After the summer chess congresses held in 1895 and 1919, the chess club at Hastings devised an annual event, a chess festival held around the Christmas holiday, which began with its inaugural master tournament at the end of the year 1920. Four British chess masters competed in the double round robin event. The participants were Frederick Yates, Henry Ernest Atkins, Roland Henry Scott, and Richard Clewin Griffith. The all British event would soon give way to being an international affair, with a longevity that spans over 80 years. Two games, the scores of which are incomplete, are omitted from this collection (and database). Both games were played by Atkins and Griffith: the first, Griffith-Atkins, was played in round two to a draw (the opening moves only remaining: 1.d4 d5 2.c4); the second, Atkins-Griffith, was played in the fifth round and saw a win for white (the opening moves only remaining: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6). Yates won the first Christmas festival, as one of Britain's best masters, by going undefeated through the event.

The final standings and crosstable:

1st Yates 4/6 ** 1½ ½½ ½1

2nd Scott 3½/6 0½ ** ½1 1½

3rd Atkins 3/6 ½½ ½0 ** ½1

4th Griffith 1½/6 ½0 0½ ½0 **