- 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures
Under Construction
Authored by Peter Hugh Clarke this was another great book that was published by G. Bell & Sons Ltd in the 1960's.
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29 games, 1954-1962 - 1984 Phillips & Drew GLC Kings Tt
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During the 1980's the city of London experienced a chess renaissance that made it the premier chess capital of the West. The culmination of this activity was to host the first half of the World Championship Centenary Match in 1986. The other events that helped London achieve this status included the second USSR vs The Rest Of The World Match in 1984 and a series of tournaments sponsored by the stock-broking firm Phillips & Drew.
This 1984 tournament was a fourteen player category 14 event and was sponsored by both Phillips & Drew and the Greater London Council. It was also the first ever all GM tournament to be held in the United Kingdom. It ran from the 26th of April to the 11th of May and was held in the County Hall, London. The Final Standings :
1st Karpov 9 points (+6, =6, -1);
=2nd Chandler 8 points (+6, =4, -3);
=2nd Polugaevsky 8 points (+4, =8, -1);
4th Timman 7½ points (+3, =9, -9);
=5th Ribli 7 points (+2, =10, -1);
=5th Seirawan 7 points (+4, =6, -3);
=7th Korchnoi 6½ points (+2, =9, -2);
=7th Vaganian 6½ points (+4, =4, -4);
=9th Andersson 5½ points (+1, =9, -3);
=9th Miles 5½ points (+2, =7 -4);
=9th Speelman 5½ points (+1, =9, -3);
=12th Mestel 5 points (+1, =8, -4);
=12th Nunn 5 points (+2, =6, -5);
=12th Torre 5 points (+1, =8, -4).
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91 games, 1984-1986 - 1st Burroughs Computers Grandmasters Tt
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This tournament played in New Zealand was the second leg of the Asian Grandmasters circuit. The circuit was the brain-child of then FIDE Deputy President Florencio Campomanes to help Asian area players gain experience and title norms. The first leg was held in Baguio City in the Philippines, the third leg in Jakarta, Indonesia and the fourth leg was hosted in Penang, Malaysia. Australia was originally given the option of hosting the second leg but when this lapsed the New Zealand Chess Association gave Murray Chandler the go-ahead to organize the tournament in Wellington. Months were spent by Chandler and his assistant Jenny McLaren in raising funds, arranging players' accommodation and finding both the playing venue and the personnel to run the tournament. The sponsorship problem was solved when Burroughs Computers agreed to very generously contribute towards the tournament expenses. The tournament ran from the 5th to the 19th of April 1978 and was held in the World Trade Centre in Wellington. - The Final Standings :
1st Quinteros 10 points (+9, =2, -1);
2nd Torre 8 points (+6, =4, -2);
=3rd Sarapu 7 points (+3, =8, -1);
=3rd Mascarinas 7 points (+4, =6, -2);
=5th Small 6 points (+3, =6, -3);
=5th Sharif 6 points (+2, =8, -2);
=5th Green 6 points (+2, =8, -2);
8th Chandler 5½ points (+4, =3, -5);
=9th Sampouw 4½ points (+2, =5, -5);
=9th Suradiradja 4½ points (+3, =3, -6);
=9th Sutton 4½ points (+1, =7, -4);
=9th Shirazi 4½ points (+4, =1, -7);
=9th Cardoso 4½ points (+3, =3, -6).
For those interested in trivia 13-year-old Jonathan D Sarfati was one of those operating the demonstration boards at this tournament.
