The Hastings Chess Congress, has been part of the festive season in the UK, (for chess players and fans anyway), since the games of its first edition got underway in 1920. Other than the years of WWII, the tournament has not missed a year since. Among those to have graced the congress, are greats such as Larsen, Karpov, Bronstein, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik and Keres.
The 2015/16 edition, was held between December 28th and January 5th. It would be a 9-round Swiss format, and would see Hungary’s Ferenc Berkes (FIDE: 2648) as top seed. Domestic favourites such as Daniel Gormally, Glenn Flear, Kieth Arkell and Mark Hebden, would also be in attendance.
Poland’s Alexander Mista emerged an early leader, taking the top slot after round 3, being the only one with a 100% score. He would hold that with another win in round 4. However, in round 5, he would come up against Uzbekistan’s Jahongir Vakhidov, and receive a stern message that it would not be a case of one-way-traffic.
[Event “Hastings Masters 2015-16”]
[Site “Hastings ENG”]
[Date “2016.01.01”]
[Round “5.1”]
[White “Mista, Aleksander”]
[Black “Vakhidov, Jahongir”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2546”]
[BlackFideId “14201801”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “B38”]
[EventDate “2015.12.28”]
[Opening “Sicilian”]
[Variation “accelerated fianchetto, Maroczy bind, 6.Be3”]
[WhiteElo “2567”]
[WhiteFideId “1110381”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 { The Maróczy Bind. With his pawns on e4 and c5, White ‘binds’ the d5-square, making it difficult for Black to play d7-d5. The first game known to feature this setup was Swiderski–Maróczy, Monte Carlo 1904. It was regarded as a mistake to allow the Maróczy Bind, and this was a big reason for the Accelerated Fianchetto of the Sicilian Defence going out of favour. } 5…Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O { So far, the players are quite content just to set out their stalls and develop their pieces. } 9…Bd7 10.f3 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 a5 12.c5 { I am not sure about this move. It seems questionable to relieve the Bind unless there is very good reason. White could have continued to develop with Qd2, Rc1, for example. 12.b3 was also very valid. Qb3 looks rather tempting, but would fail miserably to …Nxe4, taking advantage of the Bd4 being vulnerable. } 12…dxc5 13.Bxc5 Rc8 { Taking a tempo. } 14.Be3 Bc6 { White is a little better, so it makes sense for Black to try to exchange where he can. } 15.Qb3 Qd6 16.Rfd1 Qb4 17.e5 Ne8 18.f4 Nc7 19.Bc4 e6 20.Qxb4 axb4 21.Ne2 Nd5 22.Bc5 { This is where things start to go a little awry for White, retreating a piece is always a hard thing to do but the bishop was better on f2, after which …Rfd8 would have maintained the balance. On c5, the bishop is too exposed and unmaintainable. } 22…Rfd8 ( { Alternatively, there was } 22…Ba4 23.Bxf8 ( { or } 23.Rxd5 exd5 24.Bxf8 Bxf8 25.Bxd5 Rc2 { and with a bishop pair having nice potential, not to mention the active rook, black is doing well here. } ) 23…Bxd1 24.Bxd5 Bxe2 25.Bxg7 exd5 { And after either Bh6 or Kf2, Black seems to have the resources in the position, such as the open c-file, and passed d-pawn. } ( 25…Kxg7 { is the wrong way to go } 26.Bxb7 Rc7 27.Ba8 Rc2 28.b3 { with an edge. } ) ) 23.b3 ( 23.Bxd5 { was more positive } 23…Bxd5 24.Be7 ( { worse is } 24.Bxb4 Rc2 25.Kf2 Rxb2 26.a3 ) 24…Re8 25.Bxb4 Rc2 26.Rd2 Rec8 { is about equal. } ) 23…Bb5 24.Bxb5 Rxc5 25.Bc4 f6 { Good timing for Black to begin hacking at White’s centre. } 26.Bxd5 ( 26.exf6 Bxf6 27.Rac1 b5 28.Bxd5 Rcxd5 29.Rxd5 Rxd5 { is about equal, Black’s active pieces balanced against White’s better structure. } ) 26…exd5 27.exf6 Bxf6 28.Rac1 b6 29.Rd2 Kf7 30.Rcd1 Bc3 31.Rd3 Bf6 32.Kf2 Ke6 33.R1d2 Kd6 34.Nd4 Re8 35.Nc2 Bc3 36.Re2 Rxe2+ { This is perhaps a little too cooperative, it certainly wasn’t forced. …Rf8 or even …Re6 were alternatives. } 37.Kxe2 Rc7 38.Rf3 Bb2 39.Kd2 Kc5 40.f5 { Inaccurate. White under-estimates Black’s possibilities on the Queenside — either that, or he has over-estimated his own on the Kingside. 