51st Hastings Premier, 29 December 1975 to 15 January 1976

1975/76 Hastings Premier		Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Total
1	David I Bronstein	2590	&;	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	0	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	10
2	Vlastimil Hort	2600	½	&;	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	10
3	Wolfgang Uhlmann	2535	½	½	&;	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	10
4	Viktor Korchnoi	2665	0	½	½	&;	½	1	1	0	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	9
5	Mark Taimanov	2580	½	½	½	½	&;	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	8
6	Gudmundur Sigurjonsson	2475	½	½	½	0	½	&;	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	8
7	Gennadi Sosonko	2470	½	0	½	0	½	½	&;	1	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	8
8	Vlastimil Jansa	2540	0	½	½	1	½	½	0	&;	½	0	1	1	½	½	½	½	7½
9	Anthony J Miles	2435	1	½	0	½	½	½	0	½	&;	0	½	1	0	1	½	1	7½
10	Julio Kaplan	2445	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	1	1	&;	½	½	½	½	½	1	7½
11	Michael Stean	2370	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	&;	½	½	½	½	½	7
12	John D M Nunn	2375	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	&;	½	1	½	½	6
13	Raymond D Keene	2505	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	&;	½	½	½	6
14	Arthur Bisguier	2445	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	&;	½	½	5½
15	William R Hartston	2475	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	&;	1	5½
16	Robert Bellin	2375	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	0	&;	4½

Average Elo: 2492 Cat: 10 gm = 10.05 m = 7.05

A Quiet Hastings [CHESS, January 1976, p101]

Hastings was rescued by £5000 from Pools tycoon Paul Zetter, who dropped in from the Canaries en route to a safari in Africa to attend the final banquet. Without anybody being able to say why, a general feeling of optimism seemed to have replaced last year’s despair, as evidenced by the announcement that dates for the next Congress would be exactly the same, December 29-January 15th.

Entries totalled 262, not a record though an unprecedented 69 came from West Germany.

The play was, on the whole, too quiet. Exactly two-thirds of the games (80 out of 120) were drawn, 49 of them in fewer than 30 moves. Taimanov and Stean each drew 14 games out of 15, Sigurjonsson 12.

Kaplan provided vicarious interest by running desperately short of time in almost every game. When he had reached 25 moves of the 40 he was supposed to make in 2½ hours, his clock rarely showed more than 2 or 3 minutes to go. He would then start to play pretty well and with a desperate concentration that seemed to make some of his opponents wilt.

Hort, Uhlmann, Taimanov went through unbeaten. Miles had the G.M. title almost in his sights but slipped; was, as last year, the best of the home contingent who, however, occupied the traditional low places. The make-up of Hastings Premiers ensures that only when somebody upsets the form book can we expect anything better.

Sosonko and Nunn played off their last round game, drawing it, on the second rest day January 7, so that Sosonko could go on to take part in the Hoogoven tournament starting January 15th.

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1975/76 Hastings Challengers

