Chess tradition in Hastings - An interview with Jürgen Brustkern

Hello Jürgen, the year 2023 is coming to an end. From 28 December 2023 to 7 January 2024 the Caplin International Chess Congress will take place again in Hastings with an Open and numerous side events. Will you be there?

No. I can no longer ignore the fact that Hastings in its current form has lost its magic and no longer appeals to me.

No chess tournament in the world has a longer tradition than the Hastings tournament. It began in 1895 when the "first super tournament in chess history" was held there. 22 participants took part, including the ten best players in the world at the time. Harry Nelson Pillsbury won with 16.5 out of 21, ahead of Mikhail Chigorin and the reigning world champion Emanuel Lasker. Ever since, the name Hastings has had a special ring to it in the chess world. But how did this great tournament establish such a long tradition?

The English sense of tradition, play and sport, supported by a specific entrepreneurial spirit, created something unique and hitherto unknown in Hastings. Repeated English chess successes (F. Yates, Sir G. Thomas, C. O. Alexander) cemented the tradition and ensured that this tournament left its mark on English (e.g. the "British Chess Explosion" in the 1980s) and modern tournament chess in Europe.

The participants of the tournament in Hastings 1895: tournament winner Pillsbury sits in the centre, between Lasker and Tarrasch.

Hastings 1895: Final standings after 21 rounds

Games

You are a big fan of the Hastings tournament. When was the first time you played there and what fascinated you about the tournament?

I was there for the first time in 1977. It was the first time I saw how a grandmaster tournament was organised, I was very studious and wrote down all the moves of my idols. But I was also deeply impressed by all the decoration. The walls of the tournament hall decorated with pictures and photos, the old wooden chess boards, the dignified, incredibly polite organisers, the many volunteers and the kibitzing ladies and gentlemen in fine dresses. The whole traditional, dignified and slightly morbid atmosphere immediately captivated me.

For many years Hastings tournaments were considered glamorous and attracted the best players in the world, but over the decades the reputation of the tournament has suffered. For example, players have repeatedly reported things like a cold tournament hall or unheated accommodation after visiting Hastings. Why have you remained loyal to Hastings?

Because I am an affectionate and probably loyal person. I heard about the complaints of the top players much later, for example in a book by John Nunn ("Best Games 1985-1993", Batsford 1995, p.126). The effect of the damp weather and the generally poor heating in most accommodation meant that many of my acquaintances no longer wanted to travel to the south of England. After England's economic recovery in the mid-1980s, the quality of most accommodation improved.

Hastings has always been a bit of an adventure for me, starting with the ferry across the Channel. The rough seas often put my stomach to the test. I was also always glad to escape the New Year's Eve madness in Germany, because in England you hardly ever hear firecrackers on New Year's Eve. The advantages outweighed the disadvantages and over the years Hastings became a place of longing for me, "my living room".

Despite all the crises, the Hastings tournament still takes place. How is it that this tradition has survived while other traditional tournaments have fallen by the wayside?

For a long time there were stable groups of committed individuals who ensured the extraordinary continuity of the tournament with money (e.g. Jim Slater, 1929-2015), organisational talent (above all Harry Golombek, 1911-1996) and passion (the "father of tradition" Herbert Dobell, 1878-1938), and who did everything they could with almost national zeal to ensure that Hastings did not lose its unique international selling point. The best-known example of the British sporting spirit is the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which has been held since 1877.

Harry Golombek

As well as playing Hastings regularly, you have collected a lot of material about the tournament and its history over the years. What motivated you to do this?

My collector's mentality and my Anglophilia, but above all my burning desire to make a small contribution to ensuring that this fabulous tournament, of which I have so many personal memories, is not forgotten.

Together with Norbert Wallet, you then turned this material into a book about the Hastings tournament. What was the collaboration like, how did you share the work?

I had been carrying around the project of writing a book about Hastings for two decades. I came up with the idea, the basic concept and the content. I was also responsible for selecting and analysing the games. Norbert, a journalist by profession, was responsible for the lively revision of my texts. He also meticulously checked the facts I had researched.

The book was first self-published, then published by Joachim Beyer in 2021, and an English translation was published by New in Chess in 2022. The response from the public and critics was very positive. Nevertheless, books about the history of chess tournaments are probably aimed at a smaller audience. Was the effort and years of work on this book worth it?

Jürgen Brustkern, Norbert Wallet, The Chess Battles of Hastings, New in Chess 2022, 384 pages

Definitely! The opportunity to live out my passion for chess not only in playing but also in the creative process of critical writing has filled me with unbridled joy - even if the project has also caused a lot of effort and stress, for example when trying to find a catchy concept for the presentation of 125 years of chess history in Hastings. But in the end I was and still am very proud that my favourite project has seen the light of day.

What characterises the Hastings tournaments, what makes them special and what has always made them special?

Hastings was a regular meeting place for the world's elite, and it was particularly important during the Cold War years that the tournament always included outstanding, even famous, masters from Eastern and Southern Europe, who were otherwise rarely seen in the West. The city itself also has a special flair. The well-preserved Victorian buildings, the numerous parks and the special vegetation (there are even palm trees because of the St. Lawrence River) and the location on the coast give the city a special atmosphere.

What role does tradition play and how important is tradition? In other words, why should someone who wants to play a tournament over New Year's Eve travel to relatively cold and uncomfortable Hastings rather than the warmer south?

The preservation of tradition is important to me. For me, traditions are also closely linked to human communication and social behaviour. The disrespectful tone of "social" networks and the near disappearance of solidarity in Western societies are good examples of the fact that people's code of behaviour is in a barbaric age. The informal side events and the very polite style of the organising team ensure respectful interaction in Hastings. "Very British!"

The Hastings tournaments have a chequered history. Can you, and what can you learn from this about the history of chess, or even the history of Europe and the world?

Herbert Dobell showed with tenacity and passion that it was possible to organise a world-class tournament (Six Masters 1922). The networker Harry Golombek showed with diplomatic skill and a cosmopolitan attitude that creative ideas were needed to successfully implement FIDE's motto "We are one family" in politically difficult times. With his ingenious idea of the "Coronation Congress" in 1953, he established the regular participation of two strong Soviet grandmasters in co-operation with the Russian Federation, thus ensuring the congress's worldwide reputation.

Your book not only tells the history of the tournament and stories from the tournament, but also contains numerous entertaining and concisely written portraits with games of the many top players who have played in Hastings at some point, practically a who's who of chess history. From Henry Atkins, Vera Menchik and Milan Vidmar to Wolfgang Uhlmann, Wolfgang Unzicker, Paul Keres, Mihail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Bent Larsen, Nigel Short, Judit Polgar and Jonathan Rowson, to name but a few. Regardless of those mentioned, who of all those portrayed in the book do you consider to be Mr or Mrs Hastings, who played particularly well and successfully in Hastings?

I have no hesitation in awarding the title of "Mr Hastings" to Sir George Thomas (1881-1972). It was not his sporting success at Hastings, where he only won once (1934/35) in a total of 12 appearances in the Premier League. But his personality makes him one of my all-time favourites: The 1934 tournament, like the 1895 and 1922 tournaments, was absolutely world class, but as a genuine chess amateur Thomas beat both the "chess machine" Capablanca and the future world champion Botvinnik with the black pieces in 1934. And instead of playing a quick draw in the final round with his friend Mitchell, who was bottom of the table, in order to secure sole victory in the tournament, the sporting Thomas sought the fight, lost the game and in the end only won on tiebreak. The victory of the then 52-year-old (!) would go down as the greatest sensation in Hastings history.

Sir George Thomas playing badminton

The multi-talented sportsman was also a model of fair play in other sports. In badminton, he won the British Championship several times and in his prime was considered the best badminton player in the world! He also played tennis at a high level, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1911. As for the most successful players at Hastings, the record-breaking GM Svetozar Gligoric deserves special mention with five victories.

Svetozar Gligoric at the Interzonal Tournament Den Haag 1966 | Photo: Eric Koch for Anefo | Photo: Dutch National Archive, Source: Wikipedia

Salo Flohr achieved the feat of winning the traditional congress three times in a row.

