1935/36 (16th) Hastings Premier, 27 December 1935 - 4 January 1936, White Rock Pavilion

1935/36 Hastings Premier		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Reuben Fine	USA	&;	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	7½
2	Salo Flohr	Prague	0	&;	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	½	6½
3	Saviely Tartakower	Poland	½	½	&;	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	6
4	George Koltanowski	Antwerp	½	0	½	&;	1	½	½	1	1	½	5½
5	C Hugh O'D Alexander	Winchester	½	0	0	0	&;	0	1	½	1	1	4
6	Harry Golombek	London	0	0	½	½	1	&;	½	½	0	½	3½
7	Sir George Alan Thomas	London	0	0	½	½	0	½	&;	½	1	½	3½
8	Reginald Pryce Michell	Kingston	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	½	1	3
9	Theodore Henry Tylor	Oxford	0	½	½	0	0	1	0	½	&;	½	3
10	William Winter	London	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	&;	2½

BCM, February 1936, ppn 45-56

HASTINGS CHRISTMAS CONGRESS.

A record number of entries was obtained in the sixteenth annual Christmas meeting organised by the Hastings and St. Leonards Chess Club. The previous best, 120, was reached twice, but this year no less than 130 were recorded, and the full number was maintained right to the opening day with 13 sections of 10 players each.

An early invitation to Dr. Euwe had to be declined, the great master intimating that by Christmas he would have had enough chess for a time, and that he would be glad of a rest.

Botvinnik, the Russian champion, who failed to come off at his 1934 appearance, was obliged this year to refuse, as his post-graduate studies did not permit him to play tournament chess more than once a year. In a cordial reply, however, he alluded to the enjoyment of his stay in "beautiful Hastings," and hoped that a further opportunity would some time be offered him to improve on his first performance.

The great master, Salo Flohr, was able to come, and this time he was in the position to bring a "better half" with him. In view of the fact that a little mishap in his opening game caused him to finish second for a change, it is worth while recalling Flohr’s remarkable record in six successive congresses at Hastings :—

• 1929. Premier Reserves, equal third with Rejfir and Rellstab (5½ each) to Koltanowski and Tylor (6½ each).
• 1930. Premier Reserves, first with 7 wins and 2 draws.
• 1931. Premier, first with 7 wins and 2 draws, followed by Kashdan, Euwe and Sultan Khan.
• 1932. Premier, first with 5 wins and 4 draws, followed by Pirc, L. Steiner and Sultan Khan.
• 1933. Premier, first with 5 wins and 4 draws, followed by Alekhine and Lilienthal (tie).
• 1934. Premier, tied for first place with Sir G. Thomas and Euwe, followed by Capablanca, Botvinnik and Lilienthal. Again Flohr had no loss, his score of 6½ having 4 wins and 5 draws. Thus he had played 45 games in five successive tournaments without a loss.

Reuben Fine, the 21-year-old American champion, was another attractive participant, this being his first appearance at Hastings. Another newcomer was to have been Paul Keres, a youngster of 18 or so, who led the Estonian team finely in the recent Warsaw team tournament. He accepted the invitation, but illness at the last moment prevented his attendance. Dr. Tartakover, who had not been at Hastings for a few years, made a welcome re-appearance, and the foreign contingent was completed by Koltanowski (for Paul Keres) who has been first reserve for the Premier contest in emergency for some time past. This was the Belgian master’s eleventh successive Hastings congress.

The British players were led by W. Winter, the present champion, and Sir George Thomas, last year’s holder and runner-up at Yarmouth, the others being C. H. O’Death [sic!] Alexander, H. Golombek, R. P. Michell and T. H. Tylor.

The Congress was opened on Friday afternoon, December 27, by the Mayor, Councillor E. M. Ford, who was introduced by H. E. Dobell, the club’s president. Mr. Dobell took occasion to notice the presence of Jacques Mieses. He and Dr. Emanuel Lasker are the only two survivors of the twenty-two masters who took part in the great international tourney at Hastings in 1895. Reference was also made to the participation in the Premier Reserves contest of Frank Parr, aged 16 years, who won the British boys’ championship at Easter, and has done remarkably well in Surrey and London chess since.

The Mayor was pleased to welcome players from fifteen nations, as he was informed, mentioning in particular Flohr, Dr. Tartakover and Reuben Fine, and the champions of Britain, France, Belgium and Spain. On the Mayor’s suggestion a telegram of congratulation was sent to Dr. Euwe.

