Pollock’s Masterpiece

    Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin played their first World Championship match in Havana from January 20th until February 24th in 1889. Steinitz won 10.5-6.5. 

    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. 

[Event "6th American Congress, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1889.05.11"] [Round "35"] [White "Max Weiss"] [Black "W.H.K. Pollock"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "1889.03.25"] {C77: Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {[%mdl 32]} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 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. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d5 8. exd5 (8. Nbd2 O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. exd5 Bxd5 11. Qe2 {is equal, but white's opportunities for attacking are limited. Moussard,J (2686)-Yilmaz,M (2621) Zagreb CRO 2022}) 8... Nxd5 {[%mdl 32]} 9. Qe2 (9. Nxe5 {is not quite sound.} Nxe5 10. d4 Be6 11. dxc5 c6 12. O-O Qh4 { Black has a promising attack and eventually won in Braun,G (1887)-Wiebusch,M (1901) Tuebingen 2007}) (9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 {White stands quite well. Englisch,B-Von Minckwitz,J Hamburg 1885}) 9... O-O 10. Qe4 Be6 {This should have allowed white to get the upper hand.} (10... Nde7 { should be played and then after} 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Qxe5 Bd6 13. Qh5 Bf5 { Black's lead in development is well worth the P.}) 11. Nxe5 {The cost of winning the P is not worth it!} (11. Ng5 {is another story.} g6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. O-O {White stands quite well.}) 11... Nxe5 12. Qxe5 {So far the game hasn't been all that interesting, but now things change.} Nb4 {With the obvious threat of a fork on the Q and K, but it goes beyond that.} 13. O-O { Strange...castling leaves white lost!} (13. cxb4 {is the only way!} Bxb4+ 14. Nc3 Bxb3 15. O-O (15. axb3 Re8) 15... Re8 16. Qf4 Bd6 17. Qf3 Bc2 18. Be3 Bxd3 19. Rfd1 Qh4 {White should survive the attack, but he is a P down.}) 13... Nxd3 14. Qh5 Bxb3 15. axb3 Re8 {[%mdl 32] Black has a strong threat in ...Qf6. In any case, the mounting pressure on f2 is becoming unbearable.} 16. Nd2 (16. Be3 {was worth a try.} Re5 17. Qf3 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Qe8 {But even here white's position is very difficult.}) 16... Qe7 17. b4 {Rather pointless, but he had to make a move. Now black executes a classic attack.} (17. Nf3 {is not much better.} Qe2 (17... Bxf2+ 18. Rxf2 Nxf2 19. Kxf2 Qe2+ 20. Kg3 Re6 {and white is in dire straits.}) 18. Be3 Bxe3 19. fxe3 Rad8 20. h3 Rd6 {is also very dangerous for white.}) 17... Bxf2+ 18. Kh1 (18. Rxf2 Qe1+ 19. Rf1 Qe3+ 20. Kh1 Nf2+ 21. Rxf2 (21. Kg1 Nh3+ 22. Kh1 Qg1+ 23. Rxg1 Nf2#) 21... Qxf2 22. h4 Re1+ 23. Kh2 Qf4+ 24. g3 Qf2+ 25. Kh3 Rh1+ 26. Kg4 {Black has a forced mate in 8.} Rg1 27. Ne4 Qe2+ 28. Kf4 Rf1+ 29. Kg5 h6+ 30. Qxh6 gxh6+ 31. Kxh6 Qxe4 32. h5 Qf5 33. Bg5 Qh7#) 18... Qe1 19. h3 {This gives the K an escape square so now black has to move his Q, but he really doesn't!} Nxc1 20. Rxe1 (20. Rxc1 Qxd2 { is no salvation for white.}) 20... Rxe1+ 21. Kh2 {The way black finishes off the game is bot instructive and entertaining.} Bg1+ 22. Kg3 Re3+ 23. Kg4 Ne2 24. Nf1 g6 (24... Rae8 {is even prettier!} 25. Nxe3 {Taking the N would result in no more than equality, but watch this...} Re4+ (25... Rxe3 26. Rd1 Re4+ 27. Kf3 {There's no mate and black must take the draw by repeating moves with 27... Re3+ otherwise this happens...} g6 28. Kxe4 (28. Qg5 Re6 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. Qd2 Rf6+ 31. Kxe2 Rf2+ 32. Kd3 Rxd2+ 33. Kxd2 {White wins.}) 28... gxh5 {wins a peice and the game.} 29. Kf3) 26. Kf3 Rxe3+ 27. Kg4 g6 28. Qd5 Bf2 29. Qd8+ Kg7 30. Rf1 h5+ 31. Kg5 Re5#) 25. Qd5 h5+ {Black mates in 9 moves.} 26. Kg5 Kg7 { [%mdl 512] A very nice in-between move!} 27. Nxe3 (27. Qd4+ {olds out a bit longer...} Nxd4 28. cxd4 Re4 29. g4 f6+ 30. Kh4 Bf2+ 31. Ng3 g5+ 32. Kxh5 Rh8# {Very nice.}) 27... f6+ 28. Kh4 Bf2+ 29. g3 Bxg3# {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