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.