85th Hastings International Chess Congress
28 Dec 2009 – 5 Jan 2010
Last Edited: Thursday December 24, 2009 0:00 AM
The 85th Hastings International Chess Congress will take place from 28 December 2009 to 5 January 2010 at the Horntye Park Sports Complex in Hastings. Once again the event is being generously sponsored by Hastings Borough Council, with additional local support.
The Hastings Masters Tournament is a nine-round Swiss system event running from 28 December to 5 January and the 27th Hastings Weekend Congress will take place on Saturday and Sunday 2-3 January 2010 and other five-round events as per details on the website.
Full details of all events appear on the congress website: www.hastingschess.org.uk
As at 23 December, the leading competitors in the Masters are as follows: Yuri Drozdovskij (UKR, 2625g), Zbrynek Hracek (CZE, 2624g), Romain Edouard (FRA, 2620g), Andrei Istratescu (ROU, 2624g), David Howell (ENG, 2597g), Simon Williams (ENG, 2550g), Mark Hebden (ENG, 2522g) and Keith Arkell (ENG, 2464g).
Following his career-best performance in the London Chess Class at Olympia in December 2009, where he achieved an unbeaten +1 score against world-class opposition, 19-year-old David Howell will be the focus of much attention. The four 2600+ rated players should provide stern opposition, as will the three English GMs Williams, Hebden and Arkell.
British Chess Magazine Home Page: www.bcmchess.co.uk
It’s not an elite event as it once was.