1975/76 Hastings Challengers		Nat	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	David E Rumens	ENG		=63	+59	+12	+28	+2	+14	+17	+11	=6	=5	8½
2	Shimon Kagan	ISR	2420m	+41	+70	+21	=4	–1	+43	+12	+3	+14	+7	8½
3	Jacques Macles	FRA	2360	+35	=48	+16	+19	=4	=13	+7	–2	+17	+11	7½
4	Wolfgang Andre	BRD		+61	+57	+11	=2	=3	–17	+48	–14	+35	+12	7
5	Brian J Denman	SCO	2205	+71	–11	=6	+31	+56	=48	+57	=17	+23	=1	7
6	Mark C Diesen	USA	2295	=26	=8	=5	=38	=15	+65	+43	+13	=1	+14	7
7	Andrew P Law	ENG		+32	+53	=28	=14	+62	=11	–3	+48	+9	–2	6½
8	Peter J Lee	ENG		=31	=6	+20	–17	+60	+62	=24	=21	=16	+27	6½
9	Krzysztof Pytel	POL	2420	=33	+45	=64	=10	=19	=37	+58	+15	–7	+26	6½
10	Miroslav Radojcic	YUG		=68	+31	=22	=9	+51	=16	–14	+52	=27	+21	6½
11	Milan Bajovic	YUG		+39	+5	–4	+65	+24	=7	+13	–1	=12	–3	6
12	R.H. Burns jnr.	USA		+42	=19	–1	+49	+18	+28	–2	+24	=11	–4	6
13	Michael J Franklin	ENG	2325	+24	=51	+27	+25	=14	=3	–11	–6	+42	=16	6
14	Martin Goldschmidt	ENG		+67	+62	+17	=7	=13	–1	+10	+4	–2	–6	6
15	Jonathan Kinlay	ENG		+52	=27	–37	=16	=6	+22	+18	–9	+24	=17	6
16	Victor W Knox	ENG	2320	+55	=21	–3	=15	+64	=10	+37	=26	=8	=13	6
17	Glenn EJ Lambert	ENG		+50	+58	–14	+8	+37	+4	–1	=5	–3	=15	6
18	Michael Macdonald-Ross	ENG		–27	=38	+66	+45	–12	+64	–15	=40	+57	+43	6
19	Eugene B Meyer	USA	2340	+34	=12	+51	–3	=9	–57	–22	+62	+48	32	6
20	Charles W Pickard	ENG		=45	=65	–8	=44	=70	=50	+63	+41	=40	+34	6
21	Michael J Conroy	ENG		+23	=16	–2	=27	+71	=36	+38	=8	=26	–10	5½
22	Zahiruddin D Farooqui	PAK	2350	=43	+41	=10	–24	=65	–15	+19	=28	=36	+50	5½
23	Wolfgang Huisl	BRD		–21	+44	=40	–36	+49	=47	+45	+34	–5	=37	5½
24	Gisbert Jacoby	BRD		–13	+39	+53	+22	–11	+42	=8	–12	–15	+47	5½
23	Siegfried Kalbitzer	BRD		=70	+30	+49	–13	–43	=40	–34	+45	+33	=28	5½
26	John C Pigott	ENG		=6	=36	=40	=60	=34	+56	+28	=16	=21	–9	5½
27	Thomas Pioch	POL	2300	+18	=15	–13	=21	=38	=32	+36	+57	=10	–8	5½
28	Dimo Werner	BRD		+56	+29	=7	–1	+32	–12	–26	=22	+52	=25	5½
29	Ronald Blow	GCI		+47	–28	=36	–43	–58	=44	–59	+66	+60	+56	5
30	Anthony James Booth	ENG		=36	–25	+35	–32	–63	–49	+72d	+59	+58	=40	5
31	Gerhard Bosbach	BRD		=8	–10	+63	–5	+44	=34	=41	=33	=55	=36	5
32	Richard Britton	ENG		–7	+72	=34	+30	–28	=27	=40	+58	=43	–19	5
33	R. Bruning	BRD		=9	+60	–48	=34	–42	+61	=62	=31	–25	+57	5
34	Colin S Crouch	ENG	2285	–19	+52	=32	=33	=26	=31	+25	–23	+56	–20	5
35	Neil Davey	ENG		–3	=46	–30	+69	–47	+66	+49	+38	–4	=39	5
