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Tournament: 15th Hastings Premier 1934/35 Go to: Previous YearNext Year • updated Tuesday March 12, 2024 11:16 AM
Venue: White Rock Pavilion • Dates: 27 December 1934 - 5 January 1935 • Download PGN • 45/45 Prem, 25+19 subsidiary games+part

1934/35 (15th) Hastings Premier, 27 December - 5 January, White Rock Pavilion

1934/35 Hastings Premier Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Sir George Alan Thomas London
&;
0 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
2 Max Euwe Amsterdam 1
&;
½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½
3 Salo Flohr Prague ½ ½
&;
½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1
4 José Raúl Capablanca Cuba 0 ½ ½
&;
½ 0 1 1 1 1
5 Mikhail Botvinnik Moscow 0 0 ½ ½
&;
½ ½ 1 1 1 5
6 Andor Lilienthal Hungary 0 ½ ½ 1 ½
&;
1 ½ ½ ½ 5
7 Reginald Pryce Michell London 1 0 0 0 ½ 0
&;
½ 1 1 4
8 Vera Menchik London 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½
&;
1 ½ 3
9 (Philip) Stuart Milner-Barry London 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0
&;
1
10 George Marshall Norman Hastings 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0
&;

Hastings 1934/35 photos of Koltanowski, Capablanca, Cross, Thomas
photo from The Sphere, 5 January 1935, page 31

BCM, February 1935, ppn 49-62

HASTINGS CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL.

The fifteenth of the series of congresses held annually at the Christmas and New Year break was begun in the late afternoon of Thursday, December 27, at White Rock Pavilion. The meeting becomes more and more of an international character and that just closed was generally held to be quite the strongest, as regards the general quality of the players, of the series. Note was taken, too, of the increasing proportion of players with youth on their side.

A quarter of an hour was given before the games started to the usual pleasant ceremony of welcoming the players to Hastings. The Mayor, Alderman A. Blackman, expressed his pleasure in welcoming so large a number of expert players, and recalled that he had the satisfaction of opening the congress during his mayoralty eleven years before, when also Señor Capablanca was a welcome guest to Hastings. He especially welcomed the many foreign players, and noted that Cuba, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Latvia, Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Holland and Belgium—a surprising list—-were all represented. The Mayor confessed to cards (he is an excellent contract player) but regretted his ignorance of the royal game. His recalling the old stories of Sir Walter Scott’s two, and somebody else’s seven, languages that could be learned in the time taken to master chess, makes one wonder again how many of the chess ignoramuses learned the two languages, let alone seven. Reference was made by the Mayor and Councillor Dobell (chairman) to the fine work annually performed by Messrs. A. F. Kidney (hon. secretary, Hastings and St. Leonards C.C.) and E. G. Lewcock (hon. treasurer) in organising these meetings. An immense amount of correspondence and other work is involved. A vote of thanks to the Mayor was moved by Senor Capablanca and seconded by R. H. S. Stevenson.

In the absence of Dr. Alekhine, who was believed to be due for a visit to a Melbourne Centenary tournament (though it appears he was making a North African tour) a visit to Europe by Señor Capablanca came in opportunely, and he was persuaded to give Hastings another visit. Flohr (already three times winner) and Lilienthal (equal second with Alekhine last time) were both available again, and a welcome renewal of old acquaintance was provided when Dr. Euwe found himself able to accept an invitation. And topical interest was added by the participation of Botvinnik, the leading representative of the recent amazing development of Soviet chess.

In the British section of the Premier contest were Sir George Thomas, who proved his superiority at the Chester Congress, with his "second-in-command," R. P. Michell. Milner-Barry was given opportunity to make good after his disappointment at the same event. Miss Menchik, whose chess is English, if not her nationality, made her annual appearance as a Hastings representative, as well as in her role of world’s woman champion. For the tenth place, G. M. Norman, another local expert, was offered the place vacated by the withdrawal of Mr. Fairhurst.

The play in the tournament is reviewed below from day to day, and the rise and fall of the players round by round in the two top sections can be followed in the daily tables.

