Wednesday, February 13, 2019

The Hague 1921 and an Alekhine Classic

     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. 
Rappe
     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. 
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.

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