1954/55 Hastings Premier, 29 December 1954 - 7 January 1955, Sun Lounge

1954/55 Hastings Premier		Nat'y	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Vassily Smyslov	USSR	&;	½	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	7
2	Paul Keres	USSR	½	&;	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
3	Andrija Fuderer	YUG	0	1	&;	1	0	½	½	1	½	1	5½
4	Ludek Pachman	CZE	½	½	0	&;	½	½	1	1	1	½	5½
5	Laszlo Szabo	HUN	0	0	1	½	&;	½	½	1	1	1	5½
6	Wolfgang Unzicker	BRD	0	0	½	½	½	&;	½	1	1	1	5
7	C Hugh O'D Alexander	ENG	½	0	½	0	½	½	&;	½	1	1	4½
8	Jan Hein Donner	NED	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1	½	2½
9	William A Fairhurst	SCO	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	&;	1	1½
10	Alan Phillips	ENG	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	&;	1

1954/55 Hastings Premier Reserves Major

1954/55 Hastings Premier Reserves Major		Nat'y	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Istvan Bilek	Hungary	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	½	½	1	7
2	Dragoslav Andric	Yugoslavia	0	&;	1	1	1	½	½	½	1	1	6½
3	Raaphi Persitz	Israel	1	0	&;	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	6½
4	Arnold Yorwarth Green	London	0	0	1	&;	1	1	1	0	1	1	6
5	Baruch H Wood	Sutton Coldfield	0	0	½	0	&;	1	½	1	1	1	5
6	Dr. Stefan Fazekas	Buckhurst Hill	0	½	0	0	0	&;	1	1	½	1	4
7	Lt. John Hudson	USA	0	½	0	0	½	0	&;	1	½	1	3½
8	Victor Ivanovich Soultanbeieff	Belgium	½	½	0	1	0	0	0	&;	½	1	3½
9	Geoffrey J Martin	Ilford	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	1	3
10	Andrew Rowland Benedick Thomas	Tiverton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	0

1954/55 Hastings Junior Qualifier

1954/55 Hastings World Junior Qualifier		Nat'y	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Kenneth W Lloyd	Birmingham	&;	½	0	1	1	1	1	½	½	½	6
2	Malcolm Frank Collins	Crewe	½	&;	½	1	½	½	0	1	1	½	5½
3	Denis John Pereira Gray	Exeter	1	½	&;	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	5½
4	Brian J Moore	Birmingham	0	0	½	&;	1	1	1	0	1	1	5½
5	Michael Macdonald-Ross	Lee	0	½	½	0	&;	1	0	½	1	1	4½
6	David Anthony Toms	Chingford	0	½	½	0	0	&;	1	1	½	½	4
7	Raymond Frederick Streater	London	0	1	½	0	1	0	&;	0	½	1	4
8	David George Springgay	Brighton	½	0	0	1	½	0	1	&;	1	0	4
9	Keith Donald Sales	Wigan	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	&;	1	3
10	David A Tidmarsh	London	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	1	0	&;	3

n.b. there are discrepancies between the crosstable given in CHESS (Vol.20 No.238, p185) and the scores for this tournament in BCM (February 1955, p69). CHESS shows Lloyd as drawing with Gray but we have a game score of Lloyd losing that game and the comment in BCM that Gray was the only unbeaten player, making seven draws. There is the result of the game Gray-Sales marked 'x' in the CHESS crosstable in one place and '½' in the other, which makes no sense. I have done my best to make sense of these discrepancies as shown above. EDIT: I've just found the correction (CHESS, Vol.20 No.239, p203) which confirms that Ken Lloyd lost to Gray who drew with Tidmarsh. This corroborates my interpretation of the crosstable.