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78 games, 1978 - 50th USSR Championship 1983
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There was no USSR Championship held in 1982 so a special effort was made to make the 50th event held in Moscow from the 2nd to the 28th of April 1983 a representative contest. This tournament was considered to be the strongest held since the 41st Championship of 1973. Kasparov and Smyslov were absent but Karpov was playing in his first final since his victory in 1976. The qualifying winners of the four Otborochny tournaments were Lerner, Azmaiparashvili, Malaniuk, and Razuvaev. Agzamov and Vaganian were promoted to the final as the winners of the 18-player First League which had been held at Telavi, Georgia in December 1982. The field began with the odd number of seventeen players but Tal fell ill with dangerously high blood pressure and was forced to withdraw after the ninth round. In the later rounds two players had byes. - The Final Standings :
1st Karpov 9½ points (+5, =9, -1);
2nd Tukmakov 9 points (+5, =8, -2);
=3rd Vaganian 8½ points (+5, =7, -3);
=3rd Polugaevsky 8½ points (+4, =9, -2);
5th Balashov 8 points (+4, =8, -3);
=6th Malaniuk 7½ points (+4, =7, -4);
=6th Petrosian 7½ points (+2, =11, -2);
=6th Psakhis 7½ points (+3, =9, -3);
=6th Romanishin 7½ points (+5, =5, -5);
=10th Agzamov 7 points (+4, =6, -5);
=10th Azmaiparashvili 7 points (+2, =10, -3);
=10th Beliavsky 7 points (+3, =8, -4);
=10th Razuvaev 7 points (+2, =10, -3);
=14th Geller 6½ points (+2, =9, -4);
=14th Yusupov 6½ points (+4, =5, -6);
16th Lerner 5½ points (+1, =9, -5).
- Due to illness Tal only played six games with losses to Geller and Lerner and draws with Petrosian, Vaganian and Razuvaev. His Round 8 game with Tukmakov was adjourned after 40 moves and wasn't resumed. It was subsequently annulled with no result. On medical advice he withdrew from the tournament. -
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126 games, 1983 - Alyekhin's Supplemental Games
This collection features games that Alyekhin gave without notes in his own best games books.
To see his best games look for the collection that dac1990 complied.
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45 games, 1914-1938 - AVRO 1938
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In November 1938 a Dutch radio company AVRO (Algemeene Vereeniging voor Radio Omroep) organized and sponsored what was up to that time the strongest tournament ever held.
AVRO (literally the General Association for Radio Broadcasting) brought together the World Champion and every one of his major challengers. It ran from the 6th of November to the 27th of November 1938 with the players based in Amsterdam and each successive round played in a different Dutch town.
Keres and Fine finished joint 1st but Keres was declared the winner as he had the better tie-break score. The Final Standings were :
=1st Keres 8½ points (+3, =11, -0);
=1st Fine 8½ points (+6, =5, -3);
3rd Botvinnik 7½ points (+3, =9, -2);
=4th Alyekhin 7 points (+3, =8, -3);
=4th Euwe 7 points (+4, =6, -4);
=4th Reshevsky 7 points (+3, =8, -3);
7th Capablanca 6 points (+2, =8, -4);
8th Flohr 4½ points (+0, =9, -5).
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56 games, 1938 - Baden Baden 1925
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For a number of years following the First World War Germany had seen no great international tournaments. Indeed the last such event of this type was Mannheim 1914 which the outbreak of the war had brought to a premature conclusion.
Lamenting this sad state of affairs Dr Tarrasch approached the municipal authorities of the famous old Spa-town of Baden Baden which had been the site of an international tournament in 1870. Their response was favourable and the organisation of the event was placed in the good doctor's hands. Most of the invitees accepted but both Dr Lasker and Capablanca insisted on large appearance fees which were unable to be met. Other absentees were Vidmar and Maroczy who were unable to attend because of work commitments.
The final entry consisted of twenty-one competitors including Dr Tarrasch himself and tournament ran from the 15th of April to the 14th of May 1925.
