Nunc est bibendum

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 9 of the Hastings Masters

The 2009-10 Hastings Masters ended in a fourway tie for first place, between Mark Hebden of England, British Champion David Howell, Andrei Istratescu of Roumania,  and Romain Edouard of France.

To nobody's great surprise, the two leaders, Hebden and Istratescu, halved out in 11 moves. This left them safely ensconced in the clubhouse on 7 points, from which they could observe the attempts of the various 6-pointers to catch them up. Gormally-Drozdovskij never looked like ending in anything other than a draw, but Romain Edouard defeated Simon Ansell with Black, to join the leaders. Finally, in the last few minutes up to the first time-control, they were joined by David Howell, whose opponent lost the thread in the time-scramble:

Hastings Masters

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.a4 b4 9.Nbd2 d6 10.a5 Be6 11.Nc4 Qc8 12.h3 h6 13.Be3 Rb8 14.Nfd2 Nh7 15.Ba4 Nd8 16.f4 exf4 17.Bxf4 f5 18.exf5 Bxf5 19.Qe2 Ne6 20.Be3 Kh8 21.Nb3 Bg6 22.Rxf8+ Nhxf8 23.Nd4 Nxd4 24.Bxd4 Ne6 25.Ba7 Ra8 26.Be3 Bf6 27.Bc6 Nd4 28.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 29.Kh1 Rb8 30.Rf1 Bf6 31.Qe3 Qd8 32.Qa7 b3 33.cxb3 Rxb3 34.Re1 d5 35.Ne5

35...Bxe5 36.Rxe5 Rxd3 37.Qc5 Qf6 38.Rxd5 Qf1+ 39.Qg1 Rxh3+ 40.gxh3 Qxh3+ 41.Qh2 Qf1+ 42.Qg1 Be4+ 43.Kh2 Qe2+ 44.Kh3 Bxd5 45.Bxd5 Qh5+ 46.Kg3 Qxd5 47.Qa7 Qb3+ 48.Kg4 Qc4+ 49.Kg3 Kh7 50.b4 h5 51.b5 Qxb5 52.Qxc7 Qg5+ 53.Kh2 h4 54.Qc4 Qg3+ 55.Kh1 Qf3+ 56.Kh2 h3 57.Qc2+ Kh6 58.Qc1+ Kh5 59.Qc5+ g5 60.Qc2 Qg2+ 0-1

Jonathan Hawkins won his last-round game, to secure his third IM norm and the title, on which we offer our heartiest congratulations. Sadly, Bob Eames missed out, after losing a must-win game against Natalia Zdebskaja, whose 3.5/4 finish lifted her to a share of 5-8th places. Martin Mitchell also missed a norm, when he lost to Andrew Martin, as did Elias Demac of Norway, who went down to Andrew Greet. Lower down, young Peter Williams, who has been one of the stars of this past week, capped an excellent performance, by beating the highly experienced Petr Marusenko, after a dramatic struggle.

The £100 Horntye Park best game prize goes to Simon Williams, who produced a stunningly imaginative queen sacrifice, to beat Andrew Green in the final round. In all honesty, I (the judge of the prize) have had no time in which to establish whether it is fully sound, but my  reasoning is that if it is, it certainly deserves the prize, and arguably it does so, even if not!

Hastings Masters (9.24), 05.01.2010

1.f4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 0–0 6.e4 c5 7.d5 e6 8.e5 dxe5 9.fxe5 Ng4 10.Bg5 Qa5 11.Be2 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.0–0 f6 14.Bh6 Rf7 15.Ne4 Bd4+

16.Qxd4 cxd4 17.Nxf6+ Kh8 18.Ne8 Rf5 19.g4 exd5 20.gxf5 Bxf5 21.Bf3 dxc4 22.Bxb7 Qb5 23.Nd6 Qb6 24.Rae1 d3+ 25.Kh1 Nd7 26.Bxa8 Nf6 27.Nxf5 gxf5 28.Rxf5 1–0

Thus, another Hastings comes to an end, in many ways one of the most enjoyable I ever remember. Many thanks to everyone involved in sponsoring and running the event, and to all the players, for making it such a great 9 days of chess.

And now, as monk-copyists used to write at the end of manuscripts, Nunc scripto totum pro Christo ta mihi potum - now that I have written so much for Christ, give me a drink! In my case, it is Caissa rather than Christ, but the sentiment remains the same! Ultimum vale.

De pilo pendet

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 8 of the Hastings Masters

I wandered into the Congress Office yesterday around mid-morning, and stood chatting briefly with Pam Thomas, the Congress Publicity Officer, when suddenly, from the next room, there emerged the dulcet East Ham tones of IM Andrew Martin. I found him surrounded by a couple of boxes full of booklets, each of which he was signing. I mentioned in my first round report that Andrew plays very little tournament chess these days, concentrating instead on his career as a writer and trainer. He is certainly one of the country's busiest junior trainers, and has been heavily involved in the ECF's "Chess Sets for Schools" project. This is a project, which started some 18 months ago, when a company called Holloid Plastics approached the ECF, with a proposal to manufacture and distribute up to 250,000 free chess sets, to be allocated amongst every school in the country. Such a massive boost in school chess activity represents a unique opportunity for English chess.

Unfortunately, the management of the project has not exactly been a model of efficiency or effectiveness, and it has attracted a great deal of criticism.  However, it now appears that things are finally on the move. With a newly-constituted ECF Management Board firmly behind the project, many thousands of sets are currently in the process of being delivered to the approximately 9,000 schools which have applied for them. Alongside the delivery of sets themselves, the ECF has developed a Certificate of Merit scheme, which involves a multi-level online test, which pupils can take, to improve their chess skill. Andrew has been heavily involved in developing material for this scheme, and the booklets he was signing are part of it. They complement an excellent DVD, which has been produced by Andrew, in cooperation with Chessbase, the world's leading supplier of chess software. Together, the materials add up to a first-rate beginners' course, and it is hoped that as many pupils as possible will sign up to the Certificate of Merit scheme. Ex nihilo, nihil fit, as they say - by working now to develop a whole generation of children, who are familiar with the game, and enjoy playing it, we can build a foundation for Britain's chess future, as well as transforming the ailing finances of the ECF itself.