1954/55 Hastings Premier Reserves A

1954/55 Hastings Premier Reserves A		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Milos Vasiljevic	Yugoslavia	&;	1	1	0	1	½	1	1	1	½	7
2	Hugh Edward Guy Courtney	Malvern Wells	0	&;	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	6
3	Denis Victor Mardle	Cheltenham	0	1	&;	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	6
4	Gerd Rinder	W Germany	1	1	0	&;	½	½	½	1	½	1	6
5	Peter Firmenich	CZE	0	0	1	½	&;	½	1	0	1	1	5
6	(Edmond) Noel Mulcahy	Cork	½	0	1	½	½	&;	0	½	1	1	5
7	John W McLeod	Brighton	0	0	0	½	0	1	&;	0	1	1	3½
8	Arthur R Spiller	USA	0	0	0	0	1	½	1	&;	0	1	3½
9	Kenneth Leslie Gardner	Solihull	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	&;	1	2½
10	John T Keable	Croydon	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	½

Premier Reserves A crosstable from Chess Life - many thanks to Ulrich Tamm for submitting it

1954/55 Premier Reserves B

1954/55 Hastings Premier Reserves B		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
1	Edith Keller-Herrmann	Dresden	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
2	Peter James Oakley	Latimer	1	&;	1	½	½	0	1	1	1	6
3	Harry Gethin Thorp Matchett	Birmingham	0	0	&;	½	½	1	1	1	1	5
4	Percy Baldwin Cook	London	0	½	½	&;	1	½	½	½	1	4½
5	Major Eric Howard Flear	Hastings	0	½	½	0	&;	1	½	½	1	4
6	David Edward Lloyd	Birmingham	0	1	0	½	0	&;	½	½	1	3½
7	Derek Francis Kenneth Griffiths	Birmingham	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	1	1	3
8	Mrs Rowena Mary Bruce	Plymouth	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	&;	1	2½
9	Mrs Dorothea (Dody) Denise Alma Bourdillon	London	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	0

Premier Reserves B crosstable from the GDR magazine Schach - many thanks to Ulrich Tamm for submitting it

Premier Reserves C: (1) Dr. G. Brokerhof (Netherlands) 6½/8; (2-3) John H Beatty (Doncaster), Heinrich Jühe (Germany) 6; (4) Ronald Mackay Bruce 5; (5-6) Ernest George Ansell (Manchester), James E Pattle 3; (7-8) Otto H Hardy (Batley), James Joseph (Jim) Walsh 2½; (9) T. E. Mitchell 1½.

Premier Reserves D: (1-2) David Le Brun Jones (London), T. Watts (Wallasey) 6½/8; (3-4) Lawrence Alfred J Glyde, J. Walker 6; (5) A. P. Primett 4; (6) Bernard Landon Wilkinson (Chorley) 3½; (7) Michael J Heaton (Edinburgh) 2; (8) Ronald Ernest Rushbrook 1½; (9) B. Shaw 0.

Premier Reserves E: (1) Alan Edgar Nield (New Zealand) 6½/8; (2) Herbert Francis Gook (Croydon) 5; (3) A. Whyte (Hastings) 4½; (4-5) Anthony Beckett Bamford (Pevensey), Oliver Cordery Gardiner (Dover) 4; (6) Francis Henry Charles Marriott (Bucksburn, Aberdeenshire) 3½; (7-8) P. A. Cooke (Mitcham), D. J. Rudland (Skipton) 3; (9) Reginald John Manfield (Chelmsford) 2½.

Premier Reserves F: (1) Gerald Bertram Blight (Aldershot) 6/8; (2) B. A. Cross (Surbiton) 5½; (3) S. Dean (Romford) 5; (4) Alfred Dudley Barlow 4½; (5-6) Ronald A Fuller (Ipswich), P. B. Sarson (Harrow) 4; (7) J. L. Warren (Warwick) 3½; (8) Willington Lucette Wakefield (Hastings) 2½; (9) Lawrence Henry Appleby (Hastings) 1.