The final result was a great win for Alyekhin and foreshadowed his later triumphs at San Remo 1930 and Bled 1931. In the end the final standings were :
1st Alyekhin 16 points (+12, =8, -0);
2nd Rubinstein 14½ points (+10, =9, -1);
3rd Samisch 13½ points (+10, =7, -3);
4th Bogolyubov 13 points (+11, =4, -5);
=5th Marshall 12½ points (+7, =11, -2);
=5th Tartakover 12½ points (+6, =13, -1);
7th Rabinovich 12 points (+7, =10, -3);
8th Grünfeld 11½ points (+7, =9, -4);
9th Niemzowitsch 11 points (+7, =8, -5);
10th Torre 10 ½points (+5, =11, -3);
=11th Reti 10 points (+6, =8, -6);
=11th Treybal 10 points (+6, =8, -6);
=11th Spielmann 10 points (+6, =8, -6);
14th Carls 9 points (+6, =6, -8);
15th Yates 8 points (+6, =4, -10);
=16th Rosselli 7½ points (+3, =9, -8);
=16th Tarrasch 7½ points (+3, =9, -8);
18th Colle 7 points (+5, =4, -11);
19th Mieses 6½ points (+5, =3, -12);
20th Thomas 6 points (+3, =6, -11);
21st te Kolste 1½ points (+0, =3, -17).
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210 games, 1925 - Bled 1931
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Milan Vidmar was the instigator of the major chess tournament that became Bled 1931. His idea was well received in both Ljubljana ( his birthplace ) and the nearby health resort of Bled. An organizing committee was set up and at the end of July 1931, following the Chess Olympiad in Prague this committee commissioned Hans Kmoch to conduct the negotiations with the competitors for a double round tournament to be held at Lake Bled. Most of those players approached gave their agreement but Max Euwe declined because of work commitments, Mir Sultan Khan was due to play in the British Championships and Akiba Rubinstein asked for a printed programme. This was sent to him and he was given until August 16th to either confirm or decline the invitation but when this deadline expired without any reply his place was offered to Gosta Stoltz. Stoltz immediately cabled his acceptance but later that day a cable confirming his acceptance arrived from Rubinstein. The tournament committee ruled that the offer to Stoltz should stand and thus Rubinstein was forced to bow out. The final list of fourteen players included not only Stoltz but also the World Champion Alyekhin, Asztalos, Bogolyubov, Vidmar, Kashdan, Kostich, Maroczy, Colle, Niemzowitsch, Pirc, Tartakover, Flohr and Spielmann. The players stayed at the Hotel Toplice and it was here that most of the tournament except Round 19 ( held in Ljubljana ) took place.
The first round was held in a large hall but the spectators made such a noise and disturbance that all the subsequent rounds were played in a smaller room in a much more controlled atmosphere which overlooked Lake Bled. The tournament opened on the 22nd of August with the opening banquet and the drawing of lots and ran until the 29th of September 1931. The rate of play was 35 moves in 2½ hours. Play commenced daily at 9:00am until 2:00pm and then there was a break for a meal. After this at 4:30pm play was resumed for another two hours with a control rate of 15 moves per hour. Alyekhin registered one of his greatest triumphs by out distancing the rest of the field by a whopping 5½ points. - The Final Standings :
1st Alyekhin 20½ points (+15, =11, -0);
2nd Bogolyubov 15 points (+12, =6, -8);
3rd Niemzowitsch 14 points (+8, =12, -6);
=4th Vidmar 13½ points (+5, =17, -4);
=4th Kashdan 13½ points (+8, =11, -7);
=4th Flohr 13½ points (+8, =11, -7);
=4th Stoltz 13½ points (+8, =11, -7);
8th Tartakover 13 points (+6, =14, -6);
=9th Kostich 12½ points (+7, =11, -8);
=9th Spielmann 12½ points (+6, =13, -7);
11th Maroczy 12 points (+6, =12, -8);
12th Colle 10½ points (+8, =5, -13);
13th Asztalos 9½ points (+2, =15, -9);
14th Pirc 8½ points (+3, =11, -12).
- Allocation Of Prizes :
1st Alyekhin 30,000 dinars
2nd Bogolyubov 20,000 dinars
3rd Niemzowitsch 15,000 dinars
=4th Vidmar 7,500 dinars
=4th Kashdan 7,500 dinars
=4th Flohr 7,500 dinars
=4th Stoltz 7,500 dinars
The seven non-prizewinners received 250 dinars for each point scored.