IM Jack Rudd, modelling the latest in ECF-approved chess education literature

But now ad rem. Yesterday's penultimate round of the 2009/10 Hastings Masters saw two of the leading group win, and thereby assure themselves a half point lead over the field, going into today's final round. Mark Hebden won the longest game of the day against Christophe Philipe of France, whilst Andrei Istratescu beat Simon Ansell in a model positional game. The latter's Kalashnikov Sicilian soon led to a galloping case of what Hans Kmoch, in his classic book Pawn Power in Chess, described as "leucopenia" (that's what you and I call "weak white squares"), after which the Roumanian GM sucked the blood from Black's position, with an efficiency that would have done credit to his mythical Transylvanian countryman:

Hastings Masters (8), 04.01.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nf6 9.c4 b4 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Qd5 Bd7 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.Be2 Qd8 14.h3 Qc8 15.b3 Be7 16.Bg4 Be6 17.Qd1 0–0 18.0–0 Bxg4 19.Qxg4 a5 20.Rd1 Nd8 21.Ne3 Qxg4 22.hxg4

22...Nb7 23.Nd5 Bd8 24.Be3 h6 25.g3 Re8 26.Kg2 Rc8 27.a3 bxa3 28.Rxa3 Nc5 29.Nc3 Re6 30.f3 Kf8 31.Rd5 Bb6 32.Kf2 Rb8 33.Ke2 Ke8 34.Nb5 Kd7 35.Bxc5 Bxc5 36.Rxa5 Rc8 37.Ra4 Ke7 38.b4 Bb6 39.Ra6 Rb8 40.Rxd6 Rxd6 41.Nxd6 Kxd6 42.Rxb6+ 1–0

Meanwhile, those following the live broadcasts had the unaccustomed experience of seeing a novelty on move 2 of the Sicilian! Well, maybe it is not technically a novelty, but I for one have not seen the move 2.Be2 played in a master game before. Despite its exceptionally modest appearance, it yielded Greet a decent position, but he had used too much time on the clock and lost the thread of the position completely between moves 19-25:

Hastings Masters (8), 04.01.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Be2 Nc6 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.d3 Bg4 6.0–0 e6 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Nxf3 0–0 10.Be3 c4 11.Qd2 cxd3 12.cxd3 e5 13.Rac1 Rc8 14.a3 a6 15.b4 exf4 16.Bxf4 d5 17.e5 Nh5 18.Bh2 g6

19.Bd1 Ng7 20.Bb3 a5 21.Qa2 axb4 22.a4 Nf5 23.Bxd5 Ne3 24.Bxc6 Nxf1 25.Rxf1 bxc6 26.e6 Qd5 27.exf7+ Rxf7 28.Qxd5 cxd5 29.Rb1 Rc3 30.Ne5 Bc5+ 0–1

Bates and Hawkins both had dubious-looking positions from the opening, but survived and eventually made draws (in Hawkins' case, after pressing for the win). Martin Mitchell has had a great tournament, and virtually wrapped up an IM norm, by winning an extraordinary game against John Anderson, in which the black king was chased from pillar to post, but somehow escaped the mates, and eventually decided the game by helping himself to a whole rook in broad daylight:

Hastings Masters (8.12), 04.01.2010

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Be2 a6 5.c4 Bg4 6.Ng1 h5 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.h3 Bxe2 9.Ngxe2 e5 10.Be3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qf6 14.Qe3 Ne7 15.0–0–0 0–0–0 16.Qa7 Nc6 17.Qa8+ Kd7 18.Qxb7 Qxf2 19.Nd5 Qa7

20.Nf6+ Ke6 21.Qxc6 Kxf6 22.Rhf1+ Kg7 23.Rf3 Rhe8 24.Qd5 Rd7 25.Rdf1 Ree7 26.g4 hxg4 27.hxg4 Qc5 28.Qd3 Qg5+ 29.Rf4 Re5 30.Qd2 Rde7 31.Rh1 Re8 32.Qh2 f5 33.gxf5 Rxe4 34.f6+ Kf7 35.Qh7+ Ke6 36.Qh3+ Ke5

37.Qc3+ Kxf4 0–1

Another untitled player who has had an excellent tournament is Bob Eames, and he served up a game which will warm the cockles of every King's Gambiteer's heart. Whatever the objective risks of the opening, there is no doubt that when it works, it really works. The young Icelander, Gudmundur Kjartansson, has shown repeatedly over the past couple of years that he is a very strong player indeed, but he was caught out with his theory yesterday, and the result was brutal:

Hastings Masters (8.10), 04.01.2010

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.d4 d6 5.h4 g4 6.Ng1 Bh6 7.Nc3 c6 8.Nge2 Qf6 9.g3 fxg3 10.Nxg3 Bxc1 11.Rxc1 h5 12.e5 dxe5 13.Nce4 Qe7 14.Bc4 f5

15.0–0 Nh6 16.dxe5 fxe4 17.Nxe4 Nd7 18.e6 Kd8 19.Qd4 Re8 20.exd7 Bxd7 21.Nc5 Kc7 22.Rcd1 Rad8 23.Rfe1 Qf8 24.Rxe8 Qxe8 25.Qd6+ Kc8

26.Ne6 1–0

So today's final round sees the following leading pairings:

Hebden (6.5) - Istratescu (6.5)

Gormally (6) - Drozdovskij (6)

Hracek (6) - Howell (6)

Ansell (5.5) -- Edouard (6)

Logic would suggest that the players on boards 2-4 need to play for a win, so hopefully some fighting chess should be guaranteed. My message to the players is: come on lads, remember what the Romans used to say - sic itur ad astra!

Mors tua, vita mea

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 7 of the Hastings Masters

The latter rounds of Swiss tournaments can often be bloody affairs, in which "many must die, that a few may live". As we reach the business end of the tournament, draws are of little use to those battling for major prizes. It is usually only in the last round, alas, that wholesale grandmaster draws take precedence, as players seek to consolidate their earlier gains. Most often, the real battle for the prizes takes place in the penultimate and ante-penultimate rounds.

