The big New York tournament in1889 started a month later. Steinitz was scheduled to play, but much to the horror of the organizing committee, he withdrew but remained available for administrative tasks and as a tournament reporter.
The schedule called for six games played per week with play began at 1pm and continued until 5pm with a break for dinner and then resumed as necessary at 7pm. Games were adjourned at 11pm and completed on rest days. The time limit of 15 moves per hour.
Draws added to the tournaments toughness. They counted as a half a point in the first cycle, but in the second cycle they had to be replayed and it was the second result that counted!
As a result of the weird treatment of draws, the congress had 38 normal rounds, 8 replay rounds, and 4 playoff rounds, for a grand total of 50 rounds.
This event can be regarded as the first Candidates' Tournament because the winner was obligated to play match against Steinitz within a month.
That obligation was something either Weiss nor Chigorn wanted to do and as a result the tournament committee decided to cancel the match idea.
The third prize winner Gunsberg was interested in a match against Steinitz that was to be played in New York. But, before that Gunsberg drew a match against Chigorin in Havana at the beginning of 1890 (11.5-11.5). Based on that result, Steinitz agreed to a match against the under-appreciated Gunsber. It was played at the Manhattan Club and Steinitz won with 10.5-8.5.
View Crosstable HERE
The following game from the tournament was played between Max Weiss and W. H. K. Pollock. The game was awarded the special prize of 50 dollars (a little over $1,700 in today’s buying power) as the most brilliant of the tournament.
It’s claimed that play from the 17th move on makes it one of the finest examples of chess ingenuity and one of the most brilliant gems ever played. Actually, I think the key move was the surprising 12...Nb4. See what you think and we’ll also see what Stockfish thinks of the game!
Max Weiss (1857-1927) was an Austrian player born in the Kingdom of Hungary who had a short, but brilliant, career. Chess metrics places him at number 3 in the world 8 different months between the August 1887 and June 1890. They estimate his highest ever rating to have been 2727 on the July 1889 rating list.
William Pollock (1859-1896, only 37 tears old) was born in Cheltenham, England. A player of IM strength, he was Irish Champion in 1885. He died of tuberculosis (consumption).
Chess metrics ranks him number 26 in the world 3 different months between October 1886 and the June 1887. His highest ever rating is estimated to have been 2541 on the July 1889 rating list.
Max Weiss–W.H.K. Pollock0–1C776th American Congress, New York35New York, NY USA11.05.1889Stockfish 16
C77: Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.d3
Instead of 5.O-O. White steers clear of the Marshall Attack and threatens 6.
Bxc6 winning the e5-Pawn. b5 Defending the P with 5...d6 is sldo s good
alternative. 6.b3 c5 7.c3 d5 8.exd5 8.bd2 0-0 9.0-0 e6 10.exd5 xd5 11.e2 is equal, but white's opportunities for attacking are limited.
Moussard,J (2686)-Yilmaz,M (2621) Zagreb CRO 2022 8...xd5 9.e2 9.xe5 is not quite sound. xe5 10.d4 e6 11.dxc5 c6 12.0-0 h4
Black has a promising attack and eventually won in Braun,G (1887)-Wiebusch,M
(1901) Tuebingen 2007 9.0-0 0-0 10.e1 g4 11.h3 xf3 12.xf3 White
stands quite well. Englisch,B-Von Minckwitz,J Hamburg 1885 9...0-0 10.e4 e6 This should have allowed white to get the upper hand. 10...de7
should be played and then after 11.xe5 xe5 12.xe5 d6 13.h5 f5
Black's lead in development is well worth the P. 11.xe5 The cost of
winning the P is not worth it! 11.g5 is another story. g6 12.xe6 fxe6 13.0-0 White stands quite well. 11...xe5 12.xe5 So far the game
hasn't been all that interesting, but now things change. b4 With the
obvious threat of a fork on the Q and K, but it goes beyond that. 13.0-0
Strange...castling leaves white lost! 13.cxb4 is the only way! xb4+ 14.c3 xb3 15.0-0 15.axb3 e8 15...e8 16.f4 d6 17.f3 c2 18.e3 xd3 19.fd1 h4 White should survive the attack, but he is a P down. 13...xd3 14.h5 xb3 15.axb3 e8 Black has a strong threat in ...Qf6. In
any case, the mounting pressure on f2 is becoming unbearable. 16.d2 16.e3 was worth a try. e5 17.f3 xe3 18.fxe3 e8 But even here white's
position is very difficult. 16...e7 17.b4 Rather pointless, but he had
to make a move. Now black executes a classic attack. 17.f3 is not much
better. e2 17...xf2+ 18.xf2 xf2 19.xf2 e2+ 20.g3 e6 and white
is in dire straits. 18.e3 xe3 19.fxe3 ad8 20.h3 d6 is also very
dangerous for white. 17...xf2+ 18.h1 18.xf2 e1+ 19.f1 e3+ 20.h1 f2+ 21.xf2 21.g1 h3+ 22.h1 g1+ 23.xg1 f2# 21...xf2 22.h4 e1+ 23.h2 f4+ 24.g3 f2+ 25.h3 h1+ 26.g4 Black has a forced mate in 8. g1 27.e4 e2+ 28.f4 f1+ 29.g5 h6+ 30.xh6 gxh6+ 31.xh6 xe4 32.h5 f5 33.g5 h7# 18...e1 19.h3 This gives the K an escape square so now
black has to move his Q, but he really doesn't! xc1 20.xe1 20.xc1 xd2
is no salvation for white. 20...xe1+ 21.h2 The way black finishes off
the game is bot instructive and entertaining. g1+ 22.g3 e3+ 23.g4 e2 24.f1 g6 24...ae8 is even prettier! 25.xe3 Taking the N would result
in no more than equality, but watch this... e4+ 25...xe3 26.d1 e4+ 27.f3 There's no mate and black must take the draw by repeating moves with 27...
Re3+ otherwise this happens... g6 28.xe4 28.g5 e6 29.d8+ g7 30.d2 f6+ 31.xe2 f2+ 32.d3 xd2+ 33.xd2 White wins. 28...gxh5 wins a
peice and the game. 29.f3 26.f3 xe3+ 27.g4 g6 28.d5 f2 29.d8+ g7 30.f1 h5+ 31.g5 e5# 25.d5 h5+ Black mates in 9 moves. 26.g5 g7
A very nice in-between move! 27.xe3 27.d4+ olds out a bit
longer... xd4 28.cxd4 e4 29.g4 f6+ 30.h4 f2+ 31.g3 g5+ 32.xh5 h8# Very nice. 27...f6+ 28.h4 f2+ 29.g3 xg3# The best game ever played?
Not really, but still a masterpiece, The engine assigns black's play with a
weighted score of a precise 0.22 meaning that his moves came very near to
matching those of Stockfish. Pollocks final attack was a joy to behold. 0–1
Happy new year Tartajubow!
ReplyDeleteThere is a little mistake in your blog: the tournament table of New York 1911 instead of the 1889 tournament.
Thanks for the correction!
Delete