53rd Hastings Premier, 28 December 1977 to 14 January 1978

1977/78 Hastings Premier		Nat'y	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Total
1	Roman Dzindzichashvili	ISR	2550g	&;	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	10½
2	Tigran V Petrosian	USSR	2620g	½	&;	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	9½
3	Gyula Sax	HUN	2550g	½	½	&;	½	½	½	1	½	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	9½
4	Vlastimil Hort	CZE	2620g	½	½	½	&;	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	9
5	(Andrew) Jonathan Mestel	ENG	2450m	½	½	½	½	&;	0	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	0	1	8½
6	James E Tarjan	USA	2510g	0	0	½	½	1	&;	½	½	1	0	½	1	½	1	1	8
7	Evgeny Sveshnikov	USSR	2565g	½	½	0	½	½	½	&;	½	1	1	½	0	1	0	1	7½
8	Jonathan S Speelman	ENG	2440	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	&;	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	7
9	John D M Nunn	ENG	2410m	½	0	1	½	0	0	0	½	&;	1	1	1	0	1	0	6½
10	Leonid A Shamkovich	USSR	2485g	½	½	0	½	0	1	0	½	0	&;	0	1	½	1	1	6½
11	John P Fedorowicz	USA	2360	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	1	&;	½	½	1	0	5½
12	Simon Webb	ENG	2445	0	0	0	½	½	0	1	½	0	0	½	&;	1	½	1	5½
13	Jonathan D Tisdall	USA	2365	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	½	½	0	&;	1	1	4½
14	Shimon Kagan	ISR	2465m	0	½	0	0	1	0	1	½	0	0	0	½	0	&;	0	3½
15	George S Botterill	WLS	2400	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	1	0	0	1	&;	3½

George S Average Elo 2458 Category 10, GM = 8½, IM = 7 - GM norm for Mestel, IM norm for Speelman

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Hastings Challengers 1977/78 (28 December 1977 - 7 January 1978)

