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Leipzig, Saxony, Germany (12-25 March 1895)
1 2 3 4 5 Wins
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von Bardeleben 0 1 1 1 1 4
von Gottschall 1 0 0 0 0 1
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Format: The winner of the first four games, draws not counting, is the victor.
Time Control: 20 moves per hour.
Venue: Augustea Chess Club.
Introduction
This match was played at the prestigious Augustea Chess Club in Leipzig, German Empire (Saxony) and commenced on March 12th, 1895. (1) It was between two German masters residing in Leipzig who were both prominent chess writers: von Gottschall and von Bardeleben. It was their second match, the first being in 1890, which von Bardeleben won by 5 to 1. Von Bardeleben again overwhelmed his opponent, this time by 4 to 1. The players
Hermann von Gottschall was a German master who had emerged at the Nuremberg Hauptturnier A (1883), coming third. He did not play outside of Germany, and his later results were modest: =13th at 4th DSB Congress, Hamburg (1885) =5th in Berlin (1890), =8th at Dresden (1892), and =4th at the 8th DSB Congress, Kiel (1893). He was an influential man in German chess, being the editor of the Deutsche Schachzeitung. Curt von Bardeleben, although at 32 he was only a year older than his opponent, had a longer and more successful career. For the last two decades of the nineteenth century he was one of the top 20 players (http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/...). He gained entry into the first rank of masters by winning the Berlin Hauptturnier (1881). This qualified him for the Meisterturnier at 3rd DSB Congress, Nuremberg (1883), where he came 5th. His first place at Vizayanagaram, London (1883) and then 5th at Nuremberg showed he had surpassed the journeymen. His next significant successes were a clear 4th in the 5th German Chess Congress of the Deutschen Schachbund at 5th DSB Congress, Frankfurt (1887) and =4th at the 6th Deutscher Schachkongress at 6th DSB Congress, Breslau (1889), before finally tying for first at the 8th DSB Congress, Kiel (1893). Also of note was his =3rd in the very strong tournament at Bradford (1888), =1st at Leipzig (1888), =4th at 6th DSB Congress, Breslau (1889), =5th at Berlin (1890), 8th at Berlin (1891), and =6th at Dresden (1892). Summary
The scores of three of the match games were given in Deutsche Schachzeitung, of which von Gottschall was the editor. There is also the score of an additional game which appears to be an exhibition game. Game 5 is missing, but we do have a brief description of it in the match review printed in the Deutsche Schachzeitung. Not all of the game dates are available, so some have been surmised as indicated: Game 1 - Tuesday, 12th March 1895, Augustea Chess Club, von Gottschall - von Bardeleben, 61 moves Bishops/Vienna, 1-0. After equalising, von Bardeleben played poorly in the early middlegame, and lost in a long ending. Game 2 - Friday, 15th March 1895, Augustea Chess Club, von Bardeleben - von Gottschall, 33 moves, Queens Pawn with early e4, 1-0. Von Gottschall's careless 21...Bd6 squandered valuable tempi, assisting von Bardeleben's attack which progressed apace with 
click for larger view22.Nh5!
Game 3 - Monday, 18th March 1895 (?), Augustea Chess Club, von Gottschall - von Bardeleben, 30 moves, Four Knight's, 0-1. Von Bardeleben's energetic rooks won the game: 
click for larger view29...Rf4!
Game 4 - Thursday, 21st March 1895, Augustea Chess Club, von Bardeleben - von Gottschall, 62 moves, Zukertort (Colle), 1-0. Von Bardeleben neatly won a pawn with 
click for larger view19.Nxf5, and eventually won the ending through finding several further "petite combinaisons". Game 5 - Monday, 25th March 1895 (?), Augustea Chess Club, von Gottschall - von Bardeleben, 46 moves Bishops, 0-1. Progressive score 1 2 3 4 5
von Bardeleben 0 1 2 3 4
von Gottschall 1 1 1 1 1
Contemporary reports "From Leipzig. In the Augustea Chess Club, a match of five games between Curt of Bardeleben and Dr. H. von Gottschall; Curt von Bardeleben won four of the games to win the match. The conditions were: the victor being the player who first scores four wins, the drawn games not counting. Time limit: 20 moves per hour. In the first game, von Gottschall opened soundly with the Bishop's Opening. From a small advantage in the middle game he secured the victory in an extremely finely managed endgame (61 moves). The second game was undoubtedly the most interesting of the whole struggle and was won by von Bardeleben in splendid fashion in 33 moves through an energetic middle-game attack. The third game, in which von Gottschall opened with the Four Knights and he initially stood favourably. In a well-initiated attack he was, however, too precipitous and a consequence shed material and then lost through a further oversight in the middle-game (30 moves). In the fourth game, von Bardeleben as White chose Zukertort's Opening. Through superior piece play in the middle-game, he gained a slight material advantage and despite his opponent's first-rate defence, he won after 62 moves an immensely difficult and interesting endgame. In the fifth and final game, Dr. von Gottschall again played the Bishop's Opening. This was the most inaccurate game of the entire match. In the middle-game, Black after several weak moves lost material and von Gottschall's position appeared to be winning. His adversary, however, by skilful manoeuvring succeeded in improving his defensive position substantially, whereupon von Gottschall should have been content with a draw. In the heat of battle, however, he blundered, and in consequence of that, von Bardeleben won the game in 46 moves."(2) Having won the match with four successive wins, there was another game reported as occurring on the 27th March 1895 at another venue - Theatercafé zu Leipzig. This had von Bardeleben with white reprising his opening of the fourth game. Von Gottschall managed to hold the ending with two pawns for a piece.(3) Postscript
Von Bardeleben proceeded to London, where he played a match against Joseph Blackburne. It commenced on the 25th of April (Blackburne - von Bardeleben (1895)). (4) He then played a match with Richard Teichmann, before participating in Hastings (1895). Von Gottschall, in contrast, concentrated on editing the Deutsche Schachzeitung, and did not play competitively again until the 11th DSB Congress, Cologne (1898). Note
There was also an exhibiton game on Wednesday 27th March in Theatercafe zu Leipzig: von Bardeleben vs von Gottschall, 1895, 62 moves, Zukertort (Colle), 1/2-1/2. Missing Game
Game 5 is missing.
Sources
(1) Deutsche Schachzeitung, No. 4, April 1895, pp. 104-106.
(2) Deutsche Schachzeitung, No. 4, April 1895, p. 122.
(3) Deutsche Schachzeitung, No. 5, May 1895, p. 146.
(4) Deutsche Schachzeitung, No. 5, May 1895, p. 146, and British Chess Magazine, June 1895, p. 268.
(5) http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m108...
Credit
Original text and tables by User: Chessical. Game 3 was found by User: Tabanus in Algemeen Handelsblad, 3 May 1895, p. 2,
and in London Evening Standard, 23 April 1895, p. 7. The Algemeen Handelsblad score has a misprint. The exhibition game's score, found by User: Chessical, is from Deutsche Schachzeitung, No. 5, May 1895.
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Kibitzing