The Mayoress (Mrs. Lancelot Blackman) attended the final meeting and gave out the prizes. Three couples were "locked up" to finish their games while the meeting was in progress, but got their games over in time to complete the prize list. Sir George Thomas had a rousing reception for his fine performance, the best by a British player in an international tournament since 1898, when Burn was first at Cologne. Dr. Euwe and Flohr were also well received, and the warm cheers for Señor Capablanca showed that he still held a prominent place in the affections of the chess public. Councillor Dobell was in the chair and was supported by the Deputy-Mayor, Councillor H. Burden and Alderman Shoesmith. The chairman noted that twenty women players figured among the contestants. Moving a vote of thanks to the Mayor and Corporation for their moral and material support of the annual tournament, R. P. Michell said that chessplayers’ debt to Hastings increased and no one bewailed the increase. F. H. Booth (Brighton), a former M.P., though having a rival’s care of his praise, could not help putting the Hastings Bowls and Chess Tournaments as the foremost of their kind in the country. Councillor Burden, acknowledging the vote, recognised to the full the popularity and publicity the Chess Congress brought to Hastings, and the Corporation certainly did not regret the day when it decided to assist the Hastings Club with its annual festival of chess.

Señor Capablanca and Dr. Euwe thanked the club officials, Messrs. Kidney and Lewcock in particular, for their excellent conduct of the proceedings, and the Dutch master, with the last round game between Thomas and Michell in mind, could not help referring to the characteristic British sportsmanship shown in the way Michell went all out to beat his old antagonist. Flohr had already expressed a wonder whether any other country could have furnished such an example. Alderman Shoesmith moved a vote of thanks to the Press, acknowledged by E. S. Tinsley (The Times). The competitors did not forget to reward the great services of Miss Lewcock, as Clerk of the Course.

A second notice of the Congress, devoted more particularly to the play in the sections below the Premier, will appear in March.

(BCM, March 1935, p105)

THE HASTINGS CHRISTMAS CONGRESS.(second notice).

The following is a further selection of the most attractive specimens of play, taken from the sections below the Premier. In deriving them the writer has played over a multitude of games, and only a little more of such experience would qualify him for a job in "Room 40" in the next world war. As it is, some of the "ciphers" (mostly illegibilities) have escaped him and possibly more than one gem of purest ray serene is deprived of the publicity it deserves.

Both Dr. Tarrasch and Señor Capablanca in the fine text-books they have recently launched on the chess world emphasize the need for the amateur to be filled full with mid-game positions, especially "type" positions, with a view to a thorough training of the imagination. It is this quality, more than any other, that makes the fine player. Such training makes the instant recognition of any opportunity that presents itself during the intricate ramifications of play almost automatic, saving valuable time and enabling concentration to be applied to the accurate working out of the moves in sequel. It is hoped that such articles as this and similar ones based on the extensive store of games furnished by a big congress will contribute something to this end.

[n.b. the game annotations which followed the above text not included in the download]

1934/35 Hastings Premier Reserves

1934/35 Hastings Premier Reserves Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 George Koltanowski Antwerp
&;
½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1
2 Theodore Henry Tylor Oxford ½
&;
½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1
3 Lodewijk Prins Amsterdam ½ ½
&;
1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 6
4 Edward Mackenzie Jackson Bexhill 1 0 0
&;
0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 5
5 Ilmari Solin Helsinki 0 1 1 1
&;
0 0 0 ½ 1
6 (Alfred) Rupert Neale Cross Oxford 0 0 0 0 1
&;
1 ½ ½ 1 4
7 Edward Guthlac Sergeant London 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0
&;
½ ½ 1 4
8 James Marston Craddock Cambridge 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½
&;
½ 0 3
9 Charles Herbert Stacey Brighton ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½
&;
0 3
10 Simon Rubinstein Vienna 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 1
&;

1934/35 Hastings Major A, Section 1

1934/35 Hastings Major A1 Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Dr. (Jakov) Adolf Seitz Germany
&;
½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 7
2 Francis George Tims-Collins Oxford ½
&;
0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1
3 Arthur Eva Manchester ½ 1
&;
1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 5
4 Theodoor de Jong Amsterdam 0 0 0
&;
1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 5
5 Jurrien Cornelis Scheffer Amsterdam ½ ½ 0 0
&;
1 1 0 1 1 5
6 Alfred Lenton Leicester 0 ½ 1 0 0
&;
½ 1 ½ 1
7 William Ritson Morry Birmingham 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½
&;
½ 0 1 4
8 Sonja Graf Munich 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½
&;
½ ½
9 Dr (Robert) Lloyd Storr-Best London 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½
&;
½
10 George Arnold Shoobridge Cheam ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½
&;
2