1977/78 Hastings Challengers			Elo	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Amikam Balshan	ISR	2415	Israel	=44	+25	+40	+12	+19	+30	+10	+14	+3	=2	9
2	Robert Gruchacz	USA		USA	=36	=59	+56	+62	+9	=12	=3	+17	+10	=1	7½
3	Peter Hertzog	FRG		West Germany	=4	+64	-9	+38	+44	+21	=2	+30	-1	+13	7
4	Graham D Hillyard	ENG		Billericay	=3	=11	=48	=28	=49	+8	+51	=29	+23	+14	7
5	Julian M Hodgson	ENG		London	+57	=40	+46	-30	+34	=17	=36	+42	+46	=6	7
6	Andrew P Law	ENG	2400	London	=60	+18	=41	-17	=42	+48	+26	+36	+30	=5	7
7	Walter Wolf	FRG		West Germany	+54	-39	+29	+15	-12	+31	+22	=10	=14	+30	7
8	Nicholas W Ivell	ENG		Blackpool	=21	-46	+24	+65	-23	-4	+63	+48	+39	+27	6½
9	John G Nicholson	ENG	2320	London	=16	+24	+3	=31	-2	+11	=27	=13	=29	+22	6½
10	Yasser Seirawan	USA	2250	USA	+58	-12	+33	+13	+31	+19	-1	=7	-2	+29	6½
11	David H Cummings	ENG		Brighton	+64	=4	-39	+47	=36	-9	+55	=43	+41	=17	6
12	Glenn C Flear	ENG		Guildford	+51	+10	+13	-1	+7	=2	-30	+27	-5	=15	6
13	Gerd-Peter Grün	FRG		West Germany	+26	+22	-12	-10	+60	+45	=17	=9	+19	-3	6
14	Peter G Large	ENG		Orpington	=24	=65	=47	+61	+50	+23	+19	-1	=7	-4	6
15	H Dugald MacPherson	ENG	2275	Cambridge	+70	+33	-19	-7	=48	=47	+54	=25	+36	=12	6
16	Giorgio Pegoraro	ITA		Italy	=9	-41	=18	=56	-25	+59	+60	+58	+43	=26	6
17	Thomas Pioch	POL	2250	Poland	=50	+44	=62	+6	=21	=5	=13	-2	+34	=11	6
18	Milan Bajovic	YUG		Yugoslavia	=43	-6	=16	=25	+59	+63	-29	-26	+53	+44	5½
19	Peter Biyiasas	CAN	2435m	Canada	+52	+61	+15	+39	-1	-10	-14	+21	-13	=23	5½
20	Anthony J Booth	ENG		Wirral	+27	=23	-30	=48	-33	=32	=35	+54	=42	+45	5½
21	Karl Enigl	AUT		Austria	=8	+66	=45	+41	=17	-3	=42	-19	+35	=39	5½
22	Peter W Hempson	ENG	2235	Sheffield	+28	-13	=61	+37	=27	+33	-7	+49	=26	-9	5½
23	Gisbert Jacoby	FRG		West Germany	+69	=20	-31	+32	+8	-14	=25	+47	-4	=19	5½
24	Danny Kopec	USA		USA	=14	-9	-8	-58	+66	-56	+59	+57	+48	+49	5½
25	Paul A Lamford	WLS		Reading	=35	-1	=57	=18	+16	+28	=23	=15	-27	+46	5½
26	David P Mooney	ENG		Sunderland	-13	=28	+63	=67	=40	+62	-6	+18	=22	=16	5½
27	Bernd Stein	FRG		West Germany	-20	+68	+54	=45	=22	+39	=9	-12	+25	-8	5½
28	Ulrich A Steiner	AUT	2340	Austria	-22	=26	+58	=4	=62	-25	+32	-39	+56	+42	5½
29	Francisco R T Trois	BRA	2395	Brazil	=62	+50	-7	+42	+45	-36	+18	=4	=9	-10	5½
30	Dimo Werner	FRG		West Germany	+53	=31	+20	+5	+39	-1	+12	-3	-6	-7	5½
31	Chris W Baker	ENG			+48	=30	+23	9	-10	-7	-47	-35	+55	+58	5
32	Peter Carey	ENG			=46	=42	=34	-23	=57	=20	-28	=63	+64	+56	5
33	Pank A Hoogendoorn	NLD			+68	-15	-10	+66	+20	-22	=39	=45	=49	=41	5
34	John M Leer	NLD			=56	=36	=32	+59	-5	+58	=49	-41	-17	+51	5
35	Lincoln Lucena	BRZ			=25	-62	+43	-44	-38	+61	=20	+31	-21	+52	5
36	Andrew D Martin	ENG			=2	=34	=67	+46	=11	+29	=5	-6	-15	=38	5
37	Kenneth I Norman	ENG			=45	=60	=51	-22	-47	+65	+57	-56	+50	=40	5
38	Malcolm Pein	ENG			=66	=55	=59	-3	+35	-54	=41	=53	+60	=36	5
39	Nigel E Povah	ENG	2320		+63	+7	+11	-19	-30	-27	=33	+28	-8	=21	5
40	David E Rumens	ENG	2270		+49	=5	-1	=60	=26	-42	-48	+51	+58	=37	5
41	Peter J Sowray	ENG			=42	+16	=6	-21	=67	=44	=38	+34	-11	=33	5
42	Karl-Heinz Bachmann	FRG	2205		=41	=32	+55	-29	=6	+40	=21	-5	=20	-28	4½
43	Frans Borm	NLD	2260		=18	-45	-35	+68	+54	=55	+44	=11	-16	w/d	4½
44	Nigel R Davies	ENG			=1	-17	+53	+35	-3	=41	-43	+62	=47	-18	4½
45	Michael J Franklin	ENG	2300		=37	+43	=21	=27	-29	-13	+61	=33	=46	-20	4½
46	Hans Hoffmann	FRG			=32	+8	-5	-36	-58	=53	+64	+55	=45	-25	4½
47	Leonhard Hofland	NLD			-61	+52	=14	-11	+37	=15	+31	-23	=44	w/d	4½
48	Rainer Schlenker	FRG			-31	+69	=4	=20	=15	-6	+40	-8	-24	bye	4½
49	Luiz C Tavares da Silva	BRA			-40	-51	+64	+52	=4	+50	=34	-22	=33	-24	4½
50	William N Watson	ENG			=17	-29	+66	+51	-14	-49	-58	+65	-37	+63	4½
51	Zahir Farooqui	PAK	2325		-12	+49	=37	-50	=61	+52	-4	-40	+62	-34	4
52	Simon J B Knott	ENG			-19	-47	+68	-49	+64	-51	-53	+66	+54	-35	4
53	Douglas G A Shallcross	ENG			-30	=57	-44	-63	+69	=46	+52	=38	-18	=61	4
54	Trefor F Thynne	ENG			-7	bye	-27	+69	-43	+38	-15	-20	-52	+65	4
55	Ian D Wells	ENG			=67	=38	-42	=57	+65	=43	-11	-46	-31	+68	4
56	Graham J Willetts	ENG			=34	=67	-2	=16	-63	+24	=62	+37	-28	-32	4
57	Friedhelm Bachmann	FRG	2205		-5	=53	=25	=55	=32	=60	-37	-24	=68	=64	3½
58	Richard A Beach	ENG			-10	=63	-28	+24	+46	-34	+50	-16	-40	-31	3½
59	Stuart Fancy	ENG			=65	=2	=38	-34	-18	-16	-24	bye	=63	=62	3½
60	Timo Haas	FRG			=6	=37	=65	=40	-13	=57	-16	+61	-38	def	3½
61	Mark L Hebden	ENG			+47	-19	=22	-14	=51	-35	-45	-60	bye	=53	3½
62	Sheila Jackson	ENG	2075		=29	+35	=17	-2	=28	-26	=56	-44	-51	=59	3½
63	Anthonie P Luchtmeijer	AUS			-39	=58	-26	+53	+56	-18	-8	=32	=59	-50	3½
64	C Wessels	NLD			-11	-3	-49	bye	-52	bye	-46	+68	-32	=57	3½
65	Charles Azzopardi	MLT	2205		=59	=14	=60	-8	-55	-37	+68	-50	=66	-54	3
66	Detlef Buse	FRG			=38	-21	-50	-33	-24	=68	bye	-52	=65	w/d	2½
67	François Chevaldonnet	FRA			=55	=56	=36	=26	=41	withdrawn					2½
68	Andrew Kawalec	FRG			-33	-27	-52	-43	bye	=66	-65	-64	=57	-55	2
69	E Marnier				-23	-48	bye	-54	-53	def	withdrawn				1
70	John Fedorowicz	USA	2360		-15	transferred to Premier									0