Premier Reserves, Afternoon Section: (1-3) G. Booth, Bertram Goulding Brown (Cambridge), Rhys W Hays (USA) 6/8; (4) Ian Candlish Kirkwood (Edinburgh) 4½; (5-6) (Edward) Douglas Fawcett, D. M. Polley 4; (7) George Arthur Peck (Rugby) 2½; (8-9) Dr. E. Austin Gibb (Hastings), Brian Killick Jeary (Plymouth) 1½.

Major A: (1) Raymond B Edwards (York) 6/7; (2) Rev. Henry Middleton Blackett (Hastings) 5; (3) Brian H Turner (Shirley) 4½; (4) Patrick Humphrey Sullivan (Dartford) 4; (5) Gregory Owen John Melitus (London) 3½; (6) A. J. Davis (Swansea) 3; (7) Lewis James Worsell (Whitstable) 1½; (8) A. C. Hopkinson (Hastings) ½ (J A Finch (Canterbury))

Major B: (1) J. M. Dawson 6/8; (2-3) Joseph Soesan, Sir John Charles Walton 5; (4-5) C. Durston, A. E. Harris 4½; (6) Keith Edward Charles Budge 3½; (7-8) A. K. Henderson (Canterbury), Eric J Leyns (Bishops Stortford) 3; (9) William Edward Busbridge (Sevenoaks) 0.

Major C: (1) David J Casiot 8/9; (2) C. Hammersley (King's Heath) 7½; (3) P. Smith (Luton) 5½; (4) Geoffrey George Homan (Rochester) 5; (5) Charles Terence Clegg Wall (Dursley) 4½; (6-7) H. B. Howard (Bromley), N. Wheeler-Robinson (London) 4; (8) John David Beardsmore-Hyde 3½; (9) Miss (Jean) Lesley Mary Fletcher (Kew) 2; (10) Mrs. Barbara Mardle (née Lally, Cheltenham) 1.

Major, Afternoon Section: (1) Harold Edward Druce 7/9; (2-3) H. Grover, J. H. Wall 6; (4-5) Clement John Stapley, Ernest Ephraim Weedon 5; (6) William John Clare Hart Burges 4½; (7-9) Mrs. C. Lewis, Ernest John Seymour (Flackwell Heath), W. G. Watson 3; (10) R. M. Cherry (Oxford University) 2½.

Second Class, Mornings: (1-3) R. G. Fricker, Miss N. F. Harris, Robert A J Riddle 6½/9; (4-5) M. Brignall, F[rederick] C[larence] Shorter 5; (6-7) Cecil Berry (Cherry Hinton), B. R. Unsworth 4½; (8) R. E. Martin 3½; (9) Stanley Charles Hilliam (Sandown) 2½; (10) Mrs. Laurel Ethel Amelia [née Whitehouse] Start ½.

Second Class, Afternoons: (1) S. C. Burger 8/9; (2) A. Lewis 6½; (3-4) M. Cowley, Christopher John Driver 6; (5) C. Upton 4½; (6-7) A. Baxter, J. C. Simpson 3½; (8) Miss Elsie Grace Coulson 3; (9) Joseph H G Guy 2½; (10) Terence Ian Maylam (Hastings Grammar School) 1½.

Third Class: (1-2) Colin Sidney Collen-Smith (Pulborough), C. Stone 8/9; (3) C. Bryan 7; (4) Mrs. Jessy Hilliam [née Smith] (Sandown) 6½; (5) Graham G V Ramsey 5; (6-8) B. Foster, A. L. Hayles, D. Sochon 3½; (9) G. H. Smith 1; (10) Mrs. F. Beard 0.

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Tournament Bulletin, p6

"The news that Alexander had been awarded the C.B.E. in the New Year Honours List was received with great pleasure at the Congress and he was given a great reception at the opening of the [fourth] round by the assembled competitors."