1934/35 Hastings Major A, Section 2

1934/35 Hastings Major A2 Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Frits van Seters Brussels
&;
1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 7
2 Francis Herbert Terrill Birmingham 0
&;
0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 6
3 Bruno Ullrich Berlin ½ 1
&;
½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 6
4 Alexander Koblencs Latvia 0 ½ ½
&;
0 1 1 1 ½ 1
5 John James O'Hanlon Dublin ½ 0 ½ 1
&;
½ 0 ½ 1 1 5
6 (Nicholas) Anthony Perkins Oxford 0 0 ½ 0 ½
&;
1 1 1 1 5
7 Emil Josef Diemer Baden 0 0 0 0 1 0
&;
1 1 1 4
8 (William) Arthur Winser Hastings ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0
&;
1 1 4
9 Leonard Illingworth Royston ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0
&;
1
10 George Clifford Brown Worcester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
&;
0

1934/35 Hastings Major B

1934/35 Hastings Major B Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 James J Doyle Dublin
&;
½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1
2 Baruch H Wood Birmingham ½
&;
1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
3 Alfred Dudley Barlow London ½ 0
&;
1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 5
4 E A Morrison / M Hes Netherlands 0 0 0
&;
1 0 1 1 1 1 5
5 Raymond Owen Young East Sheen 0 1 ½ 0
&;
½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 5
6 George J Craddock1 Birmingham 0 0 0 1 ½
&;
1 0 1 1
7 Ernest Montgomery Jellie London 0 0 1 0 0 0
&;
½ 1 1
8 C Lewis Bexhill 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½
&;
0 1
9 J H Wise Croydon ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1
&;
0 2
10 Harold John Francis Stephenson Hastings 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1
&;

1 George J Craddock was the father of James Marston Craddock who played in the Premier Reserves.


1934/35 Hastings Major C

1934/35 Hastings Major C Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Ralph Lancelot Aldis Birmingham
&;
1 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7
2 Ronald Grubb Stansfield Cambridge 0
&;
1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1
3 L G Hoenselaar Netherlands 0 0
&;
1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6
4 George Frederick Ramsay Hastings 0 0 0
&;
½ 1 1 1 1 1
5 H Ward Eastdean 1 ½ 0 ½
&;
0 1 ½ 1 1
6 Minnie Musgrave St Leonards 0 ½ 1 0 1
&;
0 0 1 1
7 Edith Mary Ann Michell Kingston-upon-Thames ½ 0 0 0 0 1
&;
1 ½ 1 4
8 Charles William Roberts Huddersfield ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 0
&;
1 0 3
9 Capt. Hugh Windsor Fiesch Heneage Brighton 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0
&;
1 2
10 Rev. Charles Fenton Bolland Hastings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
&;
1

1934/35 Hastings First Class - Morning

1934/35 Hastings First Class - Morning Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  Total 
 1  G Fletcher Nottingham
&;
0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 5
2 Alfred Herman Reeve Great Missenden 1
&;
0 1 ½ 1 0 1
3 Charles Henry Taylor Wells ½ 1
&;
0 1 0 1 1
4 Col. William Ernest McKechnie Hastings 0 0 1
&;
1 1 0 1 4
5 B Talbot Hastings 0 ½ 0 0
&;
1 1 1
6 Muriel Ivy Scobell Mackereth (née Watson) Buxton ½ 0 1 0 0
&;
1 ½ 3
7 Leonard Stanley Hanson-Powter Brede 0 1 0 1 0 0
&;
1 3
8 Elsie Margaret Reid (later Lenton) Leicester 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0
&;
½

1934/35 Hastings First Class - Afternoon

1934/35 Hastings First Class - Afternoon Residence Draw No? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Arthur Douglas Field Croydon 3
&;
½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1
2 Hon. Arthur James Beresford Lowther Woodbridge 6 ½
&;
½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7
3 W Barker Wolverhampton 8 0 ½
&;
½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1
4 Josep Cabestany Olle Spain 7 0 ½ ½
&;
½ 1 1 1 1 1
5 W G Watson Hastings 1 ½ 0 ½ ½
&;
1 1 1 1 1
6 Julian Mayne Ilott Bexhill 2 0 0 0 0 0
&;
1 1 1 1 4
7 Herbert William Tidball Birmingham 5 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0
&;
0 1 1 3
8 Samuel Frederick Dalladay Hastings 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
&;
1 0 2
9 Mrs F C Ayris/Ayres Rye 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
&;
1 1
10 Rev. C E Hughes1 Hastings 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
&;
1