So it was in yesterday's seventh round of the Hastings Masters. Although the top two boards were both drawn, the next nine all saw decisive results, with White triumphing in eight of those games. Romain Edouard of France won another fine positional game, this time at the expense of Andreas Strunski. The German IM donated his dark-squared bishop in the opening, and spent the rest the rest of the game in chains on the dark squares:

Hastings Masters (7), 03.01.2010

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e4 Bb4 7.Bg5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Qa5 9.e5 Ne4 10.Rc1 b6 11.Qc2 Qd5 12.Bxc4 Qxc4 13.Qxe4 h6 14.Nd2 Qd5 15.Be3 Qxe4 16.Nxe4 Ba6 17.c4 Nd7 18.f4 Ke7 19.Bd2 c5 20.d5 f6 21.d6+ Kf7 22.0–0 f5 23.Nf2 Bb7 24.a5 g6 25.Rc3 Bc6 26.Ra1 Rhg8 27.Rh3 Rh8 28.Rha3 Rhg8 29.Rh3 Rh8 30.Kf1 Bb7

31.Rha3 g5 32.axb6 axb6 33.Ra7 g4 34.Nd1 Bc6 35.Nc3 Rhb8 36.Nb5 Rxa7 37.Rxa7 Rb7 38.Ra3 Rb8 39.Nc7 b5 40.cxb5 Bxb5+ 41.Nxb5 Rxb5 42.Ra7 Ke8 43.Ke2 h5 44.Kd3 Rb3+ 45.Kc4 Rb2 46.Ba5 Rf2 47.Ra8+ Kf7 48.g3 Rc2+ 49.Kb3 Rc1 50.Rd8 Rb1+ 51.Kc2 Rb7 52.Bc7 Nb6 53.Bxb6 Rxb6 54.Rh8 1–0

In the all-English clash Howell-Hawkins, the latter seemed to equalize without too much trouble against his opponent's main line Spanish, but an uncharacteristic rush of blood saw Hawkins sacrifice a piece for a couple of pawns in the queenless middlegame. It never really looked convincing, and he lost without too much of a fight thereafter.

Mark Hebden has been coming to Hastings for over 30 years, and is still battling for top honours. He did his cause a power of good by cashing in when Kjartansson lost his way in a tough King's Indian position:

Hastings Masters (7), 03.01.2010

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Ne8 10.c5 h6 11.a4 f5 12.Nd2 g5 13.Ba3 Ng6 14.Re1 Nf6 15.b5 Rf7 16.cxd6 cxd6 17.Nc4 Bf8 18.exf5 Bxf5 19.Ne3 Bd7 20.g3 Rc8 21.Bb4 e4 22.Qb1 Ne5 23.Nxe4 Nxe4 24.Qxe4 Qf6 25.Rf1 Bh3

Here, the computer is still optimistic about White's chances after 26.Bh5, but the young Icelander instead preferred the dubious 26.f4? After 26...gxf4 27.gxf4 Nd7 he was already in some trouble, and his attempt to hold things together by 28.Ng2? simply lost material. Play continued 28...Re7 29.Qd3 Bf5 30.Qd1 Qb2, and wriggle as he might, White cannot avoid dropping something. Hebden won after 31.Bd2 Rc2 32.Rb1 Qd4+ 33.Be3 Qxd1 0–1

Simon Ansell continued his fine run by beating Kolbus, whilst Keith Arkell was in trouble early on against Giffard, but turned the tables in the middlegame and won. On the next board, another English GM found himself in trouble with White, and for a fleeting moment, it looked as though Gormally was going to become the victim of the day's big upset:

Gormally,Daniel W (2479) - Anderson,John (2209) [A45]

Hastings Masters (7), 03.01.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 d6 5.h4 h5 6.Bc4 Bh6 7.Nd2 f5 8.Ne2 0–0 9.g3 Nd7 10.Nf4 Bxf4 11.gxf4 Nf6 12.Qf3 Rb8 13.Rg1 Kg7 14.0–0–0 b5 15.Be2 Be6 16.Qg3 c5 17.dxc5 Qa5 18.e4? Qxa2 19.exf5 Qa1+ 20.Nb1

At this point, with the watching internet audience cheering him on, Anderson could have secured his second consecutive GM scalp, by 20...Ba2, eg. 21.Bd3 (21.fxg6 Ne4 -+) Qxb1+ 22.Kd2 Qxb2 23.fxg6 and now 23...dxc5 24.gxf7+ Ng4 wins, although the computer prefers 23...Rg8 instead. Instead, he ignored the classical injunction occasionem cognosce and chose 20... Bxf5??, after which the tables quickly turned.  21.Bd3 Bxd3 22.Rxd3 Ne4? 23.Qe3 Nxc5 24.Ra3 1–0. A narrow escape for the GM, and a major missed opportunity for Anderson.

By the end of round seven, therefore, we have no fewer than seven players sharing the lead on 5.5, with another six just half a point behind. Today's top 8 live boards should see some serious fighting chess, as those with the white pieces, for probably the last time in the tournament, make a desperate effort to put themselves in pole position for the final round. As the Spartan women used to tell their husbands and sons, when sending them into battle, "E tan, e epi tan!" - "Come back with your shield or upon it!".

Qui gladio ferit, gladio perit

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 6 of the Hastings Masters

It has been suggested to me, by a certain cynical German of my acquaintance, that some of my readers may be a little baffled by the various Latin quotations, with which my reports this week have been peppered. I personally find this hard to believe, since I feel sure that the deleterious effects of downgrading the role of the classics in the modern education system is more than compensated for by the wonders of the internet, and particularly Google. A simple copy and paste operation on the offending phrase is sure within a nanosecond to produce an English translation, plus full background notes. Nonetheless, I have been persuaded that a glossary of terms should be included in these reports. Being a man who always listens to the advice of my elders and betters, I have therefore decided that such a glossary should be offered to my readers today. Fortunately, Alex McFarlane, the Chief Arbiter of the Hastings Masters, just happens to have been keeping such a list of translations throughout the week, so I am able to offer this for your education and delectation, without the need to perform any significant labour myself. I am unsure of the precise details of Alex's classical education, but I know him to be a recently-retired schoolmaster in the excellent Scottish education system, so I am fully confident of the reliability of his efforts. Without further ado, therefore, I set out below a list of the English translations of all those Latin tags used in reports 1-5, which I trust you will find helpful:

Back at the chess, round 6 of this year's Hastings Masters saw another batch of tremendously hard-fought games. On board two, Keith Arkell found himself hoist by his own petard, in the unaccustomed role of having to defend a slightly worse endgame. Despite defending unguibus et rostro, he was unable to hold:

Drozdovskij - Arkell

With R+B v R+N, and the superior queenside pawn structure, White stands better, but it is hard to make progress. Bobby Fischer won a number of classic examples of such endings, including two in his 1971 Candidates match against Taimanov. 41.Rc4 Rd6 42.Ra4 Rd7 43.Rc4 Rd6 44.Kf1 Kd8 45.Ra4 Rd7 46.Ra6 Rc7 47.Ra4 Rd7 48.Ra6 Rc7 49.Ke1 Re7+ 50.Kd1 Rd7 51.Kd2 Kc8 52.Kc3 Kb7 53.Ra4 Ne2+ 54.Kc2 Nd4+ 55.Kd3 Nf5+ 56.Kc3 Kb6 57.Rb4+ Kc7 58.Rc4 Ne7 59.Rd4 Rxd4 60.Kxd4 Kd6 After the game, the players were agreed that Black should not have allowed the exchange of rooks. With rooks on the board, it is almost impossible for White to make progress, whereas now, the superiority of his bishop over the short-stepping knight is magnified. 61.Kc4 Nc8 62.Kb4 Nb6 63.b3 Nd7 64.Ka5 Nc5 65.Bf1 Ne4 66.Bc4 Nxf2 67.Bxf7 Ne4 68.Bxg6 Nxg3 69.Ka6 Ne2 70.Kxa7 Nc1 71.Bb1 Kc5 72.Kb7 Kb5 73.a4+ Ka5 74.Bc2 Ne2 75.Bd1 Nd4 76.b4+ Kxb4 77.Kb6 c5 78.a5 c4 79.a6 Nb5 80.Bxh5 c3 81.Bg6 Nd6 82.h5 1–0

Second seed Zbynek Hracek won a classic Sicilian counterattack against his French IM opponent:

Hastings Masters (6), 02.01.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.Be3 0–0 9.Qe2 b5 10.0–0–0 b4 11.Na4 Qc7 12.f3 Nbd7 13.g4 Nc5 14.g5 Nfd7 15.h4 Nxa4 16.Bxa4 Nc5 17.Bb3 Nxb3+ 18.axb3 Bd7 19.h5 a5

20.g6 Bf6 21.Qh2 h6 22.gxf7+ Rxf7 23.Rhg1 a4 24.bxa4 Rxa4 25.Nb3 e5 26.Qd2 Be6 27.Kb1 Ra6 28.Qxb4 Qc6 29.c3? Presumably missing Black's 30th, but the white position is already looking extremely suspicious. Rb7 30.Na5

30...Ba2+! 31.Kc1 Rxb4 32.Nxc6 Rxc6 33.Bxh6 Bb3 34.Rde1 Rb7 35.Bg5 Rf7 36.h6 g6 37.Kd2 Bxg5+ 38.Rxg5 Kh7 39.Reg1 Rf6 40.Ra1 Rxf3 41.Kc1 0–1

Kjartansson kept up his challenge by beating Furman with the black pieces, whilst Simon Ansell did the same at the expense of young Peter Williams. Jonathan Hawkins' bid for a third and final IM norm is well on track after another win, whilst John Anderson, who came close to a norm here last year, renewed his chances, with a surprise win against Simon Williams.

Yesterday saw the announcement of the £100 Best Game prize for the Masters tournament, generously sponsored by the Trustees of Horntye Park, our playing venue. Anyone wishing to enter a game for consideration for this prize can do so at the Control Desk. Your correspondent is the judge for this prize, so naturally, any player submitting his game with annotations, written in Latin, will have an obvious head start...The announcement of the prize immediately generated a potential contender, in the shape of following attacking effort, by a player outrated by some 250 points:

Hastings Masters (6.16), 02.01.2010

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Qe2 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.g3 b5 6.Bg2 dxe4 7.dxe4 b4 8.Nbd2 Ba6 9.Nc4 Nc6 10.e5 Nd5 11.Qe4 Qb8 12.Ne3 Qd8 13.Bd2 Bc5 14.0–0–0 Bxe3 15.Bxe3 Rb8 16.Qg4 Rg8 17.Qe4 Rh8 18.Qg4 Kf8 19.Ng5 Nce7 20.Qf3 Qe8 21.Nxe6+ Kg8 22.Nc5 Bc4

23.Bh6 Qc6 24.e6 f5 25.Nd7 Rd8 26.Rhe1 gxh6 27.Qh5 Ng6 28.Qxf5 Rxd7 29.exd7 Kg7 30.Bxd5 Bxd5 31.Qxd5 Qxd5 32.Rxd5 Rd8 33.Re8 1–0

Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 5 of the Hastings Masters

Blunders. Don't you just hate them? Nearly all of the most dramatic moments in chess history concern those inexplicable moments of tragic weakness, when a player throws away the fruits of hours' of hard work. Chess is especially cruel in that way. It is often said that blundering in a winning position is the chessboard equivalent of a cricketer getting himself out when on 99, but the late Hugh Alexander pointed out that the chess situation is even worse. Disappointed though he may be at missing out on a century, at least the batsman who gets out on 99 is allowed to keep his 99 runs. The chess player, who works like a Trojan for four or more hours to establish a winning position, and then blunders, gets a zero in the scorechart, just as surely as if he had allowed Fool's Mate - parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus, he can be heard to wail.

The other thing about blunders is that all players make them, no matter how great the players concerned may be. I am sure we all remember the tragic case of Chigorin, the great Russian master of the latter part of the 19th century, who blundered into a simple mate in 2, when a piece up against Steinitz in game 23 of their 1892 world championship match. More recently, Kramnik suffered the embarrassment of overlooking a mate in one threat, against the computer Deep Fritz, in their match in 2006. And the list goes on - name a great player, and you are sure to be able to find a few examples of his committing one-move howlers, that would not look out of place in the 4th Division of the Little Ditchford  Evening League.

Here at the 2009 Hastings, it was the British Champion, David Howell, who had cause to curse the fickle fates. After establishing a winning advantage against Andrei Istratescu of Romania, Howell blundered fatally:

 Howell,David W L (2597) - Istratescu,Andrei (2624) [C07]

Hastings Masters (5.2), 01.01.2010

Having turned down a draw offer at move 22, Howell had worked up a winning advantage, but now disaster struck. 35.Rd2 would adequately meet the threat of 35...Rxe3, but instead, a time-trouble-ravaged Howell played the catastrophic 35.Rd5??, after which he was lost, following the reply 35...Rxe3! The game ended 36.Qxe3 Qxe3 37.fxe3 Bxd5 38.Bc3 f6 39.Kf2 Kf7 40.g4 g5 41.Ke2 Be4 42.Kf2 Ke6 43.Kg3 Bd6+ 44.Kf2 Be5 45.Bd2 Kd5 0–1 Sic transit gloria mundi, as my old Medway Chess Club match captain used to say at such moments.

That stroke of good fortune allowed Istratescu to assume the outright lead. Close behind him come Edouard and Drozdovskij, who halved out after 16 moves of Queen's Gambit theory, and Keith Arkell, who beat Simon Knott. This last game was vintage Keith - queens off at move 12, into a level ending, in which he soon picked off a pawn, and won the double rook position in a canter. With all due respect to his opponent, Keith made it look like shelling peas.