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182 games, 1931 - Bugojno 1978
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The small town of Bugojno in central Yugoslavia ( now Bosnia ) hosted five strong tournaments between 1978 and 1986. This tournament was the first one. It was a category 14 event that featured players of the old guard like Gligoric, Ivkov and Byrne and pitted them against a younger generation that included Timman, Miles and Huebner. The tournament ran from the 26th of February to the 16th of March and in the sixteen player field Karpov and Spassky emerged as the joint winners. For Spassky it was a victory to rank alongside wins such as the 29th USSR Championship in 1961, the Zonal Tournament of Seven in Moscow 1964 and the 1966 Piatigorsky Cup. For Karpov it was an excellent dress rehearsal in his only other showing in 1978 before facing Korchnoi to defend the World Title in September. The Final Standings :
=1st Karpov 10 points (+6, =8, -1);
=1st Spassky 10 Points (+6, =8, -1);
3rd Timman 9 points (+4, =8, -2);
=4th Ljubojevic 8½ points (+5, =7, -3);
=4th Tal 8½ points (+2 =13, -0);
=6th Hort 8 points (+4, =8, -3);
=6th Larsen 8 points (+5, =6, -4);
=8th Balashov 7½ points (+2, =11, -2);
=8th Huebner 7½ points (+3, =9, -3);
10th Miles 7 points (+3, =8, -4);
11th Ivkov 6½ points (+1, =11, -3);
11th Portisch 6½ points (+2, =9, -4);
=13th Byrne 6 points (+1, =10, -4);
=13th Vukic 6 points (+1, =10, -4);
=15th Bukic 5½ points (+1, =9, -5);
=15th Gligoric 5½ points (+2, =7, -6).
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120 games, 1978 - Fencible Masters Tt 1997
A Little History
The name 'Fencible' is derived from the word defencible. Retired soldiers mostly from Ireland and the midlands of England were encouraged to become members of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps. Those who signed up would get a new life in New Zealand and were offered free passage together with their families as well as a cottage and an acre of land to become theirs after a seven year term. For this they were expected to perform certain military duties including compulsory Sunday Church parade. The Fencible scheme was the largest Government funded early immigration scheme for Auckland. From 1847 to 1852 ten ships brought the Fencibles to Auckland where they founded the villages (now suburbs) of Howick, Panmure, Otahuhu and Onehunga. Many of their descendants still live in these areas today. In 1997 to mark the sesquicentennial anniversary of Howick village
Paul Stanley Spiller organized this tournament. It was sponsored by the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club and Spiller Enterprises Limited. Held in the Howick Bowling Club it was a nine round all-play-all which ran from the 24th to the 29th of March. The participants were Paul Anthony Garbett, Ewen McGowen Green, Aleksei Kulashko, Eddy Levi, Leonard J McLaren, Tim Reilly, Drazen Sermek, Vernon Albert Small, Robert Wayne Smith
and Stephen John Solomon. - The Final Standings :
1st Solomon 8½ points (+8, =1, -0);
2nd Sermek 7½ points (+7, =1, -1);
3rd Garbett 5½ points (+4, =3, -2);
4th Small 4½ points (+2, =5, -2);
=5th Smith 4 points (+3, =2, -4);
=5th Reilly 4 points (+2, =4, -3);
=7th Kulashko 3 points (+2, =2, -5);
=7th Levi 3 points (+2, =2, -5);
=7th McLaren 3 points (+1, =4, -4);
10th Green 2 points (+0, =4, -5).