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The Times, 28 December 1954

SEARCH FOR JUNIOR CHESS TALENT • SCHEME TO CHOOSE BEST FOR TRAINING - BY OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT

One of the events at the Hastings Chess Congress, which starts to-morrow, is a tournament for junior players to decide who shall represent Great Britain in the world junior championship next Easter.

This is one of several events that the British Chess Federation are planning to discover and encourage young talent. Much attention has been devoted to the advancement of chess among boys and girls, and in this respect our organization has outshone that of most other countries, but there has tended to be a gap in the organization from about 18 years onwards until the boy has passed through the junior to an adult stage.

It is intended now to fill this gap, which has lost many a promising player to British chess. In particular, efforts will be concentrated during the next two years on producing a good team to represent Britain in the international team tournament at Moscow in 1956. The president and secretary of the B.C.F., Mr. G. S. A. Wheatcroft and Mr. A. F. Stammwitz, and two international chess masters, C. H. O’D. Alexander and H. Golombek, will work in conjunction with the B.C.F. junior committee in an endeavour to form a pool of promising junior players from which the best can be chosen for training. The various unions that make up the B.C.F. have been invited to submit names.

As many training tournaments as possible will be held throughout the country among selected young players, and it is hoped to organize individual matches between leading masters and the younger players.

The Times, 29 December 1954

STRONG ENTRY FOR THE HASTINGS CONGRESS • RUSSIA SENDS SMYSLOV AND KERES - BY OUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT

The thirtieth annual Hastings Chess Congress opens this afternoon at the Sun Lounge, St. Leonards. There is a record entry of 170 competitors, but more remarkable is the nature of the entry in the Premier tournament, which must be classed as the strongest ever to be held at Hastings in this series of congresses. The 10 players are P. Keres and V. Smyslov (U.S.S.R.), J. H. Donner (Netherlands), A. Fuderer (Yugoslavia), L. Pachman (Czechoslovakia), L. Szabo (Hungary), W. Unzicker (West Germany) and, from this country, C. H. O’D. Alexander, W. A. Fairhurst, and A. Phillips.

Last year Russia was represented by a strong pair in Bronstein and Toiush, but even these are outshone by the present two grand masters, one of whom, Vassily Smyslov, drew a match with the world champion, Botwinnik, in Moscow this year, while the other, Paul Keres, scored 13½ out of 14 points in the Amsterdam international team tournament last September. In such a short tournament as this it is difficult to forecast the winner, but Keres’s recent fine form must make him first favourite.

Still, all conjectures must be qualified by the thought that, in addition to Smyslov, no fewer than six players, Alexander, Donner, Fuderer, Pachman, Szabo, and Unzicker, come well into consideration for first prize.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
(some years ago)	Games previously uploaded as part of a collection of Hastings games
3 January 2023	45 Premier games plus 7 from subsidiary events. Also, crosstables and results.
3 January 2023	Three more games from subsidiary sections added: (1) D.Lloyd 0-1 E.Flear (Prem Reserves B); (2) L.Glyde 1-0 B.Wilkinson (Prem Reserves D); (3) J.Hyde 1-0 Lesley Fletcher (Major C). Many thanks to Brian Denman.
4 January 2023	Final ten moves of C.Alexander 1-0 A.Phillips (rd 2) added. The following game scores have been corrected: (1) Alexander ½-½ Szabo (rd 6); (2) W.Fairhurst 0-1 J.H.Donner (rd 2); (3) L.Pachman 0-1 A.Fuderer (rd 7); (4) L.Szabo 1-0 A.Phillips (rd 7). I've also added a note to A.Phillips 0-1 W.Unzicker (rd 1) regarding a bulletin error which cannot be definitively corrected. Many thanks to Andy Ansel who alerted me to all of the above.
6 January 2023	Added another 13 games/part-games from subsidiary sections, making 18 games and 6 part-games in total to date. Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm for most of the additions.
10 January 2023	Added one game: M.Vasilijevic 1-0 J.McLeod (Premier Reserves A, rd 5). Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm.