semon Palatnik (USA), Sergey Zagrebelny (UZB) 6½ - £300 each

7-11th Babakuli Annakov (TKM), Keith Arkell (ENG), Simon Knott (ENG), Neil McDonald (ENG), Andrew Webster (ENG) 6 - £60 each

Highest non-GM/IM: Simon Knott (ENG) 6 - £150

Highest Female: Arpi Shah (IND) 4 - £150

Highest Unrated: J Nick Hawkins (ENG), Tim Hebbes (ENG) 4½ - £75 each

Ritson Morry Trophy: Sergei Beshukov (RUS)

GM Norm (1st): Nick Pert

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1999/2000 (5th) World Amateur Championship, Hastings, 29 December - 6 January

1999/2000 World Amateur Chess Championship		Fed	Grade	Elo	est/ jun	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	B	C	D
1	Sven Muehlenhaus	GER	181	2048	e	b36+	w28+	w5+	b3=	w34+	b2+	w8=	b6-	b13+	7	9	1813	201
2	Vitaly Kachatkov	BLR	220	2360	e	w27+	w23=	b23+	b21+	w3+	w1-	b13+	b8+	w4=	7	9	1881	209
3	Nicholas A Frost	ENG	180	2040		b10+	w25+	w31+	w1=	b2-	b34+	w17+	b14+	w6=	7	9	1808	201
4	Patrick G Donovan	ENG	190	2120	e	w40+	b5-	w25+	b9+	w14+	b8-	w12+	b17+	b2=	6½	9	1728	192
5	Adrian G Elwin	ENG	164	1912		w43+	w4+	b1-	bye=	b16+	w18-	b25+	b15+	w8+	6½	8	1510	189
6	Marcel Juegel	GER	175	2000	e	b29+	w34-	b16-	w44+	b30+	w28+	b10+	w1+	b3=	6½	9	1609	179
7	Lucy J Broomfield	ENG	135	1680	j	bye=	b11-	w22+	w29+	b18=	w19-	b26=	w25+	b21+	5½	8	1336	167
8	Aliev Eldar	RUS	180	2040	e	w30+	b31-	bye+	w26+	b19+	w4+	b1=	w2-	b5-	5½	8	1485	186
9	Jonathan C T Lappage	ENG	122	1576	j	b17+	w13-	b38+	w4-	b10-	w30+	b28+	w18+	w12=	5½	9	1539	171
10	Rasa Norinkeviciute	LTU	163	1904	e	w3-	b35+	w33+	b11-	w9+	b38+	w6-	b24+	w14=	5½	9	1518	169
11	Timothy W Pelling	ENG	205	2240		b16=	w7+	b26=	w10+	b13=	w17-	w15-	b38+	w27+	5½	9	1608	179
12	Elaine Rutherford	SCO	166	1928	j	b39+	w19+	b34-	w16-	b32+	w31+	b4-	w21+	b9=	5½	9	1507	167
13	Ilya Shevelev	KAZ	175	2000		w22+	b9+	w21=	b14=	w11=	b15+	w2-	b27+	w1-	5½	9	1626	181
14	Vanik Zakarian	ARM	175	2000		b44+	w26=	b23+	w13=	b4-	w16+	b19+	w3-	b10=	5½	9	1625	181
15	Jamaladdin Bahlulov	AZE	170	1960	e	b28-	b41+	w30+	w18=	b23+	w13-	b11+	w5-	b19=	5	9	1590	177
16	David W L Howell	ENG	137	1696	je	w11=	b24=	w6+	b12+	w5-	b14-	b33+	w19=	w17=	5	9	1537	171
17	Graham Reid	ENG	173	1984		w9-	b22=	w37+	b39+	w21+	b11+	b3-	w4-	b16=	5	9	1443	160
18	Julian Ivan Peter Simpole	ENG	180	2040	e	w41+	b21-	w24+	b15=	w7=	b5+	w27-	b9-	w33+	5	9	1399	155
19	Ian R Watson	ENG	212	2296		w47+	b12-	w32+	b31+	w8-	b7+	w14-	b16=	w15=	5	9	1609	179