36	H. Geistenberger	BRD		=30	=26	=29	+23	=48	=21	–27	=56	=22	=31	5
37	Manfred Keller	BRD		=40	+69	+15	=48	–17	=9	–16	–42	+59	=23	5
38	Gerhard Kiefer	BRD		–57	=18	+67	=6	=27	+51	–21	–35	+62	=41	5
39	(Hugh) Dugald Macpherson	ENG		–11	–24	–72	–41	=69	+bye	+70	+63	+54	=35	5
40	David P Mooney	ENG		=37	=43	=26	+59	–57	=25	=32	=18	=20	=30	5
41	P. Muhlbach	BRD		–2	–22	–42	+39	+67	+60	=31	–20	+51	=38	5
42	R. C. Newman	ENG		–12	–71	+41	+55	+33	–24	=53	+37	–13	=44	5
43	Nigel E Povah	ENG		=22	=40	=23	+29	+25	–2	–6	+53	=32	–18	5
44	Daniel Shuttleworth	ENG		–53	–23	+52	=20	–31	=29	=54	+68	+61	=42	4½
45	Herbert Braunlin jnr.	SUI		=20	–9	+69	–18	=68	+59	–23	–25	=64	+61	4½
46	David A Curnow	ENG		–48	=35	–60	=61	–53	+67	=68	–54	+63	+62	4½
47	H. Kemperman	NLD		–29	=61	–56	+54	+35	=23	–52	=51	+53	–24	4½
48	Matthias Kierzek	BRD		+46	=3	+33	=37	=36	=5	–4	–7	–19	=49	4½
49	Peter G Large	ENG		=59	+63	–25	–12	–23	+30	–35	=64	+55	=48	4½
50	T. Ricke	BRD		–17	=54	+61	–56	=59	=20	=51	+60	=31	–22	4½
51	John N Sugden	ENG		+66	=13	–19	+70	–10	–38	=50	=47	–41	+64	4½
52	N. Werner	BRD		–15	–34	–44	+66	+55	+70d	+47	–10	–28	=58	4½
53	Peter Hertzog	BRD		+44	–7	–24	–57	+46	+68	=42	–43	–47	=54	4
54	R Hilbert			–58	=50	–59	–47	=66	+72	=44	+46	–39	=53	4
55	Pank A Hoogendoorn	NLD		–16	=67	=68	–42	–52	+69	–60	+70d	–49	+65	4
56	J Precker			–28	=66	+47	+50	–5	–26	+65	=36	–34	–29	4
57	John M Ripley	ENG		+38	–4	–70	+53	+40	+19	–5	–27	–18	–33	4
58	Claus Seyfried	BRD		+54	–17	–62	=68	+29	+63	–9	–32	–30	=26	4
59	J. H. van Donk	NLD		=49	–1	+54	–40	=50	–45	+29	–30	–37	+69	4
60	S. Vincent			=64	–33	+46	=26	–8	–41	+55	–50	–29	+66	4
61	Paul F Habershon	ENG		–4	=47	–50	=46	+72	–33	=64	+65	–44	–45	3½
62	Ronald F Harman	ENG		+72	–14	+58	+64	–7	–8	=33	–19	–38	–46	3½
63	T. Kiefer	BRD		=1	–49	–31	+67	+30	–58	–20	–39	–46	+bye	3½
64	V Schlick			=60	+68	=9	–62	–16	–18	=61	=49	=45	–51	3½
65	H. Ernst	BRD		=69	=20	+71	–11	=22	–6	–56	–61	=68	–55	3
66	D. Gierse			–51	=56	–18	–52	=54	–35	+69	–29	+67	–60	3
67	S. Hasan			–14	=55	–38	–63	–41	–46	+bye	=69	–66	+68	3
68	Peter J Sharp	ENG		=10	–64	=55	=58	=45	–53	=46	–44	=65	–67	3
69	Susan L Caldwell	ENG	2050	=65	–37	–45	–35	=39	–55	–66	=67	+bye	–59	2½
70	Leslie SF Blackstock	SCO	2345	=25	–2	+57	–51	=20	–52d	–39	–55d			2 / 8
71	B Mikic			–5	+42	–65	+72	–21						2 / 5
72	M Daood			–62	–32	+39	–71	–61	–54	–30d				1 / 7