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45 games, 1997 - First Piatigorsky Cup 1963
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In 1963 famous cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and his wife Jaqueline gave a cup through the Piatigorsky Foundation for a chess tournament that would include two grandmasters from the USSR and two grandmasters from the USA. Also competing would be four grandmasters from other countries. The eventual list of players included Petrosian, Keres, Reshevsky, Benko, Olafsson, Gligoric, Panno and Najdorf. The tournament ran from the 2nd of July to the 30th of July 1963 in Los Angeles, USA. The players met in a double round all-play-all and the joint winners Petrosian and Keres returned to the Soviet Union with more than half of the $10,000 prize fund offered by the Piatigorsky Foundation. This tournament was the strongest to be held in the USA after New York 1927. The Final Standings were:
=1st Keres 8½ points ( +6, =5, -3 );
=1st Petrosian 8½ points ( +4, =9, -1 );
=3rd Najdorf 7½ points ( +3, =9, -2 );
=3rd Olafsson 7½ points ( +4, =7, -3 );
5th Reshevsky 7 points ( +3, =8, -3 );
6th Gligoric 6 points ( +2, =8, -4 );
=7th Benko 5½ points ( +4, =3, -7 );
=7th Panno 5½ points ( +2, =7, -5 ).
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56 games, 1963 - Hanging Pawns
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A pair of pawns on adjacent files that are separated from all other pawns are known as "Hanging Pawns" (a term coined by Steinitz). Hanging pawns possess strengths and weaknesses.
The elements of strength include the possibility of opening files through their advance and with this comes an increase in space, and the possibility of controlling key squares that can be used as outposts for Knights and Bishops. On the other hand they can also be weak. They can only be defended by pieces. This vulnerability can be exploited by attacking them with pieces, forcing the opponent to protect them with pieces. The defending pieces can then be attacked and exchanged at a suitable moment and this can often result in the win of a pawn or forcing another pawn weakness elsewhere.
They can also be weakened by forcing the advance of one of them leaving the other one backward and a hole into which a piece can be placed.
A third way of exploiting their weakness is to attack them with a pawn of your own, this can force a pawn exchange that results in an isolated pawn. The current view is that hanging pawns are weak if their side is behind in development but strong if their side is ahead in development. These games illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the hanging pawns
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31 games, 1873-1994 - Hastings 1895
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The chess club of the English coastal town of Hastings was founded in 1882. In 1895 the club organized a tournament that was the strongest ever held up to that time. Taking place over the month of August all the leading players of the day participated. Among the participants were the veterans Blackburne and Bird and the young masters Janowski, Schlechter, Teichmann and Walbrodt. The favourites were Lasker, Steinitz, Tarrasch and Chigorin. However, the winner turned out to be the then relatively unknown American Harry Nelson Pillsbury who was playing in his first major tournament. The tournament was memorable for a number of masterpieces created and a very exciting finish with the lead changing hands in the last three rounds.
- A very special thanks to <Calli> and <keypusher> for the link to this article that has an interview with the tournament winner :
http://picasaweb.google.com/Caissa1...
Click on the magnifying glass to read it.
- The Final Standings were :
1st Pillsbury 16½ points (+15, =3, -3); 2nd Chigorin 16 points (+14, =4, -3); 3rd Lasker 15½ points (+14, =3, -4); 4th Tarrasch 14 points (+12, =4, -5); 5th Steinitz 13 points (+11, =4, -6); 6th Schiffers 12 points (+9, =6, -6); =7th von Bardeleben 11½ points (+8, =7, -6); =7th Teichmann 11½ points (+8, =7, -6); 9th Schlechter 11 points (+5, =12, -4); 10th Blackburne 10½ points (+9, =3, -9); 11th Walbrodt 10 points (+6, =8, -7); =12th Burn 9½ points (+8, =3, -10); =12th Janowski 9½ points (+7, =5, -9); =12th Mason 9½ points (+7, =5, -9); =15th Bird 9 points (+4, =10, -7); =15th Gunsberg 9 points (+7, =4, -10); =17th Albin 8½ points (+5, =7, -9); =17th Marco 8½ points (+5, =7, -9); 19th Pollock 8 points (+6, =4, -11); =20th Mieses 7½ points (+4, =7, -10); =20th Tinsley 7½ points (+7, =1, -13); 22nd Vergani 3 points (+2, =2, -17).
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231 games, 1895 - London 1922
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During the 19th Century London, England had been the setting for some great tournaments. The first international tourney in 1851, the first double round robin tourney in 1862, the contest of 1883 and Lasker's triumph of 1899.
In December 1921 the British Chess Federation decided to hold an international tournament of sixteen players as the main event of it's 1922 congress. Invitations were sent to Capablanca, Alyekhin, Rubinstein, Bogolyubov, Reti, Tartakover, Vidmar, Euwe, Kostich and Marshall but the last two named players had problems with their travelling expenses and were unable to accept.
In addition the current British Champion and the Champions of Australia and Canada were also invited.
Held in the Central Hall Westminster, London the tournament ran from the 31st of July to the 19th of August, 1922.
Many games played in this tourney would later grace the best games collections of a number of players. - The Final Placings were :
1st Capablanca 13 points (+11, =4, -0); 2nd Alyekhin 11½ points (+8, =7, -0); 3rd Vidmar 11 points (+9, =4, -2); 4th Rubinstein 10½ points (+8, =5, -2); 5th Bogolyubov 9 points (+7, =4, -4); =6th Reti 8½ points (+5, =7, -3); =6th Tartakover 8½ points (+6, =5, -4); =8th Maroczy 8 points (+4, =8, -3); =8th Yates 8 points (+7, =2, -6); 10th Atkins 6 points (+4, =4, -7); 11th Euwe 5½ points (+4, =3, -8); =12th Znosko-Borovsky 5 points (+4, =2, -9); =12th Wahltuch 5 points (+3, =4, -8); =14th Morrison 4½ points (+3, =3, -9); =14th Watson 4½ points (+4, =1, -10); 16th Marotti 1½ points (+1, =1, -13). - Allocation Of Prizes :
1st Capablanca 250 Pounds Sterling
2nd Alyekhin 150 Pounds Sterling
3rd Vidmar 100 Pounds Sterling
4th Rubinstein 70 Pounds Sterling
5th Bogolyubov 40 Pounds Sterling
6th= Reti & Tartakover 30 Pounds Sterling
7th= Reti & Tartakover 25 Pounds Sterling
8th= Maroczy & Yates 20 Pounds Sterling
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120 games, 1922 - Lone Pine 1979
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This 1979 tournament held from the 25th of March to the 4th of April was the ninth in the series of annual events that have been held in the small Californian town of Lone Pine.
Lone Pine was the home of American millionaire Louis D Statham and for this tournament he put up a prize fund of more than $45,000 which attracted 27 Grandmasters and 22 International Masters from 18 countries. The final number of participants reached seventy-three. The lead changed hands a number of times in this nine round Swiss Tournament but in the end four players; Liberzon, Gheorghiu, Gligoric and Hort shared top honours. They each received $8,875 and Gligoric and Liberzon made history by becoming the first players to win twice at Lone Pine. Liberzon was the sole winner of the 1975 event and Gligoric was a joint winner in the 1972 event. Hans Ree could have joined the leaders but an oversight in a winning rook ending against Sahovic in the last round cost him a GM norm and lead him into receiving $1008 along with Larsen, Gruenfeld, Lombardy, Sahovic and Sosonko. Another notable performance was that of the then 19-year-old Yasser Seirawan who played a field that included all four winners and in the process he defeated Miles and Larsen as well.
