The 16th Hastings Christmas Congress, held from December 27, 1935 to January 4, 1936, was convincingly won by the young American Reuben Fine, who surrendered only three draws in nine games.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1 Fine * 1 = = = 1 1 1 1 1 7.5
2 Flohr 0 * = 1 1 1 1 = 1 = 6.5
3 Tartakower = = * = 1 = = = 1 1 6.0
4 Koltanowski = 0 = * 1 = = 1 1 = 5.5
5 Alexander = 0 0 0 * 0 1 1 = 1 4.0
6 Golombek 0 0 = = 1 * = 0 = = 3.5
7 Thomas 0 0 = = 0 = * 1 = = 3.5
8 Tylor 0 = = 0 0 1 0 * = = 3.0
9 Michell 0 0 0 0 = = = = * 1 3.0
10 Winter 0 = 0 = 0 = = = 0 * 2.5
A London newspaper noted that "... the Premier was perhaps not so strong as last year's." (1) This seems a reasonable assessment, since Hastings (1934/35) featured Capablanca, Botvinnik, Euwe, Flohr and Lilienthal. However, the foreign contingent was still strong enough to finish ahead of all the British players, losing only a couple of games in the process.One of those losses was the first-round encounter between the two top finishers. Flohr launched a sacrificial attack which should have won, but lost his way in the complications. Buoyed by this, Fine sprinted to a 6½/7 start and coasted home. Flohr finished second, a slight come-down from the four previous Hastings tournaments, in which he had achieved three consecutive outright wins, then a tie with Euwe and Thomas in the prior year's event.
There was an anomaly in the order of rounds. The original program called for a rest day on Sunday, December 29, followed by rounds 3 and 4 on Monday, December 30. However, the players decided to play their fourth round games in advance on the rest day, meaning that Round 4 was actually played before "Round 3". (2, 3)
References
(1) The Observer, December 29, 1935.
(2) The Manchester Guardian, December 31, 1935, p.3, mentions the players' decision to play Round 4 early.
(3) Boston Globe, December 30, 1935, p.6. This is an AP report, dated December 29, describing the games played "today", and listing the games from what is known as Round 4.
Sources
American Chess Bulletin, January 1936, pp. 1-6.
Britbase, https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/ha..., has a PGN file of the games.
Chess Review, February 1936, pp. 32-34.
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