5th £40, 6th £20, 7th £10. D.E.Rumens qualified for a place in the 1976/77 Premier on Sonneborn-Berger.

[BCM, March 1976, p111] "The Challengers' tournament contained its usual combination of strong British players, including some of the best juniors, and a number of foreign experts, among whom were S.Kagan, an international master from Israel, and M.Diesen (USA) and K.Pytel (PL) both of whom have played in the Premier.

"With the moving of the Premier tournament to the White Rock Pavilion much more room was available at the Falaise Hall for the Challengers’ and other sections to be played and the conditions should have been excellent. Unfortunately very little attempt seemed to be made to prevent half of the playing room being used for skittles or analysis during the adjourned session in the evening and the result was a quite appalling level of noise. One can appreciate the problems of the organizers in trying to deal with this matter, but something will have to be done in future if the Challengers' is to be taken seriously.

"As far as the play is concerned, the two winners, Kagan and D.E.Rumens, set a very hot pace, with Rumens winning seven games in a row in the middle of the tournament. It is rare for two players to score so heavily and inevitably the rest of the field were left far behind. Rumens played in his usual ultra-sharp style and was rewarded by winning the place in next year’s Premier, beating Kagan on the Sonneborn-Berger tie-breaking system. Of the other contenders, Diesen was a little disappointing, being unable to get into his stride until the second half of the event; the same applies in some degree to Pytel. Apart from Rumens, Denman was the most successful British player, achieving one of his best results, while Law and Lee also performed creditably to reach the prize-list."

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[CHESS, January 1976, p102] "David Rumens, 36, Old Coulsdon, won the Challengers’ Tournament with points from the 10 games. He raced away with a stream of wins ... as rather often of late but, shedding a sad habit of dropping valuable points in the closing rounds, coasted happily in with solid draws. Often in the chess news in the early 1960’s as the leading “Cedars” actor (the right word?) he dropped right out of chess for a decade but with this success completes a great come-back.

"Kagan Israel turned up nearly two hours late for his second round game versus Blackstock; was adjudged to have defaulted, appealed. The appeals committee told Blackstock to play Kagan on the first rest day which he did; lost and walked out of the tournament [but see next para - JS]. Kagan eventually tied first with Rumens losing only on Sonneborn-Berger count. (More about the Challengers, next CHESS).

[CHESS, February 1976, p144] "... We cannot provide the detailed review of the play (often more interesting than the Premier) so common in the past, because the game scores have gone to Leonard Barden. Hastings this year drew 69 entrants from Western Germany alone. R. G. Wade asks us to correct a possible implication last CHESS that L. Blackstock withdrew through pique over the decision that he should play Kagan after the latter had forfeited their game under the rules by arriving more than an hour late. Mr. Blackstock played more games, he tells us for one of which he arrived more than an hour late and was declared loser by forfeit!"

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Other Sections (forenames to be updated in due course - JS)

Main A: Peter G Moore, A. T. Richardson 6; R. E. Evans, Shaun Finlayson, Robert P. Ross, G. N. Stokes, Michael C Truran, R. A. Walker 5½; Raymond J Gamble, P. Konig, P John Patience, 5; J. A. Gorman, P. Gronau, J, Hollstein, M. A. Lee 4½; C. D. Carr, Dr. Reinhard Cherubim 4; W. Wagner, M. Lichte, H. Mattes, Lewis Johnstone Mills 3; F. Penzel 2½; V. J. A. Russ 2/4; M. J. Coward 1/2.

Main B: P. Gruen 7½; R. Laven 7; K. Eisenbeiser, K. A. Howel, G. Klein 6; Colin L Ridley, B. Schmidt 5½; K. Bender, U. Christoffel, Percy Baldwin Cook, L. A. Trangmar, K. Wegener 5; R. G. Clark, A. Gray, L. Mouillaux, M. Muller, M. Schwickert, P. L. Zwetsloot 4½; K. S. Ashman, John A. Felton 4; R. N. Coles, Peter L Cook, G. Drygas, B. Naujokas 3½; J. Ady 3; J. Parker 2½; K. Larem 2; W. Krebs 1/7.

Main C: G. Wagner 8; J. P. Scragg, Miss N. Tagnon 6½; J. R. Keen, R. E. Rushbrook, M. Schrewentigges, P. Urbain, R. Viktor 5½; W. R. Rayner, M. Schunk, Hugh G Tassell 5; William Bainbridge, J. Bycroft, Mrs. Olive Chataway, Robert C Shilling 4½; John R. Cotterell, David Terence Fairbank, B. Greis, Eric Wilfred Knapp, B. Morris 4; Roger L Baker, J. L. Bertinchamp 3½; K. Lucas 3½/8; S. R. Capsey, K. Kopke, Truman V. Parrott, Mlle Claude Santoy 3; E. Chambers 2.

