Eyes down and phones off for Hastings Masters tournament.

Youngest ever winner at Hastings chess congress

Hastings has a new chess champion – Xue Haowen, at 16 its youngest Masters winner ever. Nick Terdre reports on a successful 98^th edition of the world’s first ever international chess tournament, which still attracts large numbers. Photos by Prashila Narsing Chauhan except where stated.

The Masters champion, Haowen Xue, receives the Golombek trophy from John Ashworth, CEO of main sponsor Caplin Systems (photo: Nick Terdre).

The winner of the 98^th Hastings International Chess Congress Masters tournament was Haowen Xue from China, who swept the board with seven points out of nine. Having turned 16 only in late November, he is reckoned to be by some way the youngest ever winner. As a bonus, he also notched his third and final norm to gain the Grandmaster title, though this still has to be endorsed by Fide, the International Chess Federation.

Xue took a cool draw with black in the final round to secure his win, having already scored five wins and three draws. His opponent was English veteran GM Danny Gormally, who ended on 6.5/9, in a shared second place with five other GMs: Pengxiang Zhang (China), sole runner-up last year, Pierre Laurent-Paoli (France), Kirk Ghazarian (USA), Eldar Gasanov (Ukraine) and Shreyas Royal (UK).

In addition to the Golombek trophy, which he will hold for a year, Xue won a cash prize of £2,500. The six second-placed players received £783 each.

Youth makes its mark

It is not only in darts that younger players are making their mark. In addition to acknowledging Xue as its youngest winner, Hastings also hosted the UK’s youngest ever GM in 15-year-old Royal. He first attended the Masters last year as an International Master when he ended in joint third place.

Looking through the list of winners since Hastings hosted the first international chess tournament in 1895, traditionally they have all been men well into their adulthood. But these days top players are emerging at ever younger ages. When he won the crown in November, the new world chess champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, was 18.

One of a new contingent of youngsters from South Korea who competed in the Masters.

Last year saw a scintillating performance in Hastings by eight-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan, who has since punched well above her weight at other international competitions. She was due to return to Hastings this year but at the last moment family illness made that impossible.

And it is not only budding concert pianists who come to compete in Hastings from South Korea. In a new development a group of 14 young players turned up from that country, eight of whom took part in the Masters.

A special mention is due to veteran Francis Rayner, of Hastings & St Leonards Chess Club, who notched up a creditable 4.5 in the Masters. He has been attending since around the turn of the century.

Local Francis Rayner, one of the Hastings congress’s many loyal supporters.

The tournament appears to be in rude health after the interruptions caused by the Covid pandemic, attracting 112 players to the Masters, including eight GMs, up from around 100 last year. Another 300 plus participated in the various other tournaments for players of all grades which comprise the congress: the Con Power Christmas tournament, the New Year tournament and the Weekend Open.

Sponsorship continues to be provided by Caplin Systems, a financial technology developer, which stepped in in 2019/20 when funding from Hastings Borough Council dwindled. The Masters prizes were as usual awarded by the firm’s CEO, John Ashworth.

And for the time being, the congress seems to have a secure location in the welcoming atmosphere of the pavilion at Horntye Sports Complex, despite the owners’ looming development plans.

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