Hastings International Chess Congress

From 28th December 2008 until 5th January 2009

The 23-years old Russian GM Igor Kurnosov held GM Valeriy Neverov to a draw in the last round of the Hastings International Chess Congress to remain alone on the top and win the tournament. Neverov, who solely or jointly won previous three Congresses, had to satisfy himself with the shared second place, together with the top-seeded GM Emanuel Berg.

Four English Grandmasters - Howell, Conquest, Hebden and Williams - are sharing 4th-7th with 6.5 points each. Scottish junior Andrew Green jumped beyond the much higher rated opposition to finish on the 8th place tie. This excellent results comes as no surprise to all of us who have seen him diligently training with GM Alex Finkel.

The Congress took place from 28th December 2008 until 5th January 2009 and there were 104 players in the Masters division.

Final standings:
1. GM Kurnosov Igor 2606 RUS - 7.5
2-3. GM Berg Emanuel 2623 SWE and GM Neverov Valeriy 2571 UKR - 7.0
4-7. GM Howell David 2593 ENG, GM Conquest Stuart 2526 ENG, GM Hebden Mark 2515 ENG and GM Williams Simon 2494 ENG - 6.5
8-14. GM Jones Gawain 2548 ENG, GM Pavlovic Milos 2524 SRB, GM Haslinger Stewart 2506 ENG, IM Houska Jovanka 2399 ENG, IM Bates Richard 2387 ENG, IM Bergez Luc 2356 FRA and Green Andrew 2102 SCO - 6.0 etc

Tournament website