20	Ian G White	WLS	160	1880	e	b23-	w39=	b29-	b42+	w38-	w37=	b45+	w32+	b28+	5	9	1290	143
21	Nigel W Dennis	ENG	149	1792		b45+	w18+	b13=	w2-	b17-	w23+	w34+	b12-	w7-	4½	9	1465	163
22	David Gebhardt	CAN	124	1592		b13-	w17=	b7-	w37-	b43+	w29-	b44+	w35+	b39+	4½	9	1146	127
23	Simon Jessen	DEN	168	1944	e	w20+	b2=	w14-	b27+	w15-	b21-	w29-	b37+	w38+	4½	9	1438	160
24	Geoffrey Kanduho	UGA	145	1760	e	b38=	w16=	b18-	w28-	b35+	w32+	b31+	w10-	b26=	4½	9	1373	153
25	Paul J Kelly	WLS	143	1744		w37+	b3-	b4-	w43+	w27=	b36+	w5-	b7-	w29+	4½	9	1301	145
26	Olga Palatnik	USA	165	1920	e	w35+	b14=	w11=	b8-	w31-	b41+	w7=	b29=	w24=	4½	9	1369	152
27	Geoff Thurman	ENG	161	1888		b2-	w44+	b36+	w23-	b25=	w39+	b18+	w13-	b11-	4½	9	1448	161
28	Alfred Luaces	ESP	153	1824		w15+	b1-	w2-	b24+	w33+	b6-	w9-	b40+	w20-	4	9	1356	151
29	Daniel McGowan	SCO	125	1600	j	w6-	b37=	w20+	b7-	w41-	b22+	b23+	w26=	b25-	4	9	1248	139
30	Heine Nielsen	DEN	150	1800	e	b8-	w45+	b15-	w35+	w6-	b9-	w40-	b42+	w41+	4	9	1173	130
31	David Path	IRL	153	1824		w46+	w8+	b3-	w19-	b26+	b12-	w24-	b33-	w40+	4	9	1347	150
32	Gino Scamardella	ENG	150	1800		b34-	w43+	b19-	w40+	w12-	b24-	w41+	b20-	w44+	4	9	1261	140
33	William Sembelato	UGA	135	1680	e	bye=	w38=	b10-	w36+	b28-	b40+	w16-	w31+	b18-	4	3	1170	146
34	Mohsen Abedian	ENG	170	1960	e	w32+	b6+	w12+	bye=	b1-	w3-	b21-			3½	6	1001	167
35	Sagar Deva	ENG	108	1464	e	b26-	w10-	bye+	b30-	w24-	b42+	w36=	b22-	w46+	3½	8	885	111
36	Christina Harvey	ENG	130	1640		w1-	b46+	w27-	b33-	b45+	w25-	b35=	w39-	b43+	3½	9	1018	113
37	Alan Hustwayte	ENG	110	1480	e	b25-	w29=	b17-	b22+	w39-	b20=	bye=	w23-	bye+	3½	7	80S	115
38	Koichi B Nicholas	ENG	159	1872	j	w24=	b33=	w9-	bye=	b20+	w10-	b39+	w11-	b23-	3½	8	1111	139
39	Stewart Trent	ENG	111	1488	j	w12-	b20=	w42+	w17-	b37+	b27-	w38-	b36+	w22-	3½	9	1124	125
40	Hassan Mbuga	UGA	120	1560	e	b4-	b47-	w41+	b32-	w44+	w33-	b30+	w28-	b31-	3	9	1144	127
41	Santiago Perez	ENG	126	1608		b18-	w15-	b40-	w46+	b29+	w26-	b32-	w45+	b30-	3	9	1069	119
42	Kemas D Wadia	IND	105	1440		bye=	bye-	b39-	w20-	b46=	w35-	b43+	w30-	b45+	3	7	691	99
43	David J Langridge	ENG	105	1440		b5-	b32-	w46+	b25-	w22-	b44=	w42-	bye+	w36-	2½	8	755	94
44	Peter J B Wilson	GCI	124	1592		w14-	b27-	w45+	b6-	b40-	w43=	w22-	b46+	b32-	2½	9	965	107
45	Sebastian Pozzo	ENG	90	1320	j	w21-	b30-	b44-	bye+	w36-	b46+	w20-	b41-	w42-	2	8	662	83
46	Anila Shah	IND	87	1296		b31-	w36-	b43-	b41-	w42=	w45-	bye+	w44-	b35-	1½	8	562	70
47	Arne-Henrik Hammersland	NOR	138	1704	e	b19-	w40+								1	2	296	149