A. F. Kidney, hon. secretary, read a letter from Sir John Simon regretting his inability to be present, and wishing the congress success. G. M. Norman and R. Fine moved and seconded a vote of thanks to the Mayor for his attendance. Afterwards the Mayor and leading officials took tea together at the invitation of Councillor Dobell, play having been set in motion by the tournament director, E. A. Lewcock. (Towards the end of the tournament Mr. Dobell’s hospitality was similarly extended to some score or more of British and foreign chess journalists, along with Hastings town officials.)

Play proceeded evenly and without hitch throughout the period, two rounds being taken on Monday, December 30, to enable the nine rounds to be completed by the following Saturday. Fine had a stroke of luck in winning his first round game against Flohr, getting at the same time a half-point lead over all the others in the Premier section, since the other four games were all drawn. Subsequent analysis established a win for Flohr at the height of his combination; but this he missed through time shortness. Fine kept his lead throughout and finished a popular winner. The four professional players from overseas took the four prizes, as might be expected; for, though the gap between the amateurs and professionals is not so great in chess as in some other games, it has to be recognised that there is, and perhaps ought to be, a gap. Alexander had the best score of the home players. Sir George Thomas’s self-sacrificing labours on behalf of the Nottingham Congress funds left their mark on him, and he was obviously too fatigued mentally to do himself justice. It is to be hoped he will get some time for a rest before the Margate and Nottingham tournaments come along. Winter was quite out of form.

Premier Reserves.

The entry in this division was so strong and numerous that, for the first time, it had to be played in two sections. As far as could be judged it was arranged that the sections should be of equal strength, but in the event it turned out that Section I was possibly rather the stronger at the top. (The transfer of Koltanowski no doubt contributed to this.) The games in these and the Major sections were often protracted, and the score cards showed a rather bare appearance for some time through unfinished and postponed games. Only a couple of days before the close about fifty games in all sections were hanging fire, but a brisk effort on the part of the director of play reduced these in a few hours to three! To fill the place of Koltanowski, Fraulein Sonja Graf was moved up, and in the regretted absence through illness of Arthur Eva (Manchester), F. van Seters was another promotion. Their places in Major A section were filled by F. W. Boff and A. H. Crothers, who were immediately available in readiness. Lenton and Morry with an equal score led their section up to the last round, when both lost and let in three others for a quintuple tie.

1935/36 Hastings Premier Reserves A

1935/36 Hastings Premier Reserves A		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Ernst Ludwig Klein	Vienna	&;	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7½
2	Dr Salo Landau	Amsterdam	½	&;	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	7½
3	Jens Enevoldsen	Copenhagen	1	0	&;	½	0	1	0	1	1	1	5½
4	Edward Guthlac Sergeant	London	0	½	½	&;	0	1	½	1	½	1	5
5	Bruno Ullrich	Berlin	0	0	1	1	&;	0	0	1	1	1	5
6	Frank Parr	London	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1	1	0	1	4
7	Frits van Seters	Brussels	0	0	1	½	1	0	&;	0	1	½	4
8	Amédée Gibaud	Fourgs	0	½	0	0	0	0	1	&;	½	1	3
9	Baruch Harold Wood	Birmingham	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	½	&;	½	2½
10	Charles Herbert Stacey	Brighton	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	&;	1

1935/36 Hastings Premier Reserves B

1935/36 Hastings Premier Reserves B		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Alfred Lenton	Leicester	&;	0	0	½	1	1	1	0	1	1	5½
2	Jacques Mieses	Leipzig	1	&;	0	1	0	½	1	1	0	1	5½
3	William Ritson Morry	Birmingham	1	1	&;	0	½	0	1	0	1	1	5½
4	Lodewijk Prins	Amsterdam	½	0	1	&;	½	1	0	½	1	1	5½
5	Dr Ramón Rey Ardid	Zaragoza	0	1	½	½	&;	½	1	1	0	1	5½
6	Francis George Tims Collins	Oxford	0	½	1	0	½	&;	0	1	1	0	4
7	Alexander Koblencs	Riga	0	0	0	1	0	1	&;	0	1	1	4
8	(Alfred) Rupert Neale Cross	Chelsea	1	0	1	½	0	0	1	&;	0	0	3½
9	Edward Mackenzie Jackson	Bexhill	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	&;	½	3½
10	Sonja Graf	Munich	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	½	&;	2½

1935/36 Hastings Major A

In the Major A, as in the second of the Premier Reserves sections, British players showed to better advantage, and more than held their own with the foreign players included. The prizes in each of the Major sections were £5, £4 and £3.

