In a 1921 conference at The Hague, the International Law Association adopted The Hague Rules, an international code for conditions concerning the carriage of cargo under a bill of lading, but unless you’re involved in international shipping, they are of no interest.
In other news, even though World War I ended on November 11, 1918, the US Congress didn’t declare until July 2, 1921 that it had officially ended. That was because technically a formal state of war between the two sides existed after the fighting stopped until the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919. The United States Senate did not ratify the treaty despite public support for it and did not formally end its involvement in the war until the Knox–Porter Resolution was signed in July 1921 by President Warren G. Harding.
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In Hollywood, The Sheik debuted and established star Rudolph Valentino as cinema's best-known lover. In other Hollywood news the rotund Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was arrested on manslaughter charges after a woman died following a party he had thrown. Arbuckle (1887 - 1933) was a silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter who mentored Charlie Chaplin and discovered Buster Keaton and Bob Hope.
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| Fatty |
Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s, and soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, signing a contract in 1920 with Paramount Pictures for a million dollars (about $14 million today).
Between November 1921 and April 1922, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe who had fallen ill at a party he hosted in San Francisco in September 1921; she died four days later.
Arbuckle was accused by Rappe's acquaintance of raping and accidentally killing her. After the first two trials, which resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was acquitted in the third trial and received a formal written statement of apology from the jury. Read details at the Smithsonian.
Despite his acquittal, the scandal overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. Following the trials, his films were banned and he was publicly ostracized. Although the ban on his films was lifted within a year, Arbuckle only worked sparingly through the 1920s. He was finally able to return to acting, making short two-reel comedies in 1932 for Warner Bros. He died in his sleep of a heart attack at age 46, reportedly on the same day he signed a contract with Warner Brothers to make a feature film.
The Netherlands remained neutral during the First World War, but was significantly affected by it. Its army remained fully mobilized to counter any possible threat and its economy felt the strain of both sides attempts to control the world’s sea lanes and supplies. Neutrality also created a problem as the Dutch government had to care for thousands of refugee as well as soldiers who had entered their territory. All this had created widespread unrest.
Now back to the chess tournament. It was held from October 26 through November 4th, 1921 and included veterans Jacques Mieses and Georg Marco, established masters Alexander Alekhine, Akiba Rubinstein and Savielly Tartakower. Max Euwe, an amateur, participated by virtue of having become the new Dutch champion earlier in the year.
Capablanca had won the world championship in April of that year and his first challenge came from Rubinstein in September and in November Alekhine issued a challenge after winning The Hague. After The Hague, Dutch chess officials proposed a "Candidates Match" between Alekhine and Rubinstein, to be held in the Netherlands on or after March 1922. Both agreed with the proposition, but in December the American Chess Bulletin reported that Capablanca would honor Rubinstein's challenge first, unless the proposed Dutch candidates match should produce a decisive victory for one or the other.
When Alekhine arrived in the Netherlands in January 1922, he stated that a candidates match was no longer possible because Rubinstein had been admitted to a sanitarium with mental problems after he played Triberg in 1921. Shortly afterwards the Dutch press demonstrated that Alekhine's claim was spurious, but the match still didn't take place. See Edward Winter’s article on Rubinstein’s later years HERE. Alekhine didn’t get to play Capablanca until 1927.
1) Alekhine 8.0-1.0
2) Tartakower 7.0-2.0
3) Rubinstein 6.5-2.5
3-4) Kostic and Maroczy 5.5-3.5
6) Mieses 4.0-5.0
7) Marco 3.0-6.0
8) Davidson 2.5-6.5
9) Euwe 2.0-7.0
10 Yates 1.0-7.0
Alekhine was held to draws by Tartakower and Kostic
The following game is one of Alekhine’s well known masterpieces. Whether you have seen it before or not is unimportant because it’s worth playing and just watching one of the greatest players in history demolish another one of the greatest players in history.
[Event "The Hague"]
[Site "The Hague"]
[Date "1921.11.4"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Alexander Alekhine"]
[Black "Akiba Rubinstein"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 a6 {The Janowsky Variation is rarely played as it is
considered too passive, but Rubinstein had been experimenting with it in a
number of tournaments. Alekhine considered it just a loss of time. Now white
usually plays 4.cxd5 followed by Bf4. } 4. c5 {Alekhine considered it just a
loss of time. Now white usually plays 4.cxd5 followed by Bf4. } 4... Nc6 {An
interesting try is the immediate 4...b6, but Rubinstein's plan is to play
...e5 against which white must take preventative measures. } 5. Bf4 Nge7 6.
