Eyes down and phones off at Hastings Masters tournament.

Victory for India’s Gupta at Hastings chess congress

It was Indian victory in the 97^th edition of the Hastings International Chess Tournament as Grandmaster (GM) Abhijeet Gupta triumphed in his final game to win the Masters tournament. As diverse as ever in the participants’ age range and nationalities, the tournament also saw outstanding performances by two young England players, 14-year-old Shreyas Royal and eight-year-old Bhodana Sivanandan. Nick Terdre reports, photos by Prashila Narsing Chauhan.

GM Abhijeet Gupta receives the Golombek Trophy from John Ashworth, CEO of the tournament’s main sponsor, Caplin Systems.

The outcome of the Masters went right to the wire, when victory in his ninth and final game by GM Abhijeet Gupta, making his first visit to Hastings, secured him the Golombek Trophy with 7½ points out of 9 and a cash prize of £2,500. Close on his heels came GM Pengxiang Zhang of China with 7 pts, who took the £1,750 second place prize.

They were followed by nine players on 6½, who each shared £422. These included England’s Shreyas Royal, who at 14 years of age is making waves with his outstanding performances. In the last round Shreyas, curently an IM (international master), needed a win to gain his final GM norm – which would have made him England’s youngest ever grandmaster – but had to content himself with a draw.

Bodhana Sivanandan proved to have a chess brain well beyond her eight years, finishing with four points against much more experienced opponents.

“There was great excitement over 14-year-old Shreyas Royal, who was just half a point away from scoring his third and final Grandmaster norm here,” the new tournament director Stuart Conquest, himself a GM and former winner, told HOT.

“He showed a great maturity and remained undefeated, facing many of the top players. It would have been sensational had he become a Grandmaster at our Congress – he failed by the narrowest of margins.

“The other player much in the national news of late is eight-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan. The Hastings Masters was her first long-play tournament of this kind, and she performed with distinction.”

Bodhana, who arrived in Hastings having won the women’s prize in the European blitz championship – the fastest form of chess – in December, performed well above her pre-tournament rating of 1857, ending up with four pts.

Both she and Shreyas look set for glittering chess careers.

Tournament director Stuart Conquest, left, with Caplin CEO John Ashworth.

Of the Masters as a whole, Stuart said: “The atmosphere was lively throughout. Many talented young players came, as well as established seniors. The games were hard fought, and few top games ended before at least four hours had elapsed.”

The final round saw China’s Bae Xue score a win to gain a further norm towards achieving Women’s International Master status; she was also awarded £500 as the best female player. Meanwhile England’s Borna Derakhshani missed an IM norm when he lost his last game.

Prizes were also awarded for the best performances by age group and rating, including £250 to GM Keith Arkell for best senior player. The best game prize, worth £100, went to French GM Maxime Lagarde for his win against Scotland’s Freddy Gordon in round 2. Freddy himself, with six points, took best junior prize of £300.

With its diversity of ages, there are plenty of young vs old battles.

The first ever international chess tournament when it debuted in 1895, Hastings remains an internationally popular event, though it no longer attracts the top-tier players of yesteryear. The 97^th edition of the congress brought together a strong Masters field of just over 100 entrants from 26 countries, including 15 grandmasters.

In parallel with the Masters, various other competitions were organised over Christmas and New Year, catering for a range of grades, and drawing another 350 or so participants. And for those whose chess appetite remained unsatisfied after a long afternoon’s game, there was an evening blitz event and a pairs blitz competition hosted at the White Rock Hotel, along with a lecture on chess geniuses.

Shreyas Royal, 14, was undefeated but narrowly missed out on the final norm he needs to become a grandmaster.

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