Hastings Masters (5.6), 01.01.2010

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 0–0 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d4 Nb6 9.e3 Re8 10.b3 e5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Bxe5 14.Bb2 c6 15.Rd2 Bf5 16.Rad1 a5 17.Ne2 Bxb2 18.Rxb2 Rad8 19.Rc1 Re7 20.Nd4 Be4 21.Bxe4 Rxe4 22.b4 Na4 23.Rb3 axb4 24.Rxb4 c5 25.Rxa4 cxd4 26.Rd1 Rc8 27.Rb1 Re6 28.Rxd4 Rc2 29.Rf4 b6 30.a4 Ra2

31.g4 g5 32.Rf5 h6 33.Rb4 Kg7 34.h4 gxh4 35.Rbf4 f6 36.Rb4 Rc6 37.Kg2 Rc5 38.Rff4 Rg5 39.Kh3 Ra1 40.Kxh4 h5 41.Rxf6 Rxg4+ 42.Rxg4+ Kxf6 43.Kxh5 Kf5 44.Rf4+ 1–0

Hracek, Philippe and Greet all won, to join the chasing group on 4 points, the latter also including Hebden, who could not overcome Simon Ansell's defence in a theoretically drawn 3 v 2 rook ending. Lower down the tournament, Simon Williams won his second straight game, but despite this, he is still not the highest-placed player called Williams in this tournament! 13-year old namesake Peter continued his outstanding performance, by holding Kjartansson to a draw, after a long defensive struggle. There is something about this youngster which reminds me rather of the late Tony Miles - like the latter, Williams seems to have a robust self-confidence and absence of respect for reputations, and also a penchant for slightly offbeat openings (notably his regular use of 1.f4 as White). He is definitely a player to watch for the future.

Although youth has been to the fore in this event, Russian veteran Boris Furman struck back for the more mature generation, by outplaying Sam Collins with Black. Finally, on board 24, there was more evidence, as if such be needed, that the magnificent monument of chess literature that is 101 Chess Opening Traps is in dire need of a reprint - anyone from Gambit Publications listening out there?

Hastings Masters (5.24), 01.01.2010

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 8.a3 0–0 9.b4 Be6 10.Rb1 f6 11.d3 a5 12.b5 Nd4 13.Nd2

13...Nd5?? A highly plausible move, which has ensnared many a strong player. 14.Bxd5! Bxd5 15.e3 And suddenly, Black is losing a piece! Laurence fought on all the way to move 71, but eventually had to bow to the inevitable. 

Annus mirabilis

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 4 of the Hastings Masters

So, we've done it. Another year has come and gone at Hastings, and Steve Giddins once again faces the annual problem of finding something original to say about  New Year's Eve. Actually, this one proved more pleasant than usual, as, despite emerging from the Horntye only at something after 9.30pm, your control team went on to enjoy an excellent final meal of 2009, at a Thai restaurant in nearby St Leonards. We then adjourned to the White Rock Hotel, one of the sponsors of our tournament, to see in the New Year over a pint or two of most excellent, locally-brewed, real ale. If it means spending the rest of 2010 consuming pints of Dark Star "Expresso" bitter, I shall be quite happy to accept the truth of the old adage, that whatever one does on the first day of the year, one will do for the remainder of it.

But before any of this entertainment could be enjoyed, there was the small matter of the fourth round of the 2009-10 Hastings Masters. The last 100% score disappeared, after David Howell drew a fascinating see-saw battle against French IM, Christophe Philippe:

Hastings Masters (4), 31.12.2009

12.Ng5!? Initiating a fascinating bout of tactical complications.

12...Nxd5 13.Nxh7 Rf4! Of course, not 13...Kxh7 14.Qh5+, followed by 15.Bxd5+. As your chess engine will confirm, both players find their way accurately through the complications, although it cost them considerable amounts of time on the clock, especially David. 14.g3 Qe8! 15.Qxd5 Nd4 16.Bxf4 c6 17.Qf7 Qxf7 18.Bxf7 exf4 19.Red1 Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Ne5 21.Bh5 Kxh7 22.gxf4 Nd7 The smoke clears, to reveal an ending with White having rook and two pawns for two minor pieces, in which chances are about equal. 23.Bg4 Nf6 24.f3 g6 25.c4 a5 26.Rd3 Nd7 27.Rad1 Nc5

28.Rxd6?! Ambitious, but probably over-optimistic. Bxd6 29.Rxd6 Bxg4 30.hxg4 Re8 The computer's preference 30...Ra6 looks good here. Black's knight does a great job of defending his queenside pawns against the entry of the enemy rook, and once the black rook rook reaches b6, White will be unable to hold his own queenside together. Even after the text, Black looks to stand better, but he makes no further progress, and towards the end, it even looked as though might be in trouble himself. 31.f5 gxf5 32.exf5 Re7 33.g5 Re5 34.Rf6 Kg7 35.f4 Re3 36.Rh6 Nd3 37.f6+ Kg8 38.f5 Nf4+ 39.Kf2 Rh3 40.Rxh3 Nxh3+ 41.Ke3 Nxg5 42.Kd4 Kf7 43.Kc5 Ne4+ 44.Kb6 Nd2 45.c5 Nc4+ 46.Kxb7 Nxb2 47.Kxc6 Nxa4 48.Kb5 Nxc5 49.Kxa5 ½–½

This allowed four other players to join Howell in the lead on 3.5 points. Istratescu won one of the day's longest games, against Breder, whilst Edouard won in impressive positional style against Sam Franklin. Drozdovskij capitalised on the white pieces, against the young Norwegian, Elias Demac, whilst Mark Hebden wielded one of his favourite opening lines, to score a crushing win against yet another talented junior, David Grant:

Hastings Masters (4), 31.12.2009

Mark has always been fond of this move-order, delaying the development of the queen's knight, which changes somewhat the contours of the main lines of the Vienna and Semi-Slav variations. Despite the fact that the database contains plenty of Mark's games in this line, it appears to have been terra incognita to Grant, because he started using a lot of time from this point on, and was soon the better part of an hour behind on the clock.

White already has a very pleasant position, with the isolated d5-pawn as a target.

The sort of move that the late Gerald Abrahams was wont to describe as "provincial", and although I have not the slightest idea what he means, it sounds like a good description! Black should probably think of challenging with 17...f6, or bringing the knight closer to the kingside with 17...Nd7.