1st (tie-break) Sven Muehlenhaus (GER) 7/9 - £367
2nd (tie-break) Vitaly Kachatkov (BLR) 7/9 - £367
3rd (tie-break) Nick Frost (ENG) 7/9 - £367

4-6th Patrick Donovan (ENG), Adrian Elwin (ENG), Marcel Juegel (GER) 6½ - £50 each

Harry Baines Trophy: Nick Frost

Women's World Amateur Champion: Elaine Rutherford (SCO) (tie-break) 5½
2nd Rasa Norinkeviciute (LTU, resident in Eastbourne) (tie-break) 5½
3rd Lucy Broomfield (ENG) (tie-break) 5½

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Bulletin Editorial (Richard O'Brien)

The 75th Hastings Congress, which commenced 104 years after the first (1895), was, like the previous one, held at the Cinque Ports Hotel and at the YMCA some 600 yards away.

The Premier was put back to January 4th, due to potential problems with the venue/Millennium which were naturally not under the control of the organising committee, whereas all the other events were played on or around the usual dates.

In the Premier only Ivan Sokolov (winner last time), John Emms and Jon Speelman played both last year and this. Sokolov, seeded second was expected to be the only real challenger to World Top 20 rated Russian Alexey Dreev.

Current form of the remainder was difficult to judge. John Emms, Irina Krush and Luke McShane had all seen their FIDE ratings drop substantially in the January 2000 list as indeed had Sokolov. Bogdan Lalic, had only the previous week, lost his last two games in a strong Groningen Open (which included Epishin, Vaganian and Tiviakov) when just half a point off the lead. Also Jon Speelman had failed to win any of his 9 previous games. This only leaves me to mention the improving Klaus Bischoff (who like Lalic qualified from the Challengers last time) and Emil Sutovsky, now based in Israel. At 22 Sutovsky, seeded fourth, is still improving. Usually a positive player he got off to a slow and unadventurous start - a draw with the bottom seed in round one, played an early forcing draw with white in round two and offered a draw on move 11 against Bischoff in round three — however this was turned down and he went onto a quick win and was up and running, faster and faster as the tournament went on culminating with wins in the last two rounds to finish on 6.5, a half point clear of Dreev and Speelman. Only against McShane did he appear to be in some danger of defeat.

Dreev had a very strange tournament only managing 0.5/2 against the two youngsters and much lower rated players McShane and Krush. He twice gave up pieces for very little compensation against McShane and most people at this level would have resigned on or around move 33. Instead he played on for a further 33 moves and a couple of hours for no apparent reason. He also had to defend well to hang on to a draw against Krush. 5.5/7 from the other the seven games included excellent wins over Emms, Chandler and Lalic (in the last round) showed what, as a 2680 player, what [sic] he could do.

Speelman won three (against the tailenders) and drew the rest. There were nice wins against Krush and Lalic and a very lucky one (confirmed by Jon) against McShane.

