99th Hastings Chess Congress: Three rounds to go in tradition-rich event

The tradition lives on

The Hastings Chess Congress stands among the most tradition-rich tournaments in the game’s history. Its origins date back to the landmark Hastings Chess Tournament of 1895, held from 5 August to 2 September at the Brassey Institute in Hastings, England.

That 22-player round-robin brought together the leading figures of the era, including Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker, alongside prominent masters such as Siegbert Tarrasch and Mikhail Chigorin. The event was won by the relatively unknown Harry Nelson Pillsbury from the United States, whose score of 16½/21 marked one of the great breakthroughs of nineteenth-century chess and helped establish Hastings as a permanent fixture on the international calendar.

Participants of the Hastings 1895 Chess Tournament (standing, from left): Albin, Schlechter, Janowski, Marco, Blackburne, Maróczy, Schiffers, Gunsberg, Burn, Tinsley; (seated, from left): Vergani, Steinitz, Chigorin, Em. Lasker, Pillsbury, Tarrasch, Mieses, Teichmann

The 2025/26 Hastings Congress is being played from 28 December 2025 to 2 January 2026 at Horntye Park Sports Complex. The main tournament is a nine-round Swiss, played over six days. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment per move throughout.

The total prize fund is £10,000, with £2,500 awarded to first place. The event is overseen by Chief Arbiter Alex McFarlane.

A total of 112 players from 22 countries are taking part in this year’s Congress. The top seeds are Pierre Laurent-Paoli (France), Sarunas Solskis (Lithuania) and Marius Deuer (Germany). Among the other notable participants are English grandmaster Simon Williams, known for his attacking style and online presence, and ten-year-old English talent Bodhana Sivanandan, who entered the tournament as the 26^th seed.

With two days remaining, third seed Marius Deuer has emerged as the sole leader on 5 points from 6 games, having recorded four wins and two draws. Ten players trail him by half a point, a group that includes top seed Pierre Laurent-Paoli and Czech grandmaster Vojtech Plat. Bodhana Sivanandan has scored a solid 3½/6 so far, her only defeat coming in round two against Stephen Gordon, a multiple British Under-21 champion now aged 39.

Marius Deuer faced Simon Williams with white in round four. Williams faltered with 36…Ne8 and, with less than two minutes on the clock, Deuer found the winning 37.h4

Now 37…gxh4 fails to 38.Ne6, threatening g4-g5, and Black cannot play 38…Rf7 due to 39.Rxe8 – i.e. Black will be all but forced to play 38…Rxe6, with a losing position.

Thus, Williams opted for 37…Rd6, which was followed by 38.Rxe8

Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.

Of course, 38…Bxe8 would be replied by 39.Nf5+, with a fork. Williams continued with 38…gxh4, but had no chance of surviving in the ensuing position a piece down.

The schedule concludes with a double round on 1 January, followed by the deciding ninth round on 2 January, when the winner of the 2025/26 Hastings Chess Congress will be determined.

Standings after round 6

…112 players

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