Hastings 1895 Chess Tournament

Masters at Hastings 1895

According to World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, The Hastings 1895 Chess Tournament was the most important tournament of the 19TH century.

All the strongest chess players of the generation participated and this was the "super-tournament" of the time. The tournament was a round-robin tournament which took place in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, 1895.

The winner of the tournament was then unknown American Harry Nelson Pillsbury with 16.5 points out of possible 21. He won over the likes of world champion Emmanuel Lasker and Mikhail Chigorin. What made this tournament even better was that the organizers and players produced a Book of the Tournament in which the players commented (annotated is the chess term) on their games, a highly valuable instructional tool for any student of the game.

Here is a copy of that book:

Hastings Chess Tournament 1895