In the 1920s Berlin was a hectic place and in the center of the Weimar culture that was popular during the interwar period between Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918 and Hitler's rise to power in 1933. Berlin was fertile ground for intellectuals, artists, and innovators from many fields and included a gay subculture that included nightclubs and cabarets that catered to a gay clientele, gay-themed theater and films and gay-oriented publications that were sold at kiosks. Gay prostitution flourished, too. Amid that backdrop there was a chess tournament in Berlin in 1920. Writing on Chessgames.com sometime reader of this blog Graham Clayton quoted the October 1937 issue of Chess Review’s description of this tournament: The Berlin tournament of 1920, played during the post-War turmoil and financed very generously by Bernhard Kagan, probably has a higher percentage of good games than any other tournament ever played. It was won by Gyula Breyer (April 30, 1893 - November 9, 1921) of Hungary. Breyer was a leading pioneer of the hypermodern school which favored controlling the center with from the flanks.
He died in 1921 at the age of 28 in Bratislava. He was buried in Bratislava and after exhumation in 1987, was reburied in the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest.
Kingpin Magazine has a four part series on Breyer by chess historian and author Jimmy Adams that is a must read. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
1) Breyer 6.5 2-3) Bogoljubow and Tartakower 5.5 4) Reti 5.0 5-7) Maroczy, Miese and Tarrasch 4.5 8-9) Saemisch and Leonhardt 3.5 10) Spielmann 2.5
Enjoy the following crazy game between two of the most colorful players in the tournament.
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{C28: Vienna Game: 2...Nf6 3 Bc4 Nc6} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 {Known for his
sometimes dubious opening experiments, Tartakower once commented of a move,
dubious, therefore playable. Of its main alternative he wrote, Playable,
therefore dubious. In his book Die Hypermoderne Schachpartie he devoted
considerable commentary to the alternative 2...f5, a move no modern master is
likely to even consider.} 3. d3 {Tartakower called this a wait and see move...
today it's about the only move you will see.} 3... Nc6 4. Nc3 {Black's main
alternatives to this move are 4...Na5 and 4...Bc5} 4... Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6
Bxc3+ {Better than 6...Qxf6 7.Nge2 when white will castle then occupy d5 with
N and slightly the better of it.} 7. bxc3 Qxf6 8. Ne2 d6 9. O-O g5 {Black
prevents f4, but it's not really necessary as 9...O-O 10.f4 Bg4 does not offer
white any great advantage.} 10. d4 {Aggressive play...white intends to create
strongpoints in the center. Now black's most solid reply is 10...Ne7, but
Gogo's next move draws high praise from Tartakower who says that black must
play aggressively if he is to thwart white's plan of f3, g3 and f4. The move
also has Stockfish's stamp of approval.} 10... h5 11. Rb1 {Other moves: 11.Qd3
as played by Stahlbeg against Saemisch at Swinemuende 1930 and 11.f3 h4 12.Qd3
Bd7 13.Rab1 as in Spielmann-Moller Copenhagen 1923.} 11... h4 {The threat is
12...h3 13.g3 Qf3} 12. Qd3 Ne7 13. Bb5+ {Spielmann is setting a trap for
himself. Better was Q-side play beginning with 13.a4.} 13... Kf8 {Tempting
white to grab a P and in the process divert his Q from the protection of f3.}
14. dxe5 {It would still have been better to advance his q-Pawm. With this
move Spielmann plunges into great complications.} 14... dxe5 15. Qd8+ Kg7 16.
Qxc7 h3 {Writing in Muncher Zeitung, Spielmann claimed his next move is risky,
but it is the only move. He gave the line 17.Rfd1 hxg2 and then 18.Rd6?? and
showed that black wins. Spielmann was not the only analyst that suggested
18.Rd6 which is a losing blunder. Instead white should play 18. Bc4!! and
black has two reasonable moves: A) 18...Rh6 19.Rb5 attacking the e-Pawn with
equal chances. B) The flashy 18...Rxh2 with a likely draw after 19.Kxh2 Bg4
20.Kxg2 Rh8 21. Kf1 Rh1+ 22.Ng1 Bh3+ 23.Ke2} 17. f4 {After this white is
lost.} 17... hxg2 { Tartakower mentioned that White might be tempted to
sacrifice a R with 18.fxe5, but I doubt it. 18...gxf1Q+ 19.Rxf1 Qb6+ isn't
too hard to spot.} 18. Rf2 gxf4 19. Bc4 {Tartakower gives black's next move a
!?! and called it both sharp and necessary because white is threatening Nxf4.
He also adds that 19...f3 20.Ng3 leads to white's advantage. The only part of
his commentary that's true is white is threatening Nxf4. His claim that
19...f3 20.Ng3 leads to white's advantage is absolutely false. How good is
blacks position after 19...f3 20. Ng3 you ask? According to Stockfish after 5
minutes analysis black has at least 10 different moves that yield an
evaluation from approx. 3.50 to 7.25 in his favor.} 19... Rxh2 {After this the
advantage rests with white...assuming he takes the R! After 20.Kxh2 f3
21.Rxf3!! Qxf3 22.Qxe5+ black is out of threats and down a P. No better would
be 20.Kxh2 Qh4+ 21.Kxg2 Bh3+ 22.Kh1 Qxf2 23.Qe5+ } 20. Nxf4 {There is no point
in giving Tartakower's analysis of 20.Kxh2 which is totally wrong. By not
taking the Rook white's position becomes quite lost.} 20... exf4 21. Rxf4 Bf5
22. Rxf5 {Black now returns the favor as Tartakower correctly pointed out.
Black ends up a piece ahead after 22... Rh1+ 23. Kxg2 Nxf5 24. Rxh1 Ne3+25.
Kg3 Rg8 26. Bxf7 Qxf7 27. Qxf7+ Kxf7+} 22... Nxf5 {After this it is a whole
new game in which both side have their chances.} 23. Qxh2 Nh4 24. Qg3+ Kh8
25. Rb5 {Threatening to win a piece with Rh5+. The alternative was 25.e5
which was equally good.} 25... Qh6 26. Qe5+ {Taking the b-Pawn with 26.Rxb7
runs into disaster after 26...Rg8} 26... Kh7 27. Qh5 Rg8 {What should white
play? A) 28.Bxf7?? Nf3+ is mate in three. B) 28.Qxf7+ Rg7 29.Rh5 offers equal
chances. C) 28.Qxh6+ Kxh6 leaves black better.} 28. Be2 {This is also
satisfactory.} 28... Rg6 {Now white can likely secure the draw with 29.Qxh6+
Rxh6 and only then 30.Rxb7} 29. Rxb7 {This loses.} 29... Qxh5 30. Bxh5 Rg3
{Now it's clear why white needed to play 29.Qxh6. It's because then black's R
would have been on h6 and this move would not be available. Black now secures
the win with delicate R maneuvers. It may look like white can do well with
31.Rxf7+ but after 31...Kh6 32.Be2 Rh3 33.Rf6+ Kg5 34.Rf5+ Kg6 white's R has
been diverted from the defense of the first rank and the g-file} 31. Rb1
{Spielmann puts up manly resistance.} 31... Rxc3 32. Rc1 Kh6 33. Be2 Kg5 34.
Kf2 Kf4 35. Bd3 Ra3 36. Ra1 f6 {White is practically in Zugzwang} 37. Be2 Rh3
38. Rd1 Rh1 39. c4 Kxe4 40. Bd3+ Kd4 41. Bf1+ Kc3 42. Rd3+ Kxc4 43. Bxg2 Rh2
{An imperfect, but fascinating struggle beween two greats.} 0-1
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