CHESS, January 1978, ppn 99-100

HASTINGS: THE PREMIER SURVEYED

The home contingent at Hastings this year could almost be called England's second string. Our three grand masters were all absent, Keene and Stean in Belgrade seconding Korchnoy. Miles had had, in his own words, "too much chess". Hartston seems to be opting for less.

Speelman, Nunn, Webb, Botterill and Mestel whose ages range from 20 to 28, form, however, as strong a contingent as this country has ever put forward.

For greater interest, hold these notes so as to compare with our round-by-round survey and more selected games next CHESS.

Rd. 1: Visa troubles reduced the number of players available to 11. Suba (Rumania) never managed to arrive at all. Fedorowicz took his place, Hort and Tarjan got there for Rd. 2, Sax for Rd. 3. Webb beat Sveshnikov prettily, sacrificing a pawn for attack and threatening to emerge from a delicate ending a queen to the good. Nunn drew with Djindjikhashvili in 27 eventful moves. Tisdall took 2 hours over 13 routine moves. Botterill beat Kagan efficiently.

Rd. 2: Nunn against Fedorowicz always had something in hand. Speelman had Tisdall in trouble within 15 moves and won without any fireworks in 25. Nunn grabbed a stream of Fedorowicz's pawns. Webb routed play away from a Botterill knight out of play on QR4. Mestel held Djindjikhashvili to a draw after being a pawn down without compensation for some time.

Rd. 3: Mestel's win over Fedorowicz came in 24 moves after a shock move in the Sicilian. Webb saved a lost game v Kagan.

Rd. 4: Fedorowicz had a positional win v Shamkovich by move 12. Sax I Sveshnikov 0: Sveshnikov neglected to develop his queen's side. Nunn fought back to draw after Hort had got on top.

Rd. 5: Botterill 0 Sax 1, Webb 0 Petroshan 1, Shamkovich 1 Tarjan 0. The rest drawn.

Rd. 6: An exchange sacrifice earned Mestel a nice victory as Black over Nunn. Sax won and exploited a pawn. Botterill sacrificed for no return against the Djinn.

