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The Hastings International Chess Congress is one of the most traditional chess tournaments in the world. It began in 1895 with one of the most significant tournaments of the 19th century, held from 5 August to 2 September 1895 at the Brassey Institute in Hastings, England. This round-robin event with 22 participants gathered the chess elite of the time, including World Champions Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker, as well as other notable players such as Siegbert Tarrasch and Mikhail Chigorin. The surprising winner was the relatively unknown American Harry Nelson Pillsbury, who triumphed with 16½ out of a possible 21 points.
Participants of the Hastings 1895 Chess Tournament (standing, from left): Albin, Schlechter, Janowski, Marco, Blackburne, Maróczy, Schiffers, Gunsberg, Burn, Tinsley; (seated, from left): Vergani, Steinitz, Chigorin, Em. Lasker, Pillsbury, Tarrasch, Mieses, Teichmann (Photo: Wikipedia, public domain).
In the first volume of My Great Predecessors, Garry Kasparov writes about this epochal tournament and highlights the following game, which he analyses in much greater detail, as one of the best of the tournament.
This successful debut laid the foundation for the establishment of the Hastings International Chess Congress as an annual event. Since then, the tournament has regularly attracted the world's best chess players and produced many memorable games and historical moments over the years.
This year's edition of the Hastings International Chess Congress, which concluded on Friday, continued this proud tradition – albeit with participant fields in recent years no longer as illustrious as in past decades and centuries. In an exciting competition held from 28 December 2024 to 3 January 2025, both established grandmasters and rising talents competed against each other. After nine rounds of the Swiss open, Chinese untitled player Haowen Xue emerged undefeated with 7 points to claim first place. Tied for second place were grandmasters Pengxiang Zhang (China) and Pierre Laurent-Paoli (France), each scoring 6½ points.
In round six, Xue Haowen (left) faced Zhang Pengxiang, and they signed a draw
The decisive game in round 8
Other players who scored 6½ points included 15-year-old Shreyas Royal (England), Kirk Ghazarian (USA), Eldar Gasanov (Ukraine) and Daniel W. Gormally (England). A total of 112 players participated in the tournament, including four from Germany. Among them, untitled player Lasse Struck (born 2003) fought his way to 29th place entering the event as the 64th seed. He gained 55 rating points by defeating several significantly stronger players and titled opponents.
Here, Struck demonstrated the power of the bishop pair against a significantly higher-rated player.
Final standings
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xue, Haowen | 2502 | 7 | ||
| 2 | GM | Zhang, Pengxiang | 2567 | 6,5 | |
| GM | Laurent-Paoli, Pierre | 2559 | 6,5 | ||
| GM | Royal, Shreyas | 2522 | 6,5 | ||
| GM | Ghazarian, Kirk | 2501 | 6,5 | ||
| GM | Gasanov, Eldar | 2476 | 6,5 | ||
| GM | Gormally, Daniel W | 2424 | 6,5 | ||
| 8 | GM | Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar | 2537 | 6 | |
| IM | Seo, Jung Min | 2491 | 6 | ||
| IM | Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav | 2484 | 6 | ||
| GM | Kovchan, Alexander | 2455 | 6 | ||
| IM | Zhou, Yang-Fan | 2424 | 6 | ||
| FM | Grutter, Tim | 2379 | 6 | ||
| IM | Siva, Mahadevan | 2349 | 6 | ||
| FM | Lux, Hugo De Melo | 2327 | 6 | ||
| FM | Badacsonyi, Stanley | 2266 | 6 | ||
| 17 | IM | Boyer, Mahel | 2526 | 5,5 | |
| IM | Kaasen, Tor Fredrik | 2473 | 5,5 | ||
| FM | Golding, Alex | 2405 | 5,5 | ||
| IM | Vestby-Ellingsen, Mads | 2383 | 5,5 |