40.Kd3 would have held the balance. } 40…Ra7 41.fxg6 $2 { Technically, this surrenders the Queenside. There was still time to hold the situation with Kd3, here — but with equality at best. } 41…hxg6 { And all of a sudden, Black’s position is looking very nice indeed. } 42.Rg3 Rxa2 43.Rxg6 { So, White’s play over the last few moves has revolved around obtaining these two passers. However, this has been at great cost. } 43…Bc3+ 44.Kc1 Rb2 45.Ne1 Rxb3 46.Nd3+ Kc4 { Black is firmly in command here, and presses his authority. } 47.Kc2 Ra3 48.Rc6+ Kb5 49.Rd6 Bd4 50.Rxd5+ Kc4 51.Nxb4 Bc5 52.Rg5 Kxb4 53.Rg4+ Kb5 54.Rg8 Kc4 55.h4 { Finally getting a pawn moving, but Black’s is the one with the cleared path. } 55…b5 56.h5 b4 { With …b3 to follow, …Ra2, …Ra1, etc. This pawn is decisive. } 57.Rc8 Ra2+ 58.Kb1 Rxg2 { And there goes one of those passers, that White invested so much for. Though White plays on for a few more moves, this is terminal. } 59.h6 Rh2 60.Rc6 b3 { With White’s pawn neutralised, Black now demonstrates the quality of his own. } 61.Kc1 b2+ { And White resigned here. 0-1 } 0-1
[/pgn]
Thanks to the above win, the standings after round-5, saw Vakhivov having leapt in to the lead, with 4.5/9. A string of players were just behind him, with 4/5, including Mista and veteran GM, Oleg Romanishin. Round 6 saw Vakhidov falter, losing with White to Ferenc Berkes. This saw Berkes going in to the lead with 5/9, along with Mista and Fodor, who also won their games.
In round 7, Vakhinov was back to his winning ways, and due to his main rivals drawing their games, he had jumped back in to contention as part of a 4-way tie for the lead. In round 8, he had claimed the top slot for himself again, notching up a full point against Tamas Fodor. Going in to the final round, he was a half point clear of Berkes, Khenkin, Mista, Sulskis and Flear. If he wanted to win the tournament outright, he would need victory over Khenkin with black. Their game was not really very eventful, however, and in the end was a 36-move draw. This gave the opportunity to those just behind him to be spoilers.
[Site “Hastings ENG”]
[Date “2016.01.05”]
[Round “9.3”]
[White “Flear, Glenn C”]
[Black “Mista, Aleksander”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2567”]
[BlackFideId “1110381”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “D85”]
[EventDate “2015.12.28”]
[Opening “Gruenfeld”]
[Variation “exchange variation”]
[WhiteElo “2459”]
[WhiteFideId “400165”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 O-O 8.Qd2 c5 9.d5 Bxc3 10.Qxc3 e6 11.Rd1 { According to my database, this natural-looking move is a new effort. } 11…exd5 12.Rxd5 Qe7 13.Bd3 Be6 { Black is handling the new situation very well. } 14.Rxc5 Rd8 15.Be2 Nd7 { This lets White off the hook a little, more punishing was …Bxa2. } ( 15…Bxa2 { Grabbing a safe pawn, with e4 also en-prise. } 16.Re5 Be6 ) 16.Rc7 Bxa2 17.f3 Be6 18.h4 Qd6 { Aiming for g3. It’s clear that both sides are going for the jugular in this game. } 19.h5 Qg3+ 20.Kf1 Ne5 21.hxg6 Nxg6 22.Nh3 Rac8 { Black, rightly, feels that he has the upper hand, especially on the Kingside, so it makes sense to neutralise things as much as possible on the Queenside. } 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Qd2 { White’s position is beginning to have an air of passivity about it. } 24…Bxh3 $2 { A bit of a mistake, this. White has big problems with his position, but his biggest is inactivity. It is also not clear how he will go about solving it. By exchanging on h3, Black actually helped him in this regarding, by exchanging his good bishop for White’s h3 knight, which was a mere spectator in the game. Black could have made constructive waiting moves, such as h7-h5-h4, in