This probably warrants the same adjective as 17...a6. 20...Nf8 was better, when 21.f4? is strongly met by 21...Ng6. Now White has a free hand to roll on the kingside, and the rest is painful to watch.

 25.Qg3 g5 26.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Qh3 Kg7 28.Ng4! Even better than taking the rook. 1–0 A typically impressive Hebden crush.

Hracek, Gormally and Greet were amongst others who won, to reach 3 points, as did young Peter Williams, whose play so far has been highly impressive. Another young player on 3/4 is Gudmundur Kjartansson from Iceland, who did so well here last year. Today he crushed Jason McKenna, in double-quick time:

Hastings Masters (4.12), 31.12.2009

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2 Nf6 6.f3 b5 7.a4 b4 8.Nd1 a5 9.Nf2 Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.Ne2 Nd7 12.Bh6 Bxh6 13.Qxh6 e5 14.0–0 Qe7 15.c3 Rb8 16.c4 c5 17.dxe5 dxe5 18.Rad1 Nc7 19.Ng4 Ne6 20.f4 exf4 21.Nxf4 Nxf4 22.Rxf4 Rb6 23.e5 Re6 24.Re4 f5 25.exf6 Nxf6 26.Nxf6+ Qxf6

27.Rd6! 1–0

And with that, we say farewell to the year that has passed. All that remains for me is to wish you every happiness and success for 2763, anno urbis conditae!

Hodie mihi, cras tibi

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 3 of the Hastings Masters

In all walks of life, the relentless march of youth is inevitable, and each generation must eventually give way to its successors. Nowhere is this more so than in chess, with the average age of the top grandmasters having dropped by 10-15 years, over recent times. Fischer's grandmaster title at age 15 was a sensation in 1958, whereas now, anyone who is not a GM by about 12 or 13 is already in danger of missing the boat.

It seems particularly appropriate to be reflecting on such matters today, as this morning we have seen the publication of the new FIDE rating list. This shows Magnus Carlsen at the no.1 spot, aged just 19, the youngest world no.1 ever. But there was further confirmation of the triumph of youth in yesterday's 3rd round of the Hastings Masters. Several young players found themselves facing GMs, and despite large rating disparities, they acquitted themselves well. David Howell, himself still a teenager, took the sole lead, by beating the much lower-rated Martin Mitchell, although it was not a vintage performance by the British Champion. Amongst those who reached 2.5 points was the top seed, Yuri Drozdovskij, who found himself playing 13-year old Peter Williams, rated no fewer than 613 points below him! However, the youngster showed no sign of being over-awed, and held his powerful opponent at bay for much of the session:

Hastings Masters (3), 30.12.2009

This rather bizarre-looking set-up was a favourite of the great Dane, Bent Larsen, amongst whose victims in the line is no less a player than Boris Spassky. Despite Larsen's successes with it, however, the line has never caught on. The underlying logic is to fianchetto the queen's bishop, without allowing Black to shut the bishop out by playing c5 and d4.

25.g4? Hitherto, White has played excellently, and held his much stronger opponent very well. 25.Rc1 cxd4 26.exd4 would leave Black only a small advantage, but after the text, White suffers fatal material loss. 25...cxd4 26.exd4 Nb6 27.Qxb7+ Re7 28.Qc6 Nxc4 29.Qxc4 fxg4 30.Qc3 h5 31.Nc6 Re2 32.Ne5 Re4 33.Nc6 h4 34.b6 Re2 35.Ne5 Qxb6 36.Kf1 Rxh2 37.Qd3 Qf6+ 0–1

Another young player to score an excellent result was 15-year old Samuel Franklin, who defeated an out-of-form Simon Williams. Franklin recently scored an excellent second place at the Guernsey International winning a fine attacking game against the experienced IM, Robert Bellin, in the process. Franklin's reward for beating Williams is a board 4 pairing today against French GM, Romain Edouard, who was held to a draw by Jonathan Hawkins.

Anyone looking at trends in international chess nowadays would have to conclude that being Norwegian is a significant benefit. Following in the footsteps of Magnus Carlsen, Norway is undergoing the biggest chess boom in its history, and other young Norwegian players are starting to make an impact. The FIDE Open section at the London Classic in December was won by Jon Ludvig Hammer, and here at Hastings we have several Norwegian players present. One of them is Elias Demac, who moved onto 2.5 points, by beating Laurence Webb. For the latter, it was the second day in succession that he had fought out the longest game of the day, and come up short in a rook ending. Another of the day's marathons saw Dennis Breder overcome Bob Eames' resistance, in an ending of Q v R+B, but Danny Gormally will have been disappointed at failing to do the same against Dieter Kolbus.

Sam Collins bounced back from the previous day's opening disaster, to win the shortest game of the tournament so far - just 13 moves, and 30 minutes' play!

Hastings Masters (3.16), 30.12.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.Rxe5+ Be7 8.Nc3 Nxb5?

Walking into a trap of Methuselaic antiquity.

 9.Nd5! 0–0 10.Nxe7+ Kh8 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qh6 Re8

 13.Rh5 1–0

Of course, had the black player been familiar with that splendid volume, 101 Chess Opening Traps, this disaster would not have happened to him - another example of the value of being a doctus cum libro...

Non Carborundum

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 2 of the Hastings Masters

Chessplayers tend to be like the fans of other sports, in that they mainly like to see spectacular play, regardless of correctness. Soccer fans are always delighted to see a 4-4 thriller between two top Premiership teams, rather than a dry and correct 0-0 draw, regardless of Alan Hansen's apoplexy over the defensive errors in the former. Most cricket fans would rather watch Kevin Pietersen smash a quickfire 30 and then hole out in the deep, than watch a finely-crafted, technically flawless century by Boycott, just as snooker supporters tend to prefer the sub-four minute centuries of Ronnie O'Sullivan to the 40-minute safety battles of Cliff Thorburn. Chess is no exception, and it is gambit play and sacrificial attacks, which tend to catch the eye, rather than long endgame grinds. But the hard reality of the professional game is that spectacular attacks and sacrifices are very much the exception, rather than the rule. As darts commentators are fond of declaring, with all the solemnity one associates with their breed, "180s for show, doubles for dough!".