The rest all had their good days and bad days. In the case of Sokolov it was a reasonable start with 3/5 and then three bad days on the trot - really bad days. Against Dreev he simply ignored what his opponent was doing, Dreev played f7-f5, g5, f4 and fxe3 on successive moves against his kingside castled king whilst all his five pieces were on the queenside totally ignoring the other side of the board. f2 soon fell as did the white queen and that was that. Against Emms, Sokolov held the advantage for much of the game but then came up with a highly dubious plan which didn't matter which square his king was on.

Eventually he allowed Emms to play Rxf7 which not only won a pawn but saw Sokolov's position collapse at the same time. The following day he allowed Sutovsky a winning ending after just 17 moves when obviously outprepared.

Lalic was complaining that everybody was playing 'brilliantly against him'. Well, Chandler, Speelman and Dreev did! It is possible they may have been the three best games of the tournament! In his previous game, in the last round at Groningen he lost in the last round after a queen sacrifice had led to the brilliancy prize. Surely nobody really deserves to be on the receiving end of four masterclasses in ten games spread over fifteen days?

What does one make of Luke McShane? Outplayed against the bottom seed he easily defeated the top seed, was the only player to seriously threaten the winner and was 'winning' for a few moves against Speelman! He, with a bit of luck, could have beaten the top three in the final standings.

The one potential serious problem in the Premier was easily solved. In the Chandler v Speelman game Chandler got into his habitual time trouble. With 2 moves to go Chandler's DGT clock showed 4 seconds left, Speelman's around 5 minutes. Speelman then made his 38th move and Chandler immediately made his reply - the clock went to 3 seconds as he made it and then into minus without showing 2 seconds or 1 second. The clock was clearly faulty. The 4 people directly involved with the game - the two players, Stewart Reuben (Senior Arbiter) and myself (acting assistant arbiter who was keeping a copy of the score) all noticed what had happened. Speelman actually said the 'clock was faulty' and a new DGT clock was produced.The game restarted a few minutes later with Speelman more shaken up than Chandler over what had happened. The game was drawn a little later on with not much more happening. Certainly there are many players around that would have tried to claim a win on time. Indeed a few spectators actually thought he should have been awarded a win as they had little sympathy with Chandler's clock handling. However the regulations say 40 minutes in 2 hours not 40 moves in 1 hour 59 minutes and 57 seconds so the decision to restart the game was 100% correct.

This was not the only incident at the Congress that involved the DGT clocks. There had also been incidents in previous years, both in the Premier and in the Challengers. Readers may be aware that these clocks originated in Holland before being used in England and indeed in other countries. The week before Hastings started your editor was playing at Groningen in Holland where some 300 clocks were being used and some 3000 games were played. There were also 4 bookstalls in operation at various times. No DGTs could be sighted. Clearly the Dutch have had enough of this type of clock which in England are sold for double the price Turnier and Garde clocks can be obtained for from reputable chess retailers which include Tournament Chess, 9 Wellington Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex, BN10 8QJ (tel: 01273 584425; email xyz@robrien.u-net.com). For blitz and quickplay events the DGT’s have their uses, for real chess they do not.

Not for the first time and hopefully not for the last Chris Ward did an excellent job commentating on the Premier. Both informative and entertaining he is surely the best commentator I have seen during my many years at Hastings. Why the organisers put this job out for tender I simply do not know. Surely the Hastings Committee would not want to save some money (Chris is certainly not overcharging for his services) to bring in somebody inferior. Perhaps Danny King could be considered his equal but there is certainly nobody superior in this line of work in the country. No commentary was planned for the last three days as with only the Premier in progress a small number of spectators was expected. As it happened the numbers exceeded expectations and hastily organised commentaries were arranged – sessions of around two hours were carried out by Stewart Reuben and Bernard Cafferty combined; FM Andrew Smith; Bogdan Lalic (after a quickish draw with Bischoff) and finally on the last day by Luke McShane who had not been too exhausted by his game with Sokolov (7 moves!). All were well received.