1935/36 Hastings Major A		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Emil Josef Diemer	Amsterdam	&;	½	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	7
2	Francis Herbert Terrill	Birmingham	½	&;	½	1	½	0	1	½	1	1	6
3	(William) Arthur Winser	Hastings	0	½	&;	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	6
4	Jurrien Cornelis Scheffer	Amsterdam	1	0	0	&;	1	1	½	1	1	0	5½
5	Frederick William Boff	London	½	½	1	0	&;	1	0	0	1	1	5
6	Antonie Theodoor Knoppers	Amsterdam	0	1	½	0	0	&;	1	0	1	1	4½
7	Alfred Dudley Barlow	London	0	0	0	½	1	0	&;	1	0	½	3
8	Alan Hamilton Crothers	Christchurch	0	½	0	0	1	1	0	&;	0	½	3
9	E A Morrison / M Hes	Amsterdam	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	&;	1	3
10	John James O'Hanlon	Dublin	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	½	0	&;	2

1935/36 Hastings Major B

1935/36 Hastings Major B		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Cecil Perfect Hammond	Bexhill	&;	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	7
2	Theophil Demetriescu	Berlin	1	&;	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	6½
3	E Green	Birmingham	½	½	&;	½	½	1	1	0	1	½	5½
4	Leonard Charles Birch	Morden	0	½	½	&;	½	1	½	1	0	1	5
5	Olga Menchik	London	0	1	½	½	&;	½	½	½	0	½	4
6	Raymond Hampden Blomfield	Hastings	0	½	0	0	½	&;	½	1	½	1	4
7	Maurice Ellinger	London	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	1	1	½	4
8	Edith Mary Ann Michell	Kingston	0	0	1	0	½	0	0	&;	1	1	3½
9	Ernest Montgomery Jellie	London	0	0	0	1	1	½	0	0	&;	1	3½
10	C Lewis	Hastings	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	0	0	&;	2

1935/36 Hastings Major C

1935/36 Hastings Major C		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Harold John Francis Stephenson	Hastings	&;	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	8
2	G Fletcher	Nottingham	0	&;	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	7
3	H C Lewis	Blackburn	½	0	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	6½
4	Richard Edward Lean	Brighton	0	0	0	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	5
5	J H Wise	Croydon	½	0	1	0	&;	1	0	½	1	½	4½
6	Minnie Musgrave	St Leonards	0	½	0	1	0	&;	1	1	0	0	3½
7	Agnes Margaret Crum	Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	1	0	&;	1	0	1	3
8	Rev. Charles Fenton Bolland	Hastings	0	½	0	0	½	0	0	&;	1	1	3
9	H Ward	Saltdean	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	&;	½	2½
10	Capt. Hugh Windsor Fiesch Heneage	Brighton	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	0	½	&;	2

The scores in the remaining sections were as follows:— (prizes £4, £3, £2 in the First Class Sections; £3, £2 and £2 10s. in other sections)

1935/36 Hastings First Class (Morning)

1935/36 Hastings First Class (Morning)		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Mrs. Edith Martha Holloway	London	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
2	Gustave Pepers	Louvain	1	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
3	Charles William Roberts	Brighouse	0	1	&;	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	6½
4	Charles Henry Taylor	Wells	0	0	½	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	5½
5	Mrs. Anne Muriel Shannon Shannon née Kerr	London	0	0	1	0	&;	1	1	½	1	1	5½
6	Dennis Bernard Mercer	London	0	0	0	1	0	&;	0	1	1	1	4
7	Miss Emily Eliza Abraham	Deal	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1	1	1	4
8	Mrs. Edith St John [née Fraser]	Manchester	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	&;	1	1	2½
9	Julian Mayne Ilott	Bexhill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	1	1
10	Mrs. Muriel Ivy Scobell Mackereth née Watson	Stockport	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	0

1935/36 Hastings First Class (Afternoon)