Labor omnia vincit, as the Roman poet Virgil observed. It is hard work that wins chess tournaments. The player that wins events such as the Hastings Masters, is not usually the one who wins the highest number of spectacular attacking games, but the one who sits in the tournament hall until 9.00pm at night, squeezing out those extra half points in long endgames. And when it comes to endgame grinders, there is nobody in England to compare with Keith Arkell, the Cliff Thorburn of British chess. Keith's chess heroes are Ulf Andersson and Valery Salov, both players who could wear opponents down with the remorseless efficiency of water dripping on a stone. In yesterday's second round, Keith gave a perfect demonstration of his approach, playing the longest game of the day, totaling 87 moves, in overcoming the strenuous resistance of Laurence Webb. The final stages of this double rook ending were highly complex, and you may wish to solicit the assistance of your chess engine to uncover the finer points of the ending. For now, though, just enjoy the final stages:

Webb-Arkell

Equal material, and everybody knows that all rook endings are drawn. So, shake hands, eh? Not a bit of it. 41.Kf2 Kf6 42.Rbe2 Rcb7 43.Re6+ Kf7 44.Rh6 Kg7 45.Rhe6 Kf8 46.Kg3 Rf5 47.Kg4 Rf7 48.R6e4 Rb5 49.Ra2 Rg7+ 50.Kf3 Rh5 51.Ke3 Rg1 52.Re2 Ra1 53.Kf3 Ra7 54.Kg4 Rb5 55.f5 Rab7 56.Rb2 Kf7 57.Rb3 Rc7 58.Rh3 Kg7 59.Rhe3 Rbb7 60.Rb3 d5 61.Rf4 Kf6 62.b5 Rc2 63.h4 Rb6 64.Ra4 h5+ 65.Kxh5 Kxf5 66.Rf3+ Ke5 67.Re3+ Kd6 68.Ra7 e6 69.Kg6 d4 70.Rg3 e5 71.h5 Kd5+ 72.Kg7 Rh2 73.Rg5 Ke4 74.Ra6 Rxb5 75.h6 d3 76.Rd6 d2 77.Kg6

77...Rb6 78.Rxb6 d1Q 79.Re6 Even after queening his pawn, the win is not easy, and accurate play is required from Black. Qc2 80.Rgxe5+ Kf4+ 81.Re4+ Kf3 82.Kg7 Qc7+ 83.Re7 Rg2+ 84.Kf6 Qd6+ 85.R7e6 Qf8+ 86.Ke5 Rg5+ 87.Kd4 Qc5+ 0–1

Bravo, Keith! Perhaps not ad captandum vulgus, but caviar to the general.

On the other top boards, events concluded more rapidly. Drozdovskij drew a short game with German IM and Playchess trainer, Dennis Breder, whilst Istratescu crushed Richard Bates' King's Indian in very short order:

Hastings Masters  (2.2), 29.12.2009

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6.Be3 e5 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Qd2 Nb6 9.b3 exd4 10.Nxd4 a5 11.Be2 a4 12.0–0 Re8 13.Rad1 axb3 14.axb3 c6 15.Nc2 Nfd7 16.Bd4 Bf8 17.f4 d5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Bb5 dxe4 20.f5

20...Nc5?? Black's passive play has already landed him in great trouble, but this loses at once. 21.fxg6 hxg6 22.Qf2 1–0

Other favourites who won included Edouard, Howell and Hebden, but the most exciting game of the day was probably the clash between Simon Williams and the fast-improving Jonathan Hawkins.

Hastings Masters  (2.5), 29.12.2009

1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.e4 Bb7 4.Bd3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Nxd2 Nc6 7.Ngf3 Qf6 8.e5 Qf4 9.g3 Qh6 10.0–0 g5 11.Ne4 g4 12.Nh4 f5 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Be4 0–0–0 16.Bxc6 dxc6 17.Qxg4 Rxd4 18.Qf3

18...Qg7?!

Objectively, Black should probably exchange queens and take on c4, but Simon characteristically prefers to attack. His intended exchange sacrifice looks very dangerous for White, but as the computer demonstrates, Black's threats down the long diagonal are illusory. Apart from one lapse, Jonathan Hawkins' play in the rest of the game is extremely impressive, and a fine example of Corporal Jones' motto: "Don't panic!". 19.Qc3 c5 20.Nf3 Rf8 21.Nxd4 cxd4 22.Qa3 Rf3 23.Qxa7? This should lose to 23...Qd7!, when the threat of 24...Qc6 is decisive. 24...Qg4? Missing his chance. 24...Qh3 is a big threat, but the black king has his own problems, as the sequel shows. 24.Qa4 Kd8 25.Qd1 Qe4 26.Qd2 Kc8 Both here and later, a key point is that the apparently crushing 26...Rd3 is met by 27.f3. 27.h4 h6 28.b4 e5 29.a4 Qc6 30.b5 Qxc4 31.Qxh6 Qd5 32.Qh8+ Kd7 33.Qg7+ Kd6 34.Qg6+ Kc5 35.Kh2 Rd3 36.Rg1 Qf3 37.Qe6 Qxf2+ 38.Kh3 Rc3 39.Rab1 Qf8 40.Qxe5+ Kc4 41.Qxc7+ Qc5 42.Qxc5+ bxc5 43.Rbc1 d3 44.Rxc3+ Kxc3 45.h5 1–0

Finally, there was a shock on board  8, where the arbiters' evil intentions of eliminating the last 100% scores in the bottom half of the draw were thwarted by Martin Mitchell. His victory resulted when his IM opponent, Sam Collins, forgot Nunn's First Law of Tactics, which states that "Loose bits drop off" (no, I don't know what it is in Latin...). I presume that Collins was aware of this dictum, and had just forgotten it, although even if he had not come across it before, ignorantia legis neminem excusat, as Fred Reinfeld used to say. The punishment was swift, and after just 30 minutes' play, Collins was already lost:

Finally, there was a shock on board  8, where the arbiters' evil intentions of eliminating the last 100% scores in the bottom half of the draw were thwarted by Martin Mitchell. His victory resulted when his IM opponent, Sam Collins, forgot Nunn's First Law of Tactics, which states that "Loose bits drop off" (no, I don't know what it is in Latin...). I presume that Collins was aware of this dictum, and had just forgotten it, although even if he had not come across it before, ignorantia legis neminem excusat, as Fred Reinfeld used to say. The punishment was swift, and after just 30 minutes' play, Collins was already lost:

Hastings Masters (2.9), 29.12.2009

1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.a3 f5 5.d5 Nf6 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 0–0 8.Nh3 a5 9.0–0

An innocuous-looking developing move, but containing a small threat...

9...Na6??

Which Black misses...

10.d6!

Oops. The undefended prelate on b7 is what is known in Nunnspeak as a loose bit, and now it duly drops off.