Rd. 7: Sax outplayed Webb in the middle game, won 2 pawns and when one threatened to queen Webb resigned. Sax's 6th win — it was to be his last. With a reasonable game Kagan lost on time to his fellow Israeli —he made his 40th move a fraction of a second too late. Nunn soon had B and N for R and a seventh rank pawn (v Shamkovich). Botterill and Fedorowicz each had a pawn on the 7th. A wild time scramble left the British Champion a B up.

Rd. 8: A blunder lost Botterill a point v Tarjan. Mestel beat Shamkovich beautifully, Webb made a mess of a defendable ending v Dijndji. Nunn went to pieces in Tisdall's time trouble (13 moves in 5 mins.).

Rd. 9: Petroshan had drawn repeatedly with little effort, occasionally winning with little more; went 26 featureless moves against Djindjikhashvili. Mestel smashed Tisdall.

Rd. 10: Nearly a huge upset. 14-year-old [sic - he was 19 - JS] Fedorowicz got a won game against Petroshan but against desperate defence weakened. Speelman lost his first, to Djindjikhashvili. Hort 1 Kagan 0, Nunn 0 Botterill 1. Webb seemed to have Tarjan in trouble but the American turned the tables and won with a bold sacrifice. Unlike bishops safeguarded the draw for Mestel though a pawn down to Sveshnikov.

Rd. 11: Petroshan tried a little harder, mashed Tarjan. Nunn and Mestel beat Kagan and Botterill. Webb, after opening with 2½ points from his first three games, had slumped to 3½ out of 9 and had missed his grand master norm just as, at Hastings last year, he missed his I.M. norm. To hold a very determined opponent Hort to a draw spoke well for his spirit.

Rd. 12: Time-scrambles in several games entertained. With a minute for 10 moves Tisdall blundered against Sveshnikov from a pawn up to a pawn down. Mestel paid the penalty for an exuberant opening.

Rd. 13: Petroshan mashed Nunn, Djindjikhashvili mashed Fedorowicz. Speelman gained a big advantage over Hort, could well have tried to win but agreed a draw.

Rd. 14: Beating Tarjan in 47 moves, Djindjikhashvili took a half-point lead. Hort went for Sax hell-for-leather but could not win. Nunn v Speelman drew in 13 moves, Mestel and Petroshan in 18.

Scores with a round to go: Djindjikhashvili (Israel) 10; Sax (Hungary) 9½; Petroshan (U.S.S.R.) 9; Hort (Czechoslovakia) 8½; Mestel (G.B.) 8; Tarjan (U.S.) and Sveshnikov (U.S.S.R.) 7½; Speelman (G.B.) 6½; Shamkovich (U.S.) 6; Nunn (G.B.) 6½; Fedorowicz (U.S.) 5; Tisdall (U.S.) and Webb (G.B.) 4½; Botterill (G.B.) 3½; Kagan (Israel) 2½.

The last round was a strange one. The two Jonathans, Mestel and Speelman, each needing just a draw for their second norms, for grand master and international master respectively, rather naturally agreed it after 11 moves. Their only trouble is the stipulation of a minimum 24 games; each has played only 23. Each, however, seemed happy over the restriction of the lists at Hastings to 15. In a revolt of the underdogs, Nunn beat Sax and Kagan beat Sveshnikov, in 58 and 75 moves respectively — two complete upsets. This made Sax's round-by-round record six wins, then seven draws and finally a loss. His first six opponents had been less strong as a group.

Criticism

If our count of 330 entries is correct, Hastings this year fell slightly behind some predecessors in sheer numbers, but the old magic was there. Tony Miles, who had turned down an invitation to play, aired the traditional complaints against conditions, in the Spectator, too unpleasantly. Hastings just hasn't got a suitable venue; silence, spaciousness and finance all need a huge boost but the old friendly fellowship has been revived in the cosy Yelton Hotel next door to the White Rock.

Golombek, himself a most outspoken critic in his day, tried to rebut Miles's statement that the grand masters from Western Europe were abandoning Hastings for greater rewards and pleasanter conditions abroad.

Tony Miles: "You will notice a complete absence of West European G.M.s . . . Apart from myself there have been only two Western G.M.s in the last five years, Sigurjonsson Iceland in 1975/76 and Andersson Sweden, 1974/75. Before that one must go back to 1972/73 when Larsen won." Golombek's reply was so muddled as in fact to reinforce Miles's statement: "Of the twenty-four grand masters from Western Europe no less than twenty-two have played at Hastings and the vast majority would be very glad to come again." Miles: "Of the twenty-two, only eight were G.M.s at the time of playing and Pachman, though now domiciled in West Germany, was an Eastern European at the time. This reduces the total to seven including myself in almost thirty years . . . Aspiring I.M.s must accept whatever invitations come their way." Obviously Miles has a point. Hastings has little or no attraction to anybody already a grand master from the West.