How do you explain that?

Hard to say. The Swede Ulf Andersson "only" won the traditional Congress twice (1979-1980), but he achieved outstanding results at the world-class London events in the mid-1980s, which he himself described as the greatest successes of his chess career. He attributed his strong performances on the island mainly to "the mild British weather"!

Most of the people portrayed are very well known, but one stands out who is probably less well known: Reinhard Cherubim. Who is he, and what links him to Hastings so closely that he is included in this illustrious cast?

The Aachen teacher Dr Cherubim was an Anglophile chess propagandist who had fallen in love with the Hastings Tournament and reached wide chess circles in Germany with his lively reports which appeared in the Deutsche Schachzeitung and the Schach-Echo. I like the fact that in the course of his reporting he not only wrote about the lively British chess scene, but also ensured the export of English culture to Germany. The mathematics teacher was committed to improving the strained German-English relations. Because of his merits I gave him the appropriate title in the book: "The Cherubim of German-English Friendship!" (Cherubim means angel).

Your book is illustrated with many beautiful photos and contains many games. Which games from the long history of the tournament did you particularly like?

In addition to the famous game with the "floating rook" (Steinitz - von Bardeleben 1895), two other games immediately come to mind.

Steinitz, William

1–0

Von Bardeleben, Curt

Hastings 28.08.1895[Brustkern]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3!? With this, Steinitz obviously caught his opponent on the wrong foot. 7.Bd2! is the main move that is still often played today. 7...d5? Prior to this game, in round 2, the Austrian player Schlechter demonstrated how to equalise: 7...Nxe4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 d5 Steinitz-Schlechter/ Hastings/1895 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be6 Due to his underdevelopment, Black cannot make use of c3: 9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxc3 11.Bxf7+ Kf8 12.Qb3 Bxa1 13.Ba3+ Ne7 14.Re1 +- or 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxc3 11.Qb3 also loses. 10.Bg5 Be7 With 10...Qd7 Black loses an important tempo: 11.Bxd5 Bxd5 12.Re1+ Be7 13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.Bxe7 Nxe7 15.Qe2 with a substantial advantage. 11.Bxd5! Bxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 13...Kxe7 was the alternative, but even then White has the better game: 14.Rc1 Rhe8 15.Rc5 Qd6 16.Qc1 with the powerful threat of d4-d5. 14.Re1 f6 15.Qe2 Qd7 15...Qd6? leads to the forced loss of a pawn: 16.Qb5+ Qc6 17.Qb4 Qd6 18.Qxb7 16.Rac1?! A nice position for training purposes, as rooks do not always belong on open files. The Russian GM Igor Zaitsev suggested 16.Rad1! here with the idea d5-d6 and gives the following variation: Kf7 16...Kf8 17.Nd2 Nd5 18.Ne4 Re8 19.Nc5 would also be unpleasant. 17.Qc4+ Nd5 18.Ne5+ fxe5 19.dxe5 with an overwhelming position for White. 16...c6? The move's secure protection of the important d5-square is only illusory. 16...Kf7! was the only way for Black to satisfactorily solve his developent problems. Had this move been played, it's difficult to see how White could progress. For example: 17.Qxe7+? 17.Qc4+ Nd5 leads to nothing. 17...Qxe7 18.Rxe7+ Kxe7 19.Rxc7+ Kd6 20.Rxb7 Rhb8 21.Rxg7 Rxb2 22.h3 Rxa2 with an endgame that is difficult to assess. 17.d5‼

This magnificent clearance sacrifice gives the knight a better home on d4. 17...cxd5 17...Kf7 was no better either: 18.dxc6 Nxc6 19.Rcd1 with a fearsome initiative. 18.Nd4 Kf7 19.Ne6 Threatens the strong 20.Rc7. Rhc8 The alternatives were also unpleasant: 19...Rac8? 20.Qg4 with the strong threat of 21.Ng5+. 19...Nc6 doesn't work due to the numerous weak dark squares: 20.Nc5 Qc8 21.Qb5 Rb8 too passive is 21...Nd8 22.Nd7 Nc6 23.Qxd5+ Kg6 24.g4 with a substantial advantage for White. 22.Na6 Ra8 23.Qxd5+ Kg6 24.Nc5 Rd8 25.Qe4+ f5 26.Qh4 and the wandering black king will soon be hunted down in the wild. 20.Qg4! g6 21.Ng5+ Ke8