10...Bxg2 11.dxe7 Qxe7 12.Kxg2 Qc5 13.b3 d5 14.Be3 Qc6 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Bd4 Rad8 17.Rc1 Qb7 18.Nf4 c5 19.Bxf6 d4+ 20.e4 gxf6 21.Ne6 dxc3 22.Nxd8 Qa8 23.Qf3 Qxd8 24.Rfd1 Qc8 25.Qxf5 Qxf5 26.exf5 c4 27.Rxc3 Nc5 28.Rxc4 Nxb3 29.Rc6 Rb8 30.Rdd6 1–0

Laudator temporis acti

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 1 of the Hastings Masters

I am not sure why it is, but ever since reaching adulthood, I have been possessed by the permanent feeling of having been born between 50 and 100 years too late. Somehow, I have never quite felt part of the contemporary world. Look on my bookshelves at home, and you will scarcely find a novel written in the twentieth century. My taste in classical music includes very little that post-dates Mahler, and I am not aware of a single piece of art to which I would give house-room, that was created after the death of Queen Victoria. And as far as films are concerned, I have always viewed the entire industry with the deepest mistrust, and have certainly never watched more than a dozen or so that were made in colour. The same is true of the chess world. For all the technological wonders of the internet and databases, I would still  - as I did recently - rather pay £20-odd for a book of Spassky's collected games, and play through them on a board and pieces (wooden, of course - none of this modern plastic rubbish!), than access them free of charge via a computer screen. Give me adjournments, tournaments with rest days, and real 24-game world championship matches, the moves of which I am happy to find out from the newspaper the next day, rather than watching live on an internet broadcast.

If ever there was an event in the chess world which embodies tradition, it is Hastings, the world's oldest surviving international tournament. Admittedly, not all of its past glories have survived into today, but it remains one of the great occasions in the chess calendar. I have been thinking hard about how my reports could reflect its traditional values more appropriately, and believe I have found a solution. A classic tournament deserves classic writing, including Classical quotations. Victorian authors never baulked at throwing in regular Latin and Greek quotations, and rarely thought of insulting their audience by providing a translation. Alas, we live in less enlightened times, when the study of the classics has died out almost as thoroughly as the Muzio Gambit. It has always been a source of shame to me that I myself lack a classical education. However, among the Yuletide offerings I received this year was a splendid little volume, entitled "Say It In Latin - 1,000 useful phrases for every occasion". 'Tis veritable manna from heaven! Here, I have decided, is the solution to my dilemma. This year's Hastings reports will be elevated to a new cultural level, by being peppered with appropriate quotations (or, indeed, inappropriate ones - after all, abusus non tollit usum...) lifted from this fine little volume. I trust all my readers will feel suitably uplifted by this experience, and will come to realise that even Britain in the year 2009 is not quite so grim a place, if one has a Latin tag or two on hand.

The 2009-10 tournament got off to a rocky start yesterday afternoon. Half an hour into the round, none of the top four seeds had arrived at the board, and the arbiters could be seen prowling the hall, clipboards in hand, anxiously awaiting the stars of the show. Fortunately, we are not using FIDE's ludicrous "zero tolerance" default provisions, under which any player who is not seated at the board, at attention, facing the front, with arms folded and forelock tugged, when the arbiter announces the start of play, is subject to a public flogging, followed by summary execution in the middle of the tournament hall. No, here in the more civilised climate of Blighty, we give players a certain amount of leeway, and happily, all the top seeds materialised in time to avoid being defaulted. Most duly reeled in the full point, the principal exception being second seed Zbynek Hracek, who was held to a very creditable draw by Bob Eames. The latter shed a pawn, but defended like grim death in the ending, and Hracek was eventually forced to take a repetition. Top seed Yuri Drozdovskij, from The Ukraine, clinched the point, after his opponent misdefended Black's queen sacrifice:

Druckenthaler-Drozdovskij

Here Black took the two rooks with 27...exf3 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8 29.g3 Re2 30.Bd6? A fatal mistake. 30.Bf2, either immediately, or preceded by 30.h6, would keep the position unclear. 30...Bd7! Suddenly, the white king faces irresistible threats.  31.Bc5 Rg2+ 32.Kf1 Bh3 33.Bf2 Re7 0–1

Most home interest centres on British champion David Howell, fresh from his outstanding performance in the London Classic. Here, he got off to a winning start against Hastings veteran Peter Marusenko, but only after the latter over-stepped the time limit, in a drawn heavy piece ending. There were also wins for the English GM trio of Hebden, Arkell and Williams, the latter despatching Bret Addison in drastic style.

Williams-Addison

Black's position has been more reminiscent of draughts than chess for some time, and Williams now capitalised on the dark-square weaknesses with a small combination: 28.Bf8! Kxf8 29.Ng6+ Kg7 30.Nxh8 Kxh8 31.Rh6 Raa7 32.Qf2 Rg7 33.Qh4 Raf7 34.Qh2 Kg8 35.Qe5 1–0

One of the players it is a delight to welcome back to the event is IM Andrew Martin, who nowadays plays very little tournament chess. Indeed, he confessed to me before the start yesterday that this is his first tournament, since Hastings eight years ago. Nowadays, Andrew is heavily involved in training activity, and has recorded numerous opening DVDs for Chessbase. He must have sold more DVDs than Michael Caine ("not a lot of people know that"), but it is great to see his cheerful demeanour back on the British tournament scene. It would have been nice to welcome him back with a win, but, alas, Fata obstant - he was the highest-rated casualty of the opening round, when he lost to Polish WIM, Joanna Worek.

It occurred to me during yesterday's round that this year's Masters may constitute a record, for the greatest number of Russian chess translators ever assembled together in a British tournament. In addition to myself, we have Bernard Cafferty, the doyen of Russian chess translation in this country, plus John Sugden, who has translated numerous Russian chess books for Batsford, Gambit and other publishers. Yet another member of the translators' club is Laurence Webb, who wins yesterday's edition of the Flash Herbert's prize, for the most spectacular queen exchange manoeuvre of the day:

Rayner-Webb

Obviously, Black has other ways to play, notably just 29...Bxe4, but Laurence chose the very photogenic 29...Qd5! neatly removing the girlies from the board, after which he duly won the ending.

So, overall it was a relatively quiet start to this year's Hastings tournament. But the great thing is that we are off and running once again, and I am sure much interesting chess will be played over the next eight days. Gaudeamus igitur, as the barman in the Pig in Paradise said to me last night...