In the play-off match to resolve the tie in the British Ladies' Championship last August, Jana Hartston overwhelmed Sheila Jackson by 3½ to ½.

M. Balshan won a huge and strong Challengers Tournament by an impressive 1½ point margin to complete a remarkable Israeli double. With it he secures a place in the Hastings Premier next year (and the general consensus of opinion was that there certainly will be one!).

CHESS, March 1978, p174

The Challengers at Hastings

Israel's M. Balshan saved a lost ending against N. R. Davies in Round 1, then blazed to nine consecutive wins to qualify for next year's Premier. He has a F.I.D.E. rating of 2415, equivalent to 227 British. Balshan had already won the tournament when he sat down to play U.S. master R. Gruchacz in the final round. Gruchacz needed a draw to be sure of at least sharing second prize, and the 'game' went 1 P—K4 P—K3 Draw agreed.

Though the top prizes went overseas, the other success story in the Challengers was the English juniors. As part ot their £10,000 programme to help British chess, Lloyds Bank paid the entry fees and provided grants for 17 juniors aged from 13 to 20. Three finished in the top 10, six in the top 17. Ian Wells, the youngest at age 13, drew with 1976 French champion Chevaldonnet. Julian Hodgson, 14, shared third prize with a 228 tournament grading which qualifies him for a 'norm' towards the B.C.F. Candidate Master title.

The senior British players disappointed. Povah, Rumens and Franklin, the latter pair former winners of the Challengers, surely expected much more. And the 17-year-old U.S. star Yasser Seirawan, winner ot the American and Quebec Opens, who drew with six grand masters at Lone Pine 1977, failed to live up to his reputation.

Peter Biyiasas (Canada) was eager to play in the Premier, but his 1977 Elo rating, 2435, would have reduced the average Elo for the tournament from 2477 to 2475, downgrading the event from Category 10 (average Elo: 2476-2500) to Category 9 (average Elo: 2451-2475). In a Category 9 event of 16 players, the G.M. and I.M. norms would have been 10 and 7½ respectively, whereas in the Category 10 tournament of 15 players, they were only 8½ and 7. Use of 1978 Elo ratings would have solved the problem, but F.I.D.E. President Dr. Max Euwe, when contacted, ruled this out. The possibility of including Biyiasas was, with his agreement, put to the players, who voted unanimously for a Category 10 tournament of 15, thus leaving Biyiasas in the Challengers, where he finished equal I8th-30th with 5½.

Strangely, Fedorowicz had just previously succeeded in getting his 1977 Elo rating amended from 2440 to 2480 at a special
F.I.D.E. meeting. Tournament organising is becoming very involved!

Biyiasas won his first four games, then faded. Rumens had it that he, Kagan and Djindjikhashvili were participants in all night backgammon sessions at the Queen's. Djindji lost at backgammon, but was the only one of the trio whose chess thrived on this strange regime.

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Hastings 1977/78: Other Sections

MAIN A: (1) Richard C Lemon 8/9; (2) Malcolm J Lightfoot 7; (3-4) Ronald F A Harman, Alan H Prizant 6; (5-8) Josef Bachmayer (AUT), John A Gorman, Paul F Habershon, P Robinson 5½; (9-12) N Buchleu, Percy B Cook, T Giese, Richard W O'Brien 5; (13-16) Dr. Reinhard Cherubim (FRG), R E Gibbons, M Henel, A Sottocasa (FRG) 4½; (17-24) Andreas Brandhorst (FRG), R E Evans, Peter G Moore, G Miller, C Sottocasa (FRG), H Turner, R Webel, Alfred Zaffarese (MLT) 4; (25-27) Gerhard Dyballa (FRG), R Gauba, Peter A Harris 3½; (28) T Dechering 2½; (29) Jürgen Brustkern (FRG) 2; (30) K H Rettig 1.