Draw numbers are tentative, based on a crosstable published in El Ajedrez Español, 2/1935, p163, not in score order and thus probably in draw order.
1 "Rev. C E Hughes had to withdraw early on" (but not known precisely when)

1934/35 Hastings Second Class - Morning (Double-Round Tournament)

1934/35 Hastings Second Class - Morning Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6   1 2 3 4 5 6  Total 
1 Dennis Bernard Mercer East Sheen
&;
1 1 1 1 0  
&;
0 1 ½ 1 ½ 7
2 Mrs Pauline Peckar Hampstead 0
&;
1 1 1 1   1
&;
0 1 0 0 6
3 Mrs M Healey Hastings 0 0
&;
0 ½ 1   0 1
&;
1 1 0
4 Miss Emily Eliza Abraham Ramsgate 0 0 1
&;
0 1   ½ 0 0
&;
1 1
5 Mrs Helen Muriel Cobbold Hampstead 0 0 ½ 1
&;
1   0 1 0 0
&;
½ 4
6 J Francis St Leonards 1 0 0 0 0
&;
  ½ 1 1 0 ½
&;
4

1934/35 Hastings Second Class - Afternoon

1934/35 Hastings Second Class - Afternoon Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 F H Booth Brighton
&;
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8
2 W C Lamsweerde Netherlands 1
&;
0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 7
3 Frank Miles Argrave Whitstable 0 1
&;
0 1 0 1 1 1 1 6
4 George Henry Wheeler Hastings 0 0 1
&;
0 1 1 1 1 1 6
5 T Moody Hastings 0 1 0 1
&;
0 1 ½ 1 1
6 Arthur Albert Rider Hastings 0 0 1 0 1
&;
0 1 1 1 5
7 John E Coleman Grays 0 0 0 0 0 1
&;
½ 1 1
8 Thomas Gasson Rye 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½
&;
1 1 3
9 Mrs C M Lillie Hastings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
&;
1 1
10 Audrey Bourne Poupard Essex 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
&;
0

1934/35 Hastings Third Class - Morning

1934/35 Hastings Third Class - Morning Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Philip J Homan West Malling
&;
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9
2 Geoffrey George Homan Rochester 0
&;
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 7
3 Mrs Melita Ida Elizabeth Seyd1 Oxted 0 0
&;
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
4 E Swanson Hastings 0 1 1
&;
0 0 1 1 1 1 6
5 W F Freeman Hastings 0 0 0 1
&;
½ 1 1 1 ½ 5
6 Mrs Anne Muriel Shannon Shannon (née Kerr) Hurlingham 0 0 0 1 ½
&;
½ 1 0 1 4
7 J Tracey Hastings 0 0 0 0 0 ½
&;
1 ½ 1 3
8 F Gorringe Hastings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
&;
1 1 2
9 E F Glazier   0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0
&;
0
10 H Stacey Hastings 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1
&;

1 Listed as "Mrs R Seyd" – I'm now sure this is Melita Ida Elizabeth Seyd (née Krohn, 1874-1959), married to Richard Ernest Nathaniel Joseph Seyd 1871-1952 - - she was Hon.Sec. of the Women's Suffrage Society in 1911. They lived in Oxted in the 1910s, Kensington in the 1930s and in Bexhill after the war - Mrs R Seyd became a regular player at Hastings CC.

1934/35 Hastings Third Class - Afternoon

1934/35 Hastings Third Class - Afternoon Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  Total 
1 P Foster Hastings
&;
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7
2 Mrs C Lewis Bexhill 1
&;
0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1
3 Miss I M Shaw St Leonards 0 1
&;
1 0 1 1 ½ 1
4 Frederick William Binge Hastings 0 0 0
&;
1 1 1 1 1 5
5 Miss Edith Maud Eleanor John Goodacre Cheltenham 0 0 1 0
&;
1 1 1 0 4
6 Dr. C Dukes London 0 0 0 0 0
&;
1 1 1 3
7 Mrs F Simpson Brighton 0 0 0 0 0 0
&;
1 1 2
8 J T Hardy Hastings 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0
&;
1 2
 9  Miss Mabel Annie Lankey Hastings 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
&;
1

Manchester Guardian, 16 February 1935, p6

Letter to the Editor

CHESS IN ENGLAND

Impressions of the Soviet Champion

To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian.