Now the magical circus act of the floating rook begins: 22.Rxe7+! The cheeky piece will perform miracles on the seventh row. Kf8 The rook on e7 cannot be touched: a) 22...Qxe7 23.Rxc8+ Rxc8 24.Qxc8++- or b) 22...Kxe7 23.Re1+ Kd6 24.Qb4+ Rc5 everything else loses even quicker: 24...Kc6 25.Rc1# or 24...Kc7 25.Ne6+ Kb8 26.Qf4++- 25.Re6+ but not 25.Ne4+ dxe4 26.Rd1+ Ke6 and White cannot progress due to the weak back rank 25...Qxe6 26.Nxe6 with an easy win. 23.Rf7+!

23...Kg8! Still the best, as 23...Qxf7 24.Rxc8+ Rxc8 25.Qxc8+ Qe8 26.Nxh7+ is hopeless. 24.Rg7+! The floating rook does a great job, as if controlled by magic. Kh8! 24...Kf8 25.Nxh7+ Kxg7 26.Qxd7++- 25.Rxh7+! And without congratulating Steinitz, Von Bardeleben left the tournament hall and thus lost the game – the German master later justified this by explaining he was disturbed by the furious applause from the audience. This masterpiece deserved to be crowned with the following mating image: 25.Rxh7+! Kg8 26.Rg7+ Kh8 27.Qh4+ Kxg7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qg7+ Ke8 31.Qg8+ Ke7 32.Qf7+ Kd8 33.Qf8+ Qe8 34.Nf7+ Kd7 35.Qd6# 1–0

The Vaganian-Planinc game was remarkable in many ways. The knight manoeuvre ...Na1 was combined with a beautiful mating finale and the last three moves of this game played a major role in the film "Dangerous Moves" by Richard Dembo (1985 Oscar for Best Foreign Film).

Vaganian, Rafael

0–1

Planinc, Albin

Hastings 1974/75 02.01.1975[Brustkern]

16.Qe3? In the opening, Planinc sacrificed a pawn for a lead in development and obtained a promising position. With 16.Qe3 Vaganian tried to tactically defend his material advantage. But after this careless move, Black is clearly better, if not completely winning. After the better 16.e3 Be6 and ...Rd8, the Slovene would have got a position to his liking: a development advantage and a lasting initiative. Nd4! 17.Qe8+ It’s true that White solves the problem of how to develop his sleeping bishop on f1, but the queen on e8 opens up good tactical opportunities for the second player. Kh7 18.e3 White has no good answer, e.g. 18.Qxf7 Bf5 19.e3 Nc2+ 20.Kd2 Bg6 21.Qc4 21.Qe7 Rd8+ 22.Kc1 Na1-+ 21...Rd8+ 22.Kc1 Na1! (with the powerful threat of 23...Nb3 and 24...Rd2+) 23.b4 Qd6-+ The natural move 18.e4 fails to the elegant queen manoeuvre Qa5+ 19.Nc3 Qg5 and the devastating ...Qc1 can no longer be prevented. 18...Nc2+ 19.Kd2

Due to the defensive possibility Bd3 it looks like White is out of the woods! But now a showdown straight out of a film follows: 19...Bf5‼ Vaganian had probably reckoned with 19...Qd6+ 20.Kc1 20.Bd3+? Qxd3+! 21.Kxd3 Bf5+ 22.e4 Rxe8 23.Nc3 Bxe4+ 24.Nxe4 f5= 20...Qxd1+ 21.Kxd1 Bg4+ 22.Kxc2 Rxe8 23.Bd3+ after which White has a healthy extra pawn. 20.Qxa8 Qd6+

