The 35th Hastings Christmas Congress was held December 30, 1959 - January 8, 1960 in Hastings, England.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts
1 Gligoric X = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 7.5
2 Averbakh = X = = 1 1 = = 1 1 6.5
3 Uhlmann 0 = X 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 6.5
4 Bobotsov 0 = 0 X 1 0 1 1 1 1 5.5
5 Golombek 0 0 1 0 X = = 1 = 1 4.5
6 Kottnauer = 0 0 1 = X 1 0 = 1 4.5
7 Pomar 0 = 0 0 = 0 X 1 1 1 4.0
8 Heemsoth 0 = 0 0 0 1 0 X = 1 3.0
9 Burger 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = X 1 2.5
10 Winser = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0.5
Gligoric Triumphs at Hastings. By W. Ritson MorryRussian victories have become so much the normal course of events in recent years that it is quite a story when one of their grandmasters has to take second place. This, however, was the feature of the thirty-fifth Hastings Congress which opened on December 29th, in the familiar surroundings of the Sun Lounge. From start to finish it was all Gligoric, who played with all the poise and assurances and, let us be quite honest, the smattering of good fortune which all go into the make-up of the complete tournament winner.
The difficulties over last-minute withdrawals did not upset the smooth schedule, as they did last year, and only two absentees in the whole programme of 136 players must be a record not only for Hastings but for most congresses. As a result of this fine assembly of obvious enthusiasts the Committee had to set about the agreeable task of making up an additional One-week Section of eight players to cater for those who had come along in the hope of finding vacancies to fill. Thus the total entry mounted to 144, beating last year's number by four.
Although the Russians might have justifiably felt unable to send a competitor in view of the likely staleness of their representatives in the Candidates' Tournament and the hard struggle for their own national championship soon to commence, they were able to nominate Y. Averbakh, a former Soviet Champion, who had never visited this country before. With last year's winner, W. Uhlmann, the tournament promised to be an attractive one even if not quite as powerful as in such vintage years as 1934 (Sir George Thomas, Flohr, Euwe, Capablanca, Botvinnik).
There was a slight disappointment at the opening ceremony when it was announced that Mr. Malik had been forced to cancel his visit owing to his having to return to Russia, but his place was taken by Mr. D.F. Safonov, a Counsellor at the Soviet Embassy, who carried the good wishes of his principal and made the first move of the congress to give an excellent start to the grim battles to come. (1)
(1) British Chess Magazine, February 1960, pp. 33-39.
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Kibitzing
