Sneaky Pawn Sacrifices

    Subtle and skillfully executed Pawn sacrifices are always pleasing especially if the point is not so obvious and in the following game Tartakower pulled off a sly one. 

    Dr. Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) was born in Russia and moved to Vienna at age 17. He became a Doctor of Law in 1909, but he never practiced law. During World War I, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. In 1918, after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, he became a Polish citizen and moved to Paris. 

    During World War II, he served in the Free French Army under General Charles de Gaulle. His French colleagues found his name too difficult to pronounce, so he changed it to Lieutenant Dr. Georges Cartier. He became a French citizen after World War II. 

    Tartakower is regarded as one of the founders of the Hypermodern School of Chess (along with Reti, Nimzovich and Breyer) and was a prolific writer. In addition to chess books, he also wrote a screenplay and a collection of poems. He worked for more than 30 chess magazines in multiple countries and his newspaper correspondence appeared in 11 languages. 

    His opponent was Geza Maroczy (1870-1951). Born in , Hungary, he was educated at the Polytechnic School of Zurich, where he became librarian of the Hungarian Society and where he first learned chess. Later he was appointed to a government position at Budapest and became a civil engineer. 

    Not greatly appreciated today, Chessmetrics considers Maroczy to have been the No. 1 player in the world for 30 months in 1904-07. In 1906 he agreed to terms for a World Championship match with Lasker, but there were political problems in Cuba, where the match was to be played. Maroczy failed to make the $500 (something over $16,000 today) deposit by the deadline and the negotiations ended.