MAIN B: (1-2) Lars-Ake Schneider (SWE), Hans Karl Wegener (FRG) 7/9; (3-5) T Laux, Manfred Schrewentigges (FRG), Klaus Schuler (FRG) 6; (6-7) A Hoffman, Geoffrey Neil Stokes 5½; (8-13) Simon Gottschalk, E Houghton, Rev. Peter R Kings, Lucien Mouillaux, John Philip Scragg, J Stada 5; (14-20) R G Clark, P Gronau, P Koenig, M Küver, P Müller, A Philip Primett, Robert P Ross 4½; (21-25) B Dubourg, Roger Hardy, Walter R Rayner, Andreas Roll (FRG), G Wagner 3½; (26-28) Miss Ulla Bohmgren (SWE), John C Fagg, W Wagner 3; (29-30) S Geyler, Mlle. Claude Santoy (MCO) 2.

MAIN C: (1) C L Andreani 7/9; (2) W Lau 6½; (2-3) Ronald Watson Henley (USA), Timothy Taylor (USA) 6; (4-7) Mark Stephen Ardin, D Barlow, Hans Berrevoets (NLD), Leigh A Trangmar 5½; (8-10) William Bainbridge, Miss Debbie M Evans (WLS), P J Smith 5; (11-14) Roger L Baker, Sydney Ross Capsey, Mrs Olive Chataway, J W Fischer 4½; (15-20) John R Cotterell, Miss H Hoffmann, Ronald Ernest Rushbrook, R G Shilling, X Souane, Hugh G Tassell 4; (21-22) J L Bertinchamp, E Chambers 3½; (23) A S O'Broin 2½; (24) Frank Thomas Comber 2; (25) Eric Wilfred Knapp 1.

MAIN D: (1) Stuart C Conquest 7½/9; (2) K A Lucas 7; (3) Mrs M Stada 6; (4-6) A Jenkins, J Krause, B Ward 5½; (7-9) Henry G Crews, M Riordan, B Tobczewski 5; (10-15) H Carter, David Terence Fairbank, R de Heijer, J R F Jenkins, Truman V Parrott, Miss Eileen Tranmer 4½; (16-18) P A Baldwin, Miss J Escudero, P Kane 4; (19) P Torres 3; (20-22) Lady Gwendolyn Herbert, F Hilker 2; (23) H D Miller 1.

CHRISTMAS A: (1) John C Henshaw 4½/5; (2-3) Jürgen Dietz (FRG), William J Jordan (AUS) 4; (4-5) Jonathan J Ady, H B Pippel 3½; (6-9) Geoffrey M Brown, Raymond J Gamble, H Trevor Jones, I Schneider 3; (10-13) Geoffrey H James, Colin L Ridley, G Schmidt, G Sempler 2½; (14-18) Nigel W Dennis, J Eckermann, G Frost, H Helmrich, L Stevens 2; (19) M Goll 1½; (20-21) Michael P Cook, G Mathon 1.

CHRISTMAS B: (1) P Griffiths 4½/5; (2-5) John A Felton, G D Green, H-O Hoefer, B H Richards 3½; (6) C W Bryan 3; (7-11) Peter L Cook, George V Glover, J Parker, J H Riddell, D J Towers 2½; (12-13) R Quaye, Ronald Herbert Saunders 2; (14-15) Charles Hugh Graham Evill, T B Towner 1½; (16) Mrs Iris Louisa F Morris 0.

CHRISTMAS C: (1-2) R W Johnson, D Law 4; (3-4) P Ganszczyk, P W Smith 3½; (5-9) Colin Howard Alan Caldicott, M R Chevassut, A Harvey, J A Nightingale, Neville Howard Twitchell 3; (10-11) Charles Conquest, Malcolm I Stewart-Mackenzie 2½; (12-14) M Baxandall, J W Hatton, P B Sargeaunt 2; (15-16) G Alden, S A Napier 1½; (17) P A Bond 1.

CHRISTMAS D: (1) W B Saunders 4½/5; (2-4) E Grover, S Kirby, P Piper 3½; (5-7) C Jewell, James D Pratt, A J Thurgood 3; (8) I Damen 2½; (9-11) William Edward Busbridge, J L Pickering, I Watson 2; (12) Miss M Daniel 1½; (13) A Harman 1; (14) R Pugh 0.