Sir.—Now that I have returned to Russia after my first visit to England, and before I take part in the important Moscow chess tournament which is just about to begin, I should like to let you know my impressions of the Hastings Congress.

I went to Hastings because it was important for me to play in an international chess tournament in a foreign country, but it also gave me much pleasure to get to know such a highly cultured country as England. Secretly I even hoped in my spare time to see something of English achievements in the field of electro-technique, for, being an engineer, I devote more attention to that subject than to chess. Alas, I was only able to catch glimpses of electric transmission lines and other structures relating to my speciality through the window of my railway carriage.

London impressed me by its vastness, its exemplary orderliness, and the beauty of its historic buildings. I spent many hours in the British Museum: I admired the fine architecture of Westminster Abbey and fed the pigeons by St. Paul’s. Unfortunately, the need to return to Russia prevented my visiting the London chess clubs. The only chess players I met were the two ex-world champions, Emanuel Lasker and Capablanca, with whom I had to make arrangements for their visit to the Soviet Union to take part in the Moscow tournament.

I arrived in Hastings on the opening day of the tournament. There was a rough sea; it rained, and the wind tore our hats from our heads. I went straight from my hotel to the tournament, where I learned that I was booked to play in the first round with that pastmaster Flohr, against whom I played a match of twelve games last year in Leningrad and Moscow. Thus my first international tournament began.

The organisation of the tournament was splendid. It proceeded without any misunderstandings, and would have been a very pleasant one for me had I played better. Unfortunately, I made a number of serious mistakes which cost me several important points. I feel I must mention the splendid game of Sir George Thomas who played against me, and the wonderfully solid strategy of Mr. Michell, as well as the clever parrying of Mr. Milner-Barry. They all showed themselves to be exceptionally fine players, and I was very sorry that Sir George Thomas declined my invitation to take part in the tournament at Moscow.

The Hastings Congress differed in many ways from our tournaments. With us the players at tournaments are mostly between the ages of seventeen and thirty; women play in special women’s tournaments; with you all play together, and the average age of the players is probably in the neighbourhood of forty to forty-five, while cases of players of seventy are frequent. I was the more surprised because in our country we should hardly find a chess player as old, say, as Mr. Michell who would be his equal in strength. Furthermore, I was impressed by the amazing coolness and restraint of your players. We Russians, and myself in particular, expend much nervous energy in our play, which, naturally, often tells against us. We have to learn sportsmanlike restraint from Englishmen and their ability to control their nerves in the most difficult moments of a game.

It was pleasant to play at Hastings, particularly because of the absence of a large public, who, at our tournaments, in spite of the carpets and the precautions taken, make much noise and often interfere with one’s complete concentration. I left Hastings carrying the best of impressions away with me. The splendidly enthusiastic organisers, the exemplary arrangements of the whole tournament, the agreeable atmosphere have left me with the best of recollections of this my first but, I hope, not my last visit to England.—Yours, &c.,

M. Botwinnik.
Leningrad, February 6 [1935]


File Updated

Date Notes
2016 First uploaded as a separate file (previous part of a 1930s zipped file)
19 December 2022 Full crosstables added. More to come soon...
31 December 2022 Now featuring 32 games from subsidiary sections (mainly part-games).
31 December 2022 The number of subsidiary games is now 36, with these four added: (1) C.Stacey ½-½ G.Koltanowski (Premier Reserves, rd 2); (2) R.Aldis 0-1 H.Ward (Major C, rd 5); (3) H.Heneage 1-0 C.Bolland (Major C); (4) G.Ramsay 0-1 R.Aldis (Major C). Many thanks to Brian Denman for the games.
3 January 2023 The quota of subsidiary games is now up to 24 complete games plus 20 part-games. Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm.
12 March 2024 The quota of subsidiary games has been adjusted to 25 (complete) plus 19 (part-games) with the replacement and correction of the part-score of Cross-Tylor (Premier Reserves) with the complete score, submitted by Michael Kühl. Many thanks to Michael.