1935/36 Hastings First Class (Afternoon)		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Hon. Arthur James Beresford Lowther	Woodbridge	&;	1	0	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	7½
2	W Barker	Wolverhampton	0	&;	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	7
3	Herbert William Tidball	Birmingham	1	0	&;	1	½	0	½	1	1	1	6
4	Dr. William Ernest McKechnie		0	0	0	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	5
5	William Courtney Dawes Cruttenden	Hastings	0	½	½	1	&;	0	1	0	1	1	5
6	W H Jones	Hastings	0	0	1	0	1	&;	1	0	1	0	4
7	Mlle. N Krotosch	Brussels	½	½	½	0	0	0	&;	0	1	1	3½
8	Samuel Frederick Dalladay	Hastings	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	&;	0	0	3
9	H Golden	York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1	2
10	Arthur Douglas Field	Croydon	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	&;	2

Second Class (morning): (1-2) Geoffrey George Homan (Rochester), Capt. J MacKenzie (Exmouth) 7/9; (3) James Edmund Sandford Fawcett (London) 6½; (4-5) J F Coleman (Leicester), Philip John Lindsay Homan (West Malling) 5½; (6) Ronald Stanley Lockwood (Winchester) 4½; (7) Paul Foster (Hastings) 4; (8) Mrs. Helen Muriel Cobbold (London) 2½; (9) Miss Marjorie Colville Strachey (Haslemere) 2; (10) Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Rosina Garden [née Tame - listed as Mrs A D Garden - her husband played in the Second Class (pm, B) section] (Battle) ½.

Second Class (afternoon) Section A: (1) Dr. F Herzog (London) 7; (2) J E Stevens (Hastings) 6½; (3-4) Gilfred Norman Knight (St. Leonards), George Newnham (Hastings) 5½; (5-6) Miss E Neilson (Glasgow), Tony Clendon Daukes (Charterhouse) 4½; (7) Gerald Hugh Borlase Fox (East Grinstead) 4; (8) George Henry Wheeler (Hastings) 3; (9) Mrs. Pauline Peckar (Hastings) 3; (10) Thomas Gasson (Rye) 1.

Second Class (afternoon) Section B: (1) Ralph Carter Woodthorpe (Brighton) 8½/9; (2) Mrs. C M Lillie (Rye) 7; (3) Dr. Alexander Davidson Garden (Battle) 6; (4) Arthur Albert Rider (Hastings) 5½; (5) J Francis (Hastings) 5; (6-7) John E Coleman (Grays), Mrs. Clara Margaret MacVean [née Sanders] (Bournemouth) 4; (8) Mrs. M Healey (St. Leonards) 3; (9-10) Stephen Poulson Lees (Hastings), Mrs. C Lewis (Hastings) 1.

Third Class (morning): (1) Philip C Hoad (London) 9/9; (2) E F Norris (Bexhill) 7; (3-4) W F Freeman (St. Leonards), Ald[erman]. George Shoesmith (Hastings) 6; (5-6) Miss Edith Maud Eleanor John Goodacre (Cheltenham), C H Southwood (St. Leonards) 4; (7) J T Hardy (St. Leonards) 3½; (8) Mrs. G E Hunt (Hastings) 2½; (9) William Horace Perdriau (Croydon) 2; (10) E Swanson (Hastings) 1.

Third Class (afternoon): (1) M Pearse (Sandown) 9/9; (2-3) Patrick Foster (Hastings), Arthur Trimnell (Hornsey) 6½; (4-5) Miss Mabel Annie Lankey (Hastings), Miss I M Shaw (St. Leonards) 5½; (6) W H Moore (Hastings) 5; (7-8) Miss Ramsbotham (Bexhill), Frederick William Binge (St. Leonards) 2½; (9) Geoffrey Clendon Daukes (Hurst Court School) 2; (10) Mrs. F Simpson (Brighton) 0.

In addition to the above prizes, Mrs. A M S Shannon, in her efforts to further the interests of women’s chess, kindly promised to provide three prizes of one guinea each for the most brilliant game, the shortest won game, and the best end-game, won by a woman competitor. These are now under consideration. [see below]

At the final meeting on Saturday afternoon, January 4, the Mayor and Mayoress were in attendance, and the latter distributed the prizes. Fine and Flohr were received with acclamation by a large audience; and Dr. Tartakover and Koltanowski also received evidence of their popularity among English players. A special prize was handed to Miss Lewcock by the Mayoress on behalf of the players and Pressmen for her invaluable clerical assistance. Dr. Garden and E. Klein expressed the thanks of the congress to the Mayor and Corporation for their generous financial assistance,, and the Mayor in reply said the borough authorities set a great value on the annual Christmas chess festival. Thanks to the Club and the organisers, Mr. Kidney and Mr. Lewcock in especial, were given by T. H. Tylor and C. H. Alexander, and Messrs. Morry and Lenton thanked the Mayoress for distributing the awards. A vote of thanks to the Press was moved by Ald. Shoesmith and responded to by Mr. Tinsley (The Times).