Francis Bowers must be congratulated on producing what was surely his best ever bookstall at the YMCA. It was also possibly the largest ever seen at Hastings with some thick titles such as NCO standing ten books high!

For the fifth and final time the World Amateur which also incorporated the Women's World Amateur took place here at Hastings. Although the majority of its entrants are from the colder countries (that includes England!) it is now being moved to Spain. The event has been a success although I must admit I found the qualification rules to be a little odd — only players without a current FIDE rating or without a FIDE rating since 1993 are eligible. Thus a lowly FIDE rated player, like me, who has never had a BCF rating as high as 185 (=FIDE 2080) is not eligible although Ian Watson who has I believe been rated over BCF 200 (=FIDE 2200) for the past 15 to 20 years is eligible!! There is obviously a moral there some where but I'm afraid I don't know what it is!! As usual the Women's World Amateur obtained much more publicity than the World Amateur. John Henderson in his columns made it clear, absolutely clear that Scotland's 16-year-old Elaine Rutherford would win the event well before it started. He quietened down about it when she lost early on to 9-year-David Howell but came to life again when she challenged for and eventually and deservedly won the title. Last year a Surrey girl, Jessie Gilbert, received enormous publicity for scoring 5/9. This year another Surrey girl, Lucy Broomfield, outscored the 5/9 and only lost the title on tiebreak and outgraded Jessie's performance by some way hardly got a mention. I suppose at the ripe old age of 19 the press consider her past it. Such is life....

The Buswell/Bryant rapidplays continued to prosper. Not for the first time Jim Plaskett starred in them. HOTBOX(0181 441 1555; http://www.hotbox.co.uk) donated The Shot Glass Chess Set to each event making their sponsorship worth in the region of £200. These two sets were won by a free draw. The two important things to know according to the manufacturers are

1) Whenever a player makes a capture (naturally each side has 16 pieces) he must drink that piece.

2) The losing player must drink his own king as the final ignominy of defeat.

The best Junior performance was clearly by 9-year-old David Howell from Seaford who is a member of the Hastings Chess Club. In both the World Amateur and in the Major at the Weekend Congress he obtained 170+ results. The latter was probably the most remarkable of the two as he looked exhausted after his second game when his score stood at just 0.5/2. He won his remaining 4 games! When possible he was seen in Chris Ward's Commentary Room.

The following information is based on reliable estimates, council and congress papers. None of this information has ever meant to be a secret: For the Congress just ended the event made a loss of around £7,000 - possibly fractionally less. They had budgeted for a loss of £7,250.This wiped out half of the Congress's reserves. The Council reduced their grant to the event by just over £5,000 (nett) compared to the previous event. The Council intends to reduce its grant for the next event by a further £7,000 compared to the one that has just finished.

Indeed so tight are the finances this time that several of the organisers including Stewart Reuben (Director and Arbiter of the Premier etc) gave their services free. Also two of those who played in the Premier received no fees, only small prizes.

Summing up:

That unless either a substantial sponsor or sponsors can come up with £15,000+ or the Council revert to its funding level of 1998/99 there is no way whatsoever the Congress can continue in its current format with a Premier etc. It is as simple as that. Just how long then the Hastings Congress would then last is highly debatable. Personally I suspect that it would only be a matter of time that it would just be a 100 player weekend event and that is all.

So if you know a potential sponsor; senior council official or even a councillor you know what to do.

There are details of the Hastings Challengers further on. Congratulations in particular go to the winners and to Nicholas Pert who achieved his his first GM norm.

Richard O'Brien

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File Updated

Date	Notes
4 February 2000	Uploaded Premier (and 100 Challengers) games. undated, minus round numbers.
23 March 2026	Updated to show games with round numbers and dates, crosstables, etc. No. of games: 45 Premier, 100 Challengers, 14 World Amateur, 11 others.