Rudolf Swiderski, known as a highly eccentric and Hypermodern pioneer, had the greatest success of his career. He was leading in the later rounds, but suffered a breakdown and lost to a tailender in the penultimate round, allowing Schlechter and von Bardeleben to catch him.
Rudolph Swiderski (1878-1909, 31years old) was an odd person. Writing in My Fifty Years of Chess, Frank Marshall said, "Of all the chess masters I ever met,
Swiderski was the most weird…(he) was a peculiar fellow. He made very few friends, had a gentle but melancholy disposition, was a fine violinist, ate raw meat, committed suicide…”
Swiderski took his own life in August 1909. The German chess magazine Deutsche Schachzeitung reported that he had suffered from an illness for which surgery seemed to have been possible; however, instead, he committed suicide shortly after his 31st birthday. Other reports suggested that his suicide was linked to possible legal proceedings involving an allegation of perjury.
Walter John (1879-1844, 65 years old) was an amateur player of Master strength who only played sporadically. In 1908, John moved from Barmen to Aschersleben, to work as a pharmacist. John was associated with the Nazi 'Kraft durch Freude' (Strength Through Joy) state leisure organization. The organization was created to control workers' free time, boost productivity and build public support.
[Event "Coburg (Meisterturnier)"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1904.07.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Walter John"]
[Black "Rudolf Swiderski"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 18"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "1904.07.18"]
{Dutch Defense} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 Nd7 4. Bd3 f5 5. b3 Qf6 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. Ba3 {To be expected was 7.c4, but white has chosen the strategy of exchanging off his bad B for black's bad one.} Bxa3 8. Nxa3 {Enfines inform us that white is slightly better here, but his N is offside and he appears to have few attacking chances.} c6 {Against Nb5} 9. O-O Nh6 {An odd place to put the N, but it was played 90 years later by a GM. 8...e5 was a good choice.} (9... e5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Qxe5 12. c4 {with equal chances.}) 10. c4 O-O (10... b6 11. cxd5 exd5 12. b4 Bb7 13. Qe2 a5 14. b5 c5 {with equal chances. Schulz,K (2420)-Knaak,R (2530) Germany 1994}) 11. Qc2 Ng4 (11... g5 {was a better way to commence an attack.} 12. Rac1 Kh8 13. Nb1 {The N is useless on a3 and needs to find a better position.} g4 14. Ne1 f4 {if white can manage to defens carefully he has a solid position.}) 12. h3 Nh6 {Has 11...Ng4 induced white to weaken his K's position? Not reallt; black has just a few pieces available with which to conduct an attack.} 13. Qc3 g5 {Sharp play! The chances remain equal, but obviously white must use caution.} 14. Ne5 {[%mdl 2048] White is up to the task!} g4 15. f4 Kh8 {Evidently preparing to open the g-file and place a R on it, but it's a move too slow and it is with this move that Swiderski's downhill slide begins.} (15... gxh3 {is the right way.} 16. gxh3 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Qh4 18. Rf3 {and now} Kh8 19. cxd5 Rg8+ 20. Kf1 Ng4 {A double-edged position with equal chances.}) 16. hxg4 $1 fxg4 17. g3 $1 {Putting an end to black's hopes of an attack and now it's white's turn to commence an attack on the h-file.} Nf5 18. Kf2 ({Stronger than} 18. Nxg4 Qg7 19. Bxf5 exf5 {and black still has an attack on the g-file.}) 18... Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qe7 20. Nc2 {At long last this N is going to find employment. It says something for white's position that he has time to reposition this N with impunity.} Bd7 21. Rh1 Kg8 22. Rh2 Rad8 23. Rah1 Rf7 {Black can't do much except shift his pieces around.} 24. Bxf5 exf5 25. c5 b6 26. b4 {[%mdl 32]} Rc8 27. Nd4 {Joining the attack' white has a decisive advantage.} bxc5 28. bxc5 Be8 29. Rh6 Qf8 30. Nxf5 $1 {[%mdl 512] Crushing. Black could take the N, but it would not help.} Rb8 (30... Rxf5 31. Rxh7 Bg6 32. Rh8+) 31. e6 $1 {[%cal Oh6g6] Rg6+! would kill now.} Rfb7 32. e4 {Even more potent wpuld have been 32.Rf6 when black loses his Q and gets mated.} d4 33. Qxd4 Rd8 34. e7 Rxe7 35. Qxd8 Rd7 36. Qg5+ Kh8 37. Qf6+ {Black resigned. An impressive display of very precise play by the amateur John!} (37. Qf6+ Qxf6 38. Rxf6 Kg8 39. Nd6 Bg6 40. f5 {and mate is looming.}) 1-0