Rudolf Swiderski

       Rudolf Swiderski (July 28, 1878– August, 1909) was a German master who made his mark in 1900 when he won 1st place at the Munich Hauptturnier. After this this he played in eight major tournaments from 1902 to 1908 with his best results being tied for first at both Coburg 1904 and at the Monte Carlo 1904 Rice Gambit theme tournament.  In his Career he had wins against Nimzovich, Blackburne and Rubinstein.

        Writing in My Fifty Years of Chess, Frank Marshall said, "Of all the chess masters I ever met, Swiderski was the most weird…Swiderski, en passant, was a peculiar fellow. He made very few friends, had a gentle but melancholy disposition, was a fine violinist, ate raw meat, committed suicide a few years [after the Rice Gambit theme tournament]"
        His death appears to be surrounded by some confusion.  Many reference books refer to his death date as August 12, 1909 but the Washington Post for that day contained an August 11 dispatch of his death while the Trenton, New Jersey Evening Times of August 11, 1909, reported "The body of M. Swiderski, the noted chess player, who committed suicide on August 2 was found today in the room where he had poisoned himself and then fired a bullet into this head. The body was badly decomposed. The date of the suicide was determined by a note left by Swiderski.  Swiderski was recently convicted of perjury in a trial that involved him in a disgraceful scandal."
        On the other hand, some sources report that he committed suicide because he could not face an operation.  As concerning the date of his death,  most reference books state that Swiderski committed suicide, at the age of 31, in Leipzig on 12 August 1909.

TheWashington Post article dated 12 August 1909 read:

‘Famous Chess Player a Suicide.
Special to The Washington Post.
Berlin, Aug. 11. – Swiderski, the celebrated chess player, was found dead today. Apparently he had poisoned and shot himself.’

      Of course, he could not have died on August 12 when the date of the dispatch from Berlin was from the day before.  However the August 12 date was the one given in the September 1909 issue of the German chess magazine, Deutsche Schachzeitung, which said that Swiderski had killed himself on account of his living circumstances and rather than undergo a necessary operation.”  So according to Deutsche Schachzeitung his suicide was due to health problems, not having been convicted of perjury.

        In addition, several other sources list his date of death at various other times.  The August 15, 1909 issue of Deutsches Wochenschach simply stated he died suddenly in the past week. The October 1909 issue of Wiener Schachzeitung listed the erroneous date of his death as September 2, 1909 while the October 1909 issue of the American Chess Bulletin listed it as August 2.
         In any case the cause of death was listed as a combination of poisoning and shooting although it seems to me that it would have been the shooting part that was the more effective.  As to why anyone would take poison then shoot themselves, who knows?  Perhaps after taking poison, death was not quick enough, or perhaps it was too agonizing so he sought a quicker method.
         The Trenton Evening Times of August 11, 1909, under the headline ‘Noted chess player ends life’  reported ‘The body of R. Swiderski, the noted chess player, who committed suicide on August 2, was found today in the room where he had poisoned himself and then fired a bullet into his head. The body was badly decomposed. The date of the suicide was determined by a note left by Swiderski.  Swiderski was recently convicted of perjury in a trial that involved him in a disgraceful scandal.’  If this report is accurate, then his date of death was August 2 and the later dates are inaccurate, being instead the dates his death was reported.
        According to chess historian Edward Winter, Swiderski’s last game  was a draw against G. Enderlein in a tournament in Leipzig but because Swiderski died before the event (a club tournament) finished, he was not awarded first prize despite having the highest score.

An article appearing in The Scotsman, dated August 12, 1909 read:

‘Chess Champion’s Tragic End
Berlin, 11 August

A telegram from Leipzig reports the suicide of Swiderski, the champion chess player of the world, under dramatic circumstances. The evidence points to Swiderski having taken his life on the 2d inst., but the body was only found today, being in a terrible state of decomposition. The unhappy man had apparently taken poison, and then shot himself with a revolver. Allegations of perjury in connection with a love affair had been made against the deceased, and it is supposed that fear of legal proceedings was the motive which led to the tragedy. – Central News.’

So, according to this article his date of death was August 2, but it says, unlike the Trenton Evening Times article, that he was alleged to have committed perjury, not convicted of it.