Main D: P. Tobczewski 7½; P. J. Dyson, H. Friedrich 6½; M. Mueller 6; S. Brown, Y. Lamorelle, Alfred Milner 5½; E. Mitchell, E. Paschetag, K. H. Timpe 5; R. Bondikowski, A. S. M. Dickins, Mrs. Macles 4½; P. A. Baldwin, W. E. Busbridge, C. N. A. Caldicott, Mrs. L. F. Morris, X. Souane, P. Torres 4; R. Wedlich 3½; W. G. Oliver, V. Schakenberg 3; Miss Elsie Grace Coulson 1½.

First Week Special A (out of 6): Otto H Hardy, D. James, D. Lees 4½; M. P. Cook, James J Essinger, Julian T Farrand 4; G. Frost, M. Goll, Robert C Lynn 3½; Paul Carey, Peter W Hempson, Timothy W Pelling, Roy A Wagstaff 3; R. A. Parry, B. Richards, R. J. Roberts, Trefor F Thynne, J. C. Wiseman 2½; Stephen D Blewitt, Lawrence Alfred J Glyde , Michael H Micklethwaite 2; K. J. Norbury 1½; Rev. S. Cunnane 0/2; A. Carter 0/3.

First Week Special B: R. J. Dixon, E. Houghton 5; E. J. Smith 4½; Nigel W Dennis, Raymond J Kearsley 4; C. W. Bryan, R. S. Thornton 3½; P. M. Morgan, James E Pattle, R. Quaye, A. Somerville, D. Stevenson 3; H. G. Crews, S. C. Riodan, W. Schwab 2½; B. Rathenew 2; R. M. Hedley, T. R. F. Jenkins, B. Kilgariff, R. D. Pearce 1½.

First Week Special C: R. W. Heppenstall 5½; Tom Farrand, K. Griggs, T. Hare, R. W. Johnson, L. Michaelis, T. Towner 4; I. P. Strachan 3½; J. Gaster, I. R. Humphries, H. Manner, A. J. Thurgool 3; J. M. Bancroft , F. N. Copping, N. Gray, A. Norbury 2½; T. Bancroft, J. Fletcher 2; Miss M. Daniel 1; R. G. Kent 0.

New Year Special A: B. J. Little 5; Harry Lamb, Malcolm J Lightfoot 4½; David J Casiot, Charles Ambrose Scott Damant, Alan J Girling, Vincent O Homolka, David Lees 3½; D. Hess, R. C. Rusha, R. Schonfisch, Peter C. Wood 3; H. J. Kruger, Kevin J Thurlow 2½; R. Bosbach, David Gleave, Michael H Micklethwaite 1½; D. Towers 1.

New Year Special B: C. Baader, Jack A Speigel 5; C. H. Evill, Geoffrey W Naldrett 4½; J. T. Hopkins, V. Litvin 4; J. Hobden 3½; Mrs. P. Jackson, G. Murray, S. Wavell 3; P. A. Bond, Mrs. E. Crowe, F. H. Hill, J. F. S. Learner, H. F. Long 2½; G. Burnett, Mrs. F. Enns, J. W. Hatton 2; E. Newham 1.

Third Week Special A: K. S. Ashman 5; P. H. Newing, J. A. Speigel, G. P. Taylor 4; C. A. S. Damant, Michael H Micklethwaite 3½; Kevin R M Claudius, M. J. Darlow, J. A. Felton, N. McNaughton, John David Howard Nicholas, B. H. Turner , Mrs. Dinah M Wright [Norman] 3; B. A. Fewell 2½; P. Nolan 1.

Third Week Special B: Ronald Ernest Rushbrook 5; William Edward Busbridge, E. Chambers, R. G. Harmer 4; E. Mitchell, D. Read, Rev. J. G. Whitehead 3½; W. D. Brown, G. Burnett, F. F. Jacquier 3; C. Hann, A. J. L. Wade, E. Wheeler 2½; Mrs. D. E. Thomas 2; R. Wise 1.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
Previously	Uploaded as part of the Hastings collection some time ago.
24 September 2020	Now complete with round numbers and dates, plus crosstable and some results and games from the Challengers.
25 September 2020	Brian Denman has kindly contributed a further 11 games, ten from the Challengers and one from the Third Week Special B section.
16 November 2023	Added six games played by Kevin Thurlow in New Year Special A. Many thanks to Kevin.