21.Kc1 The critical point of the game has been reached and this is the only playable option from the many king moves: 1) The alternatives are no better, e.g. 21.Kc3!? but the winning method would have been difficult to find. After Qe5+! the first player has three possibilities, two of which lose quite easily. In the following variations, it is astonishing how often the motif ...Na1 decides the game. 22.Kd2 although b) 22.Kc4 Qc7+ 23.Kb3 Be6+ 24.Ka4 Qc6+ 25.Bb5 Qe4+ 26.b4 Na1!-+ and the devilish knight on the rim brings the game to its conclusion; c) 22.Kb3 Na1+! 23.Kb4 23.Kc4 Qe4+ 24.Kc3 Qc2+ 25.Kb4 Qb3+ 26.Kc5 Qb6+ 27.Kd5 Nb3-+ with ...Qc5# to follow. 23...b6 threatening 24...Qc5 24.Qc6 Bd7! This pretty diversionary move drives the queen to the c-file, after which mate cannot be prevented: 25.Bd3+ g6 26.Bxg6+ Kg7 and White will be mated shortly. 22...Qd5+ 23.Kc3 23.Kc1 Na1-+ 23...Qa5+! 24.b4 ≤24.Kb3 Na1+ 25.Kc4 Qa4+-+ 24...Qxa3+ 25.Kd2 Qxb4+ 26.Nc3 26.Kc1 Na1 27.f3 Nb3+ 28.Kb2 Nd2+ 29.Kc1 Nxf1-+ 26...Na3 27.Ke2 Qxc3 28.Qd8 Nc4-+ ends in disaster. 21.Ke2 is most elegantly refuted: Qd3+ 22.Kf3 Qxd1+ 23.Be2 Nd4+‼ instead of chasing after the filthy lucre with 23...Qxh1, the chess artist prefers mate. 24.exd4 Qb3+ 25.Kf4 g5+ 26.Kxf5 Qe6# 21...Na1 22.Qxb7? After this weak move, White is immediately lost. Necessary was 22.Bc4 which clears the first rank. It would have been much more difficult for Black to win, e.g. Qc6 23.Nc3 Qxc4 24.Qd8! White always has one move only. The game could have continued Nb3+ 25.Kd1 Qg4+ 26.Ne2 Up to here the line is forced. Now the only playable move is Qe4! 26...Qxg2 taking on g2 helps White, e.g. 27.Rg1 Qe4 28.Ke1 Qb1+ 29.Qd1 Qxb2 27.Ke1 Qb1+ 28.Qd1 Qxb2 and White's position seems to be lost. 22...Qc7+! And Vaganian resigned due to either the loss of his queen or mate. 22...Qc7+ 23.Qxc7 Nb3# In the film Dangerous Moves by Richard Dembo (awarded the Oscar for best foreign film in 1985), this position appeared in the decisive match between the reigning World Champion Akiva Liebeskind – played by Michel Piccoli – and his young challenger Alexandre Arbatt before the hammer blow 19...Bf5!. Here the last three moves were played with relish until the mate, after which the film audience begins to clap frenetically. In this roundabout way, the pearl from Hastings will be preserved forever on celluloid for all chess fans. 0–1

I was there in 1980 when Ulf Andersson used an unprecedented defensive manoeuvre in his game against the American Larry Christiansen to cushion his opponent's aggression in the style of "Ying and Yang". In a hedgehog structure, the American attacked with all four pawns on the king's side, only to be thwarted by the Swedish endgame artist with the astonishing manoeuvre h6/Bh7 and Bh8! Absolutely worth seeing!

Christiansen, Larry2475

0–1

Andersson, Ulf2560

Hastings 1979/80 31.12.1979[Brustkern]

At first glance, the black position does not make a good impression because of the lack of defensive pieces on the kingside. With his next move, the Swede provokes the American into further aggression: 25...h6 26.h4 Big Larry picks up the gauntlet. However, 26.Qg3 was better in order to build up a battery of major pieces on the g-file with Rd2-g2. Kh7! Even after more than 40 years, the Swede leaves spectators in awe and amazement with his defensive plan. With this unusual king manoeuvre, Andersson actually has aggressive intentions, because he wants to take aim at the pawn on h4 by means of ...Rh8, ...Rc7 and ...Qd8. 27.Bh3 Rc7 28.Re3

