Thursday, May 14, 2020

The Year 1907 and The Great Vienna Tournament

     The year 1907 saw Vienna, the beautiful old world city and capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, alive with music and full of diverse people who loved the arts. It was the year the city, with its magnificent culture that had seen the likes of Beethoven and Mozart, got a new resident, Adolf Hitler who moved there with the goal of attending the art academy and becoming a great artist. Lamentably his art career never took off and he got involved in politics. 
     The chess world lost two players that year. On May 11, George H. D. Gossip (born in 1841) died in Liphook, England at the age of 65. He was an American-English player and author. October 16, Max Harmonist ( born in 1864) died in Berlin. He was a professional ballet dancer and a minor master. 
     Britain defeated the USA in the 9th cable match, scoring +3 -2 =5 and Emanuel Lasker drubbed Frank Marshall 11.5 to 3.5 in a world championship match. 
     Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch won a major tournament at Ostend. He was followed by Schlechter, Janowski, Marshall, Burn, and Chigorin. Tarrasch was crowned the “World Champion Tournament Player” by the tournament organizers and it was this tournament that the title of Grandmaster was first used. There was also a huge 29 player Masters’ Tournament that was won by Ossip Bernstein and Akiba Rubinstein ahead of Mieses and Nimzovich. 
     A few months later Akiba Rubinstein won at Carlsbad, followed by Maroczy, Leonhardt, Nimzovich, Schlechter, Vidmar, Duras, and Teichmann. 
     In the US, in spite of his ill health, Harry N. Pillsbury, who had defeated Jackson Showalter in a match in 1897, was the Champion, a title he held until his death in 1906. 
     In June Julius Finn won the New York State Championship that was played at an unusual venue; it was played aboard the S.S. Alexandria, a steam paddle boat that traveled along the Great Lakes from 1866-1915. It was originally constructed as a freight vessel, but refitted and extended to allow for passenger travel, making runs all along the Canadian shores with the occasional trip across to the United States. 
     Towards the end it was changed back into a freighter. On August 3, 1915, ailing from Port Hope to Toronto with its holds loaded with sugar, vinegar, and tomatoes, a brutal storm blew up along Lake Ontario hammering the Alexandria with heavy seas and strong winds. 

     Captain William Bloomfield did his best to steer against the weather, but it was too much for the paddleboat and it was pushed up against the breakers just below the Scarborough Bluffs. 
     All 22 crew members put on their life vests and jumped into the water. A human chain formed from the shore, bringing all the crew members in safely as the Alexandria sunk. The next day, when the weather had calmed, people descended on the wreck, taking everything of value that was above the water line. 
     The Trebitsch Memorial Tournament was organized by the Vienna Chess Club with funds bequeathed to it by Leopold Trebitsch, a wealthy businessman who had been vice-president of the club until his death a month before the tournament. It was a great success for Jacques Mieses who scored one of the most notable achievements of hios 50-plus year career. 
     One of the interesting players awas Dr. Julius Perlis (January 19, 1880 - September 11, 1913) who was a Doctor of Law and an avid mountaineer. Perlis died in the Alps in southern Austria. 
     On the morning of 10 September 10, 1913, Perlis commenced a day's excursion on the Hochtor, at 7,772 feet, he highest mountain in the Ennstaler Alps. Traveling without a companion or guide, he apparently lost his way. In the evening his cries for help were heard by two tourists who were unable to reach him owing to approaching darkness and the onset of a snowstorm. His body was found by a rescue team two days later and the absence of visible injuries lead to a verdict of death by exposure. 

     Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) was born in Russia, but left in 1899 and settled in Vienna. Before WWI he become a leading player by winning matches against Spielmann and Reti, but it was in the 1920s that his career reached its peak. 

     While he was probably among the top ten or so players in the world, he was never considered a world championship candidate. During the 1930s his results began to slowly trail off, but he remained a strong player into the 1950s. It’s hard to define his style because he often experimented with dubious openings and his play often bordered on the eccentric. He was also regarded as a superb writer. 
      His opponent in the following game was Giovanni Martinolich ( June 22, 1884-July 25, 1910, 26 years old), Italian champion in 1906.


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