In the middle of the second week two evening contests were arranged. The first, a lightning tournament, attracted 40 entrants, and the prizes were taken by Dr. R. Rey [Ardid], F. van Seters, R. C. Woodthorpe and C. H. Taylor. Thirty-six players took part in a "Rapid" tourney, 10 minutes being allowed for each game. The winners were R. Fine and F. Parr, H. Golombek and W. Winter. E. H. Church (Cambridge) genially handled the prize distribution. [written by] A.J.M. [Arthur John Mackenzie]

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The Times, 9 March 1936

HASTINGS CONGRESS AWARDS

The Hastings Chess Club announce that the three special prizes presented by Mrs. Shannon for the best results among the lady competitors in the Christmas Congress have been awarded as follows:—

• Shortest Winning Game.—Miss Goodacre, for her win in 16 moves against Mr. W. H. Perdriau. (Third Class Morning Tournament.)
• Brilliancy Prize.—Mrs. Holloway, for her win against Miss Abraham. (First Class Morning Tournament.)
• Best End Game.—Miss O. Menchik, for her win against Mr. Th. Demetriescu. (Major Tournament "B")

Mrs. Shannon states it is her intention to present these prizes annually at Hastings, and that she will give them at Margate, Nottingham, and Stockholm as well.

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Hastings and St Leonards Observer - Saturday 01 February 1936

"Demetrescu [sic], of Germany, who played in the Major "B" tourney, is said to have been the most interesting figure that has come to Hastings for many a day. He is a pianist of international renown, with a commanding presence and a great head of hair. On his way here he gave two piano recitals "over the air," from the Hilversum radio station. Quite up to the end of the chess tourney he was heading for the first prize in his section, not having lost a game, but in the last round he had to meet Miss Olga Menchik, of Hastings, and lost, so that at the finish he only occupied second place. He now explains that the name Olga has always been his besetting weakness." [Theophil Demetriescu (1891-1958) was a Romanian pianist. Wikipedia (in Romanian).]

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File Updated

Date	Notes
Previously	Uploaded as part of 1930s Hastings games (zipped file)
2016	Page created, with 45 Premier games.
28 December 2022	Crosstables and results added, plus 34 games/part-games from subsidiary sections.
30 December 2022	Correction made to Alexander-Tylor (rd 7). White's last move was 37 Kg1 (not 37 Kg2 which would allow a perpetual). Apologies for the error and profound thanks to Gert Ligterink for pointing it out.
30 December 2022	Added two games: (1) C.Stacey 0-1 S.Landau (Premier Reserves A, rd 3); (2) R.Rey Ardid ½-½ L.Prins (Premier Reserves B, rd 2). Many thanks to Ron de Haas, who found these games in the Delpher.nl archive.
2 January 2023	A tentative addition to the games: O.Menchik 0-1 E.M.Jellie (Major B). Score input from an image which is displayed at the Streatham & Brixton blog; what is not certain is whether the game was played as part of the 1935/36 Hastings Congress but it seems probable.
3 January 2023	The quota of games from subsidiary sections now stands at 39 complete games plus 17 part-games. Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm.
11 December 2023	Added two games: (1) J.Enevoldsen 1-0 F.Parr (rd 6, Premier Reserves A0; (2) E.Diemer 1-0 W.A.Winser (rd 2, Major A). Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm.
13 March 2023	One part-game is now a complete score: J.Mieses 1-0 R.Cross (Preier Reserves B) and another part-game has 12 more half-moves added at the end (though still probably incomplete): E.Klein 0-1 J.Enevoldsen (Premier Reserves A). My thanks to Michael Kühl for sending these games and also contributing other source references.
22 August 2024	Correction made to Fine-Golombek (rd 7). The two primary sources quoted differ as to Black's 11th move but subsequent play indicates 11...Rc8 as the more likely move played.