Nc3 Ng6 7. Be3 {One of Alekhine's ingenious opening ideas. Normal would be
7...Bg3, but in the opening books of the day, Collijn's, Rubinstein himself
had only examined 7.e3 which leads to equality. Alekhine's move has the
advantage of preventing ...e5 and avoiding the exchange of his dark squared B.
} 7... b6 {Not 7...e5 because after 8.dxe5 Ngxe5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Qxd5 and white
has won a P. Rubinstein's plan i to eliminate the cramping effect of white
c-Pawn and perhaps he can also gain time owing to the placement of white's B
on e3. } 8. cxb6 cxb6 9. h4 {Brilliant. This forces a weakness of the dark
squares on the K-side and obtains a future for his B on e3. } 9... Bd6 10. h5
Nge7 11. h6 {Alekhine has already obtained a significant positional
advantage.} 11... g6 12. Bg5 O-O {This is significant error! With 12...f5 he
would not have to have been concerned with getting mated on g7 though white is
much better even then. 13.Bf6 As Alekhine pointed out this position is
extraordinary: white has made 3 moves with his c-Pawn, 3 with his h-Pawn and
4 with his B and has already established a position that is strategically
won.} 13. Bf6 b5 14. e3 Bd7 15. Bd3 Rc8 {Alekhine recommended 15...Na5 and
15...Bb4 with some counterattack which would require white's attention. As it
is, white proceeds unhindered. } 16. a4 {Another brilliant move. Alekhine
takes the time to seize the initiative on the Q-side also by forcing lack to
block the Q-side which, in turn, allows white to reposition his N on c3
without losing any time. } 16... b4 17. Ne2 Qb6 18. Nc1 {Preventing lack from
gaining Q-side space with ...b3. } 18... Rc7 19. Nb3 Na5 20. Nc5 {Using his
space advantage to gain material. Black can't take the N. } 20... Nc4 {If
20...Bxc5 21.dxc5 Qxc5 22.Bd4 Qd6 23.Be5 wins the exchange. Note that the Q
cannot retreat 22...Qc6 because of 23.Ne5 followed by 24.Ng4 with devastating
consequences for black.} 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Ne5 {Even better was 22.Ne4. In
one interesting line black could get a protected passed P on c2, but his
position would be hopeless after 22...c3 23.Nfg5 c2 24.Qd2 b3. Now white has
the surprising 25.Nxh7!! and the N cannot be taken. 25...Kxh7 26.Ng5+ Kg8
27.h7 mate.} 22... Bxe5 23. Bxe7 {Even better was 23.Bxe5 eliminating the
potentially dangerous B and winning the exchange after 23...Bd6 24.Bxd8. }
23... Bd6 {Rubinstein realizes that giving up the exchange which eliminated
white's dark squared B offers the best chance of defending his position.} 24.
Bxf8 Bxf8 25. Nxd7 Rxd7 26. a5 Qc6 27. Qf3 Rd5 28. Rc1 {Alekhine's idea was to
force the advance of black's Q-side Ps which clears up the situation on the
Q-side and at the same time allows him to place his own pieces on favorable
squares. } 28... Qc7 29. Qe2 c3 30. bxc3 bxc3 31. Qxa6 Rxa5 32. Qd3 Ba3 33.
Rc2 Bb2 34. Ke2 {Precise play. Not 34.O-O Rh5 35.f4 Rxh6 and Black is still
fighting. } 34... Qc6 35. f3 f5 36. Rb1 Qd6 37. Qc4 Kf7 38. Qc8 {Threatening
Qh8 and so forcing the exchange off Qs which brings white closer to scoring
the point.} 38... Qa6+ 39. Qxa6 Rxa6 40. e4 g5 41. Kd3 Kg6 42. d5 {Forcing a
passed P which will soon decide the game. } 42... fxe4+ 43. fxe4 exd5 44.
exd5 Ra4 45. Rd1 Kxh6 46. d6 Kh5 47. d7 Ra8 48. Ke4 Rd8 49. Kf5 Kh4 {Allowing
an immediate mate, but 29...Kh6 only delays the loss.} 50. Rh1+ Kg3 51. Rh3#
1-0
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