28...Rh8‼ The point of the ...h7-h6/...Kh7 manoeuvre. After the thematic g4-g5, Black benefits from the opening of the h-file! 28...Qa8!? 29.g5 Nxe4 30.Qe2 d5 31.cxd5 exd5 32.Bf5+ g6 33.Nxe4 dxe4 34.Rxd8 Qxd8 35.Bxe4 Bxe4 36.Rxe4= 29.Kg1 Guido Kern reveals in his book Grandmaster Chess Strategy (together with Jürgen Kaufeld at New In Chess, 2011) with the following variation the fundamental idea of the Swedish defensive maestro: 29.g5 (as in t'ai chi, this aggression rebounds on the attacker) hxg5 30.hxg5 Kg8 31.Kg1 Nxe4 32.Nxe4 Bxe4 33.Rxe4 Rxh3 34.Qg2 Qb7 35.g6 Rg3 36.Qxg3 Qxe4 37.gxf7+ Kxf7 38.Qxg7+ Ke8 and White is faced with a positional ruin. 29...Qd8 30.e5?! Since he probably doesn’t appreciate the x-ray power of the rook on h8, the multiple U.S. Champion tries to open the centre. But by doing so, his wobbly position finally falls apart. Relatively best was 30.g5 Kg8 31.Bg2 hxg5 32.hxg5 Qf8 and Black has the better chances due to the vulnerable pawn on c4. 30...Rd7 31.g5? This impatient move is asking too much from the position. Only with the admission 31.exd6 Rxd6 32.Rxd6 Qxd6 33.Bg2 Bxg2 34.Kxg2 Rd8 could the American have continued to fight on. 31...dxe5 32.Rxd7 Nxd7 33.Qc2+ 33.f5? Bc5-+ 33...g6 34.Rd3 Qc7 35.h5 Diagram

35...Nc5! With this, the author of the excellent work Storming the Barricades (Everyman 1998) is faced with a classic counter. The only thing that jumps out is the ‘pawn crater’ on the kingside. 36.hxg6+ fxg6 37.Bxe6 A desperate sacrifice, but the position was completely lost anyway. Nxe6 38.Rh3 Qc5+ 39.Kh2 Nxf4 40.Rxh6+ Kg8 White resigned. This game is a wonderful example of the coach’s oft-heard warning that pawns cannot retreat. 0–1

From 1895 to the present day, the Hastings tournament has a long tradition. But do you think that it can return to its former glory and that Hastings can once again host top tournaments like those in Wijk, Dortmund, Biel or Prague?

I don't believe in a Hastings renaissance. The golden age of Hastings is over, at the latest since the financially induced cancellation of the Grandmaster tournament. (2003/ 2004). Since then the tournament has survived more or less on the support of the town, smaller companies and private sponsors.

A silver lining on the horizon, however, is the sponsorship of the company "Caplin". The IT specialist has been a loyal financial partner for the past five years and even supported the congress during the difficult coronavirus period with a highly competitive online tournament.

In an interview I conducted with John Ashworth, the CEO of Caplin, which appeared in the German Chess Magazine Schachmagazin 64 (February 2023), I learnt that he is prepared to support the tournament in the longer term. So there is a good chance that the 100th edition will be celebrated in December 2026. I'd like to be involved.

And will you remain loyal to Hastings, both as a participant and as a chronicler?

All the information, anecdotes and England experiences that I have stored with love, passion and care cannot and will not be thrown out of the window. The book describes not only the history of Hastings, but also the importance of England as a pioneer of modern tournament chess (London 1851).

The author Jürgen Brustkern (left) together with the English grandmaster Stuart Conquest, who wrote the foreword for the English edition.

I was also keen to cover the history of the greatest British chess successes (London 1927, the Golden Generation of 1986-1992 and Short's runner-up title in 1993). Surprisingly there is no standard literature on the chess highlights of the island nation! So I could well imagine writing a second book on English chess history.

Good luck then - and thank you very much for the interview!

Link

hastingschess.com