NEW YEAR A: (1) R Lobron 5½/6; (2) Chris M Cooley 4½; (3) Michael Goll 4; (4-11) Michael P Cook, Raymond J Gamble, Jan C van Gemeren, C C Harding, K J Hill, Edward W Nottingham, Joseph M Soesan, Jack A Speigel 3½; (12-13) David J Casiot, Mrs Dinah M Wright (née Dobson, now Norman) 3; (14-18) John A Felton, Laurie A J Glyde, L Michaelis, J W Roles, Brian H Turner 2½; (19) Ulrich Christoffel (FRG) 2½; (20-22) Timothy Headlong, J Parker, W Schwab 2; (23-24) George W Rutland, J Wheeler 1½.

NEW YEAR B: (1-2) Rodney E James, G Versloot 4½/6; (3-5) Peter L Cook, Ian K Hardwick, E D Moller 4; (6-7) R M Morgan, H D Nolden 3½; (8-10) K Beer, M Latey, D Michie 3; (11-12) F H Hill, C Wheeler 2½; (13-16) G S Coxhead, Chris Hann, W de Jong, S A de Linz 2; (17-18) Sir J Latey, J H Ward 1½.

NEW YEAR C: (1) Martyn J Goodger 5/6; (2-3) T J Bancroft, J C Dufraisse (FRA) 4½; (4-5) R D Ellis, J W Hatton 4; (6-8) E Newham, S Rowson, P W Sandiford 3; (9-12) R A Boulton, M van der Chouw, A Elkan, R D Pearce 3; (13-17) J M Bancroft, Mrs S Beer, Francis Norman Copping, W Reed, P Whitehouse 2½; (18) Miss Elsie Grace Coulson 2; (19) G Burnett 1; (20) A Cornish 0.

THIRD WEEK A: (1) Francisco R T Trois (Brazil) 5/6; (2) Kevin J Thurlow 4½; (3-6) R E Gibbons, Heinrich Jühe, Lincoln Lucena (Brazil), Mrs Dinah M Wright [née Dobson, later Norman] 4; (7-8) Geoffrey Daw, P H Harris 3½; (9-12) G Beattie, Stuart C Conquest, Christoph P Pragua (FRG), Luiz C Tavares da Silva (BRA) 3; (13-16) John A Felton, Bryan Allen Fewell, Ronald George Rusha, George W Rutland 2½; (17-18) Geoffrey W Naldrett, Jack A Speigel 2; (19) John David Howard Nicholas 1½.

THIRD WEEK B: (1) D Fanning 5½/6; (2-3) John R Beadle, Brian H Turner 4; (4-7) E Chambers, David Terence Fairbank, F F Jacquier, Ronald Ernest Rushbrook 3½; (8-10) D Parker, A J Sweeney, J G Whitehead 3; (11-12) E Mitchell, R Thornton 2½; (13-14) G Burnett, Truman V Parrott 2; (15) Miss J Escudero 1½; (16) William Edward Busbridge 1.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
Previously	Uploaded as part of the Hastings collection some time ago.
1 November 2020	Uploaded as a separate page, with crosstables and full results, and 26 Challengers games.
4 November 2020	Ron de Haas kindly sent me two games he found in the club magazine from Chessclub Dordrecht in the Netherlands, from the Challengers tournament (1) Povah 1-0 Steiner; (2) Bachmann 0-1 Steiner. Many thanks, Ron. Whilst looking at Ron's games, I noticed his dates for these two games were one day earlier than I had expected. On re-checking sources I discovered that the Challengers didn't start on 29 December as one source had led me to believe but on 28 December, so Ron's dates for Challengers games were right and mine wrong. I have now corrected them all.
19 November 2020	Twelve more games from subsidiary sections added, kindly submitted by Brian Denman. One is from the Challengers (D.Cummings-C.Wessels), one played by a very young Stuart Conquest* in the Main D Section, plus ten games played by Geoff H James and John C Henshaw in the Christmas Special A section. Many thanks to Brian. * Later the same day: Stuart Conquest has supplied a correction to the score of his game vs Paul Kane. Thanks, Stu!
26 August 2024	Added the game A.Martin 1-0 F.Trois (Challengers, rd 6). Many thanks to Andy Ansel for sending the game. Whilst checking, I found there were more Challengers games to be input from the March 1978 issue of CHESS. There are now 38 games from the Challengers, plus 17 from other sections, as well as the 105 games from the Premier. EDIT: added the 'game' Balshan ½-½ Gruchacz (Challengers, rd 10) which went 1 e4 e6 draw agreed!