Chess on New Year’s Eve at the 97th Congress in Hastings

by Klaus Besenthal
12/31/2023 – The traditional chess tournament in the English seaside resort of Hastings has been held immediately after Christmas for over 100 years. The event has reached its 97th edition, with rounds taking place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The most important tournament, the Masters, which includes a number of titleholders, ends on January 5. French grandmaster Maxime Lagarde is the tournament’s top seed.
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Caplin Hastings International Chess Congress

The defending champion at the Hastings Masters is the Lithuanian GM Sarunas Sulskis, who scored an attacking win in the first round, in which the combination of a queen sacrifice and h-pawn reaching g7 was somewhat reminiscent of a famous game by Mikhail Tal:

Sulskis, Sarunas24901–0Pert, Max1950
Caplin Hastings Masters 2023-24
28.12.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Guenther]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.Nc3 c6 6.a4 Bb4 7.e4 b5 8.e5 h6 9.exf6 hxg5 10.fxg7 Rg8 11.g3 Bb7 12.Bg2 Nd7 13.h4 gxh4 14.Rxh4
This is a position known from theory - but Black now loses the thread. 14...Bxc3+? It is not clear why Black played this move. More natural was 14...Qc7 15.bxc3 Qa5 The attack on c3 would at best earn Black a pawn - a pawn that White can easily do without. But without this move there would have been no point in capturing on c3. 16.axb5! Qxb5 After 16...Qxc3+ 17.Nd2 Black is clearly worse: he can no longer get a grip on the double threat of bxc6 and Rh8. 17.Rb1 Qa6 18.Ne5! This knight threatens to cause great damage in the black camp. Nxe5 19.dxe5 Rd8 20.Rh8! Rxd1+ 20...Ke7 21.Qxd8+ obviously no longer helps. 21.Kxd1 1–0

Replay below Tal’s game, which many readers will have seen before.

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1.e4 1)SCHACH 10/1994 S.69 [Pötzsch]. c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Bd7 9.0-0-0 Qa5 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.g4 h6 12.h4 a6 13.Be2 Ne5? 13...Qb4 14.h5= 14.g5! hxg5? With the retreat 14...Ng8 the worst could have been prevented. 15.hxg5 Rxh1 16.gxf6! A great intermediate move. Tal also worked his magic in simultaneous exhibitions! Rxd1+ 16...Rh7 17.fxg7 Rxg7± 17.Nxd1! Qxd2 18.fxg7! 18.Bxd2? is tempting, but Bxf6 19.Ne3 Bg5-+ 18...Kd8 18...e6 19.g8Q+ 19.Bxd2?! is significantly worse Ke7+- 19...Ke7 20.Qg7+- 20.Bxd2?! is not an option Rxg8 21.f4 Nc6 19.g8Q+ Kc7 20.Qxc8+ Kxc8 21.Bxd2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tal,M-Feuerstein,A-1–01958Tal sim

Another guest in Hastings is Pengxiang Zhang, a name that may not ring a bell with many readers. However, 15 or 20 years ago, the Chinese player was part of the extended world elite — only to stop playing completely for a number of years.

Pengziang proved that he is still strong in the second round.

Rudd, Jack23140–1Zhang, Pengxiang2558
Caplin Hastings Masters 2023-24
29.12.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Guenther]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 b6 11.dxc5 Qc7 12.cxb6 axb6 13.Rb1 Ne5 14.Bd5 Rb8 15.Qa4 e6 16.Bb3 Bd7 17.Qb4 Rfd8 18.c4 b5
In this position White made a serious mistake. 19.cxb5? Necessary was 19.c5 Nd3 20.Qd2 White loses the c5-pawn and then has a slightly worse position, but can hold on. 19...Bxb5 This bishop has suddenly become a giant. 20.Qe1 Nd3 It wasn't actually difficult to see, but it's impressive how active all the black pieces have become - and how well they work together. 21.Qd2 Nxf2 22.Qxd8+ 22.Qe1 Ng4 23.Bf4 Be5 24.Bxe5 Qxe5 25.g3 Qc5+ 26.Kh1 Bd3 is no fun for White either. 22...Qxd8 23.Rxf2 Qd3 0–1

Standings after round 3

1 3
GM Zhang, Pengxiang CHN 2558 3 3 2,45 0,55 10 5,5
6
GM Laurent-Paoli, Pierre FRA 2524 3 3 2,39 0,61 10 6,1
15
IM Royal, Shreyas ENG 2438 3 3 2,17 0,83 10 8,3
19
GM Cherniaev, Alexander ENG 2381 3 3 2,15 0,85 10 8,5
32
FM Nielsen, Andre NOR 2239 3 3 1,27 1,73 20 34,6
6 1
GM Lagarde, Maxime FRA 2640 2,5 2,5 2,54 -0,04 10 -0,4
2
GM Gupta, Abhijeet IND 2596 2,5 2,5 2,44 0,06 10 0,6
8
IM Ghasi, Ameet K ENG 2509 2,5 2,5 2,61 -0,11 10 -1,1
9
GM Petrov, Martin BUL 2501 2,5 2,5 2,45 0,05 10 0,5
12
GM Gasanov, Eldar UKR 2487 2,5 2,5 2,46 0,04 10 0,4
13
IM Wadsworth, Matthew J ENG 2448 2,5 2,5 2,11 0,39 10 3,9
14
GM Gormally, Daniel W ENG 2442 2,5 2,5 2,73 -0,23 10 -2,3
16
IM Willow, Jonah B ENG 2427 2,5 2,5 2,02 0,48 10 4,8
18
IM Boyer, Mahel FRA 2427 2,5 2,5 2,72 -0,22 10 -2,2
21
GM Arkell, Keith C ENG 2371 2,5 2,5 2,22 0,28 10 2,8
22
IM Unuk, Laura w SLO 2345 2,5 2,5 2,17 0,33 10 3,3
17 4
GM Jacobson, Brandon USA 2538 2 2 2,35 -0,35 10 -3,5
5
GM Edouard, Romain FRA 2527 2 2 2,47 -0,47 10 -4,7
7
GM Mikhalevski, Victor ISR 2524 2 2 2,57 -0,57 10 -5,7
10
GM Sengupta, Deep IND 2501 2 2 2,41 -0,41 10 -4,1
11
GM Sulskis, Sarunas LTU 2490 2 2 2,64 -0,64 10 -6,4
17
GM Gallagher, Joseph G SUI 2427 2 2 2,20 -0,20 10 -2
20
FM Derakhshani, Borna ENG 2380 2 2 2,06 -0,06 10 -0,6
23
FM Grutter, Tim NED 2342 2 2 2,16 -0,16 20 -3,2
24
IM Fischer, Daniel SUI 2341 2 2 2,12 -0,12 10 -1,2
25
FM Waldhausen Gordon, Frederick SCO 2338 2 2 1,94 0,06 20 1,2
27
IM Vestby-Ellingsen, Mads NOR 2329 2 2 1,95 0,05 10 0,5
29
FM Lux, Hugo De Melo BRA 2311 2 2 1,98 0,02 10 0,2
31
IM Sarkar, Justin USA 2272 2 2 2,78 -0,78 10 -7,8
34
Boswell, Jacob Connor ENG 2235 2 2 1,92 0,08 20 1,6

...103 players

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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