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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
28 September 2026
The international tournament at Hastings in the summer of 1895 was one of the most important chess events of the nineteenth century. The field of 22 included most of the top players in the world and only two players (Samuel Tinsley of England and Beniamino Vergani of Italy) who did not really belong in the company of great masters.
This was the first of the long series of chess tournaments played in the Sussex coastal resort of Hastings. It came about through the initiative of the local chess club with the support of the great master Joseph Henry Blackburne, who was a resident at that time, and of Leopold Hoffer, the leading chess journalist who had extensive contacts throughout the chess world.
However, there is a major issue with the documentation of the event although this is perhaps not widely realised. In fact none of the sources (including the tournament books) or databases covering the event is entirely reliable. This series of articles, which we have been working on for a long period, will examine the evidence.
Our series of articles will be gradually released over the next few weeks. We shall only post what we believe is the most accurate database of the tournament until the series is completed. Meanwhile, feedback from readers to Tim's email address is welcomed but we may not have time to answer individual queries.
We expect that the following four articles should be posted soon after the Samarkand olympiad is over:
Setting the scene
Sources for Hastings 1895
The players
Outlining the problem
The following pages will go live in turn over the subsequent weeks, taking one round at a time:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
CONCLUSION