effect giving White the move, and seeing what his opponent could come up with. To be honest, there is not a lot there. } 25.Rxh3 { about equal this. } 25…Qf4 26.Qd4 Rc2 27.Qd8+ Kg7 28.Qd4+ Qe5 29.Qxe5+ Nxe5 { Expectations must have been that a draw was most likely here. } 30.b3 Ng6 31.Bc4 a6 { Totally equal, the players have done their tidying up and there is a calmness about the situation now. } 32.Bxf7 $4 { From a likely draw, to a probable loss in the space of a move. Chess is a fascinating, but cruel game. } 32…Nf4 { The optimum response. Perhaps Flear banked on …Kxf7 instead, when he had Rxh7+ and Rxb7. Even so, though, Black would have things in hand. } 33.Rh4 { This was not really where the rook should have gone, now Black gets his pawn back, with a tempo on the bishop. } 33…Nxg2 34.Rh5 Ne3+ ( 34…Kxf7 { is also perfectly good here } 35.Rxh7+ Kf6 36.Rxb7 Ke5 { winning. } ) 35.Ke1 Kxf7 36.Rxh7+ Ke6 37.Rxb7 { The compensation for the piece is completely inadequate, especially with the activity of the Black King. } 37…Ra2 38.f4 $4 { I would be interested to know whether time was an issue, White seems to have completely imploded. } 38…Ng2+ 39.Kd1 Nxf4 40.Kc1 Ne2+ { And White resigned. …Nc3+ follows, after which e4 falls. 0-1 } 0-1[/pgn]
The above win allowed Aleksander Mista to catch Jahongir Vakhidov, notching up shared first with a score of 7/9. They netted themselves £1600 ($2298 / €2123) each and will jointly hold the Harry Golombek Trophy for a year. Berkes, Khenkin, Sulskis, Fodor and Sarkar were the best of the rest, with 6.5/9. Notable also, was Oleg Romanishin’s performance, the 64-year-old showing that he can still compete in the large congresses, with his 5.5/9 score. The Ukranian GM produced the following miniature against Britain’s Simon Williams.
[Event “Hastings Masters 2015-16”]
[Site “Hastings ENG”]
[Date “2015.12.30”]
[Round “3.9”]
[White “Romanishin, Oleg M”]
[Black “Williams, Simon K”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2439”]
[BlackFideId “404454”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “A81”]
[EventDate “2015.12.28”]
[Opening “Queen’s pawn”]
[WhiteElo “2462”]
[WhiteFideId “14100088”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.c3 d6 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.a4 Qe8 9.a5 a6 10.Ng5 Bd8 { This looks a little strange, but Black will be reasonably happy with his setup here. } 11.Nd2 Kh8 { Sensibly taking the King off of the long diagonal, where White’s Queen has lined up. Even though there may not be a direct threat, it is always best to remove any potential. } 12.e4 f4 13.d5 { The classic response to a flank undertaking, a counter in the centre. Now it boils down to who can better manage the changes in the position and the opening of lines. } 13…exd5 { The best course of action. Anything else would strongly favour White. } 14.exd5 fxg3 { More correct than moveing the knight, even to e5 White would be slightly better, being able to plonk his knight on e6. } 15.dxc6 Ng4 $4 { A big mistake, potentially handing the game to White on a plate. Romanishin plays flawlessly. } ( 15…gxh2+ { was correct, leaving White with only one credible reply. } 16.Kh1 { and then, likely would be } 16…bxc6 17.Ndf3 Ng4 { With approximate equality after either Rh4, Nh3, or Bd2. } ) 16.cxb7 Bxg5 17.bxa8=Q gxf2+ 18.Kh1 { Forced of course. I think that Williams had planned 18…Qe5 here, and after 19.Nf3 then 19…Rxf3. This would have been devastating had white not had Qxc8 at his disposal. Quite possibly Williams had only seen this at this point and realises his folly. } 18…Nxh2 { Black has nothing from here, but strangley, the planned …Qe5 would force winning moves from White. At least this route gives chances for him to mess up — albeit very slim ones. } 19.c4 Rf6 20.Qh3 { White has this completely under control. } 20…Nxf1 21.Qaxc8 Ng3+ 22.Kh2 { Beautifully played, and here Black resigned. 1-0 } 1-0
[/pgn]