Seirawan and the four winners scored the only GM results. Seirawan, along with DeFirmian and van der Sterren earnt IM titles. Morris, Bradford, Peters and Odendahl achieved IM norms whilst Root and Strauss achieved FM norms. Rajan Ayyar pulled out after five rounds. Oleg Romanishin and Vitaly Tseshkovsky were slated to play but when it was found out that Korchnoi was also playing the Soviet authorities cancelled their entries. - Two brilliancy prizes were awarded in each round. The following were the recipients : Round 1 - Grefe and Barle
Round 2 - Seirawan and Shamkovich
Round 3 - Bradford and Sahovic
Round 4 - Bradford and Gligoric
Round 5 - Reshevsky and Petursson
Round 6 - Gruenfeld and Formanek
Round 7 - Gruenfeld and Shamkovich
Round 8 - Bisguier and Lein
Round 9 - Denker and Browne
- Final Placings and Points Scored :
1 - 4 Liberzon, Gheorghiu, Gligoric, Hort 6½;
5 - 10 Lombardy, Sosonko, Ree, Larsen, Gruenfeld, Sahovic 6; 11 - 22 Seirawan, Kaplan, Reshevsky, Peters, Morris, Korchnoi,
Diesen, Lein, Shamkovich, Tarjan, Bisguier, Pachman 5½; 23 - 33 DeFirmian, Biyiasas, Olafsson, Odendahl, Miles, Zaltsman,
Ligterink, Sigurjonsson, Benko, Browne, Rajkovic 5; 34 - 44 Bradford, Fedorowicz, van der Sterren, Ostojic, Chandler,
Quinteros, Soltis, Janosevic, Christiansen, van Riemsdijk,
Weinstein 4½;
45 - 57 Grefe, Root, Barle, Paolozzi, Bohm, van der Wiel, Petursson,
Strauss, McCambridge, Day, Rind, Watson, Formanek 4; 58 - 60 Shirazi, Benjamin, Matera 3½;
61 - 68 Zlotnikov, Wilder, Rigo, Paul Whitehead, Youngworth,
Blocker, Nikolic, Denker 3;
69 - 70 Silman, Balinas 2½;
71 -72 Jay Whitehead, Thibault 2;
73 Ayyar 1.
- The Tournament Director was Isaac Kashdan.
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324 games, 1979 - Mikhail Tal - Underrated Endgame Artist
Mikhail Tal was such a sacrificial and attacking genius that his endgame skills are often overlooked. These games illustrate his prowess in the endgame.
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50 games, 1951-1992 - Modern Chess Miniatures
Under Construction
Games from the book by Leonard Barden and Wolfgang Heidenfeld Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1960.
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203 games, 1890-1960 - Moscow 1935
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Ten years after the Moscow Tournament of 1925 and following on from the Botvinnik - Flohr Match of 1933, Nikolai Krylenko, the head of Soviet Chess decided it was time to test the progress of Soviet Chess against it's Western counterpart. To this end eight Foreign Masters including two former World Champions were invited to pit their skills against twelve Soviet Masters in early 1935. The tournament opened on the 14th of February and finished on the 15th of March and was held in the Museum Of Fine Arts in Moscow. The joint winners were Botvinnik and Flohr but the star of the tourney was the undefeated third place getter 66-year-old Dr Emanuel Lasker who was half a point behind them. This was to be his last great tournament performance where he again finished above his great rival Jose Capablanca who was half a point behind in fourth place. This tournament also showed that with Botvinnik in their vanguard the Soviets were well on their way to becoming a major chess power. - Final Standings
=1st Botvinnik 13 points ( +9, = 8, - 2 );
=1st Flohr 13 points ( +7, =12, - 0 );
3rd Lasker 12½ points ( +6, =13, - 0 );
4th Capablanca 12 points ( +7, =10, - 2 );
5th Spielmann 11 points ( +6, =10, - 3 );
=6th Kan 10½ points ( +7, = 7, - 5 );
=6th Levenfish 10½ points ( +6, = 9, - 4 );
=8th Lilienthal 10 points ( +4, =12, - 3 );
=8th Ragozin 10 points ( +6, = 8, - 5 );
=8th Romanovsky 10 points ( +6, = 8, - 5 );
=11th Alatortsev 9½ points ( +5, = 9, - 5 );
=11th Goglidze 9½ points ( +4, =11, - 4 );
=11th Rabinovich 9½ points ( +6, = 7, - 6 );
=11th Riumin 9½ points ( +7, = 5, - 7 );
15th Lisitsin 9 points ( +4, =10, - 5 );
=16th Bohatirchuk 8 points ( +2, =12, - 5 );
=16th Stahlberg 8 points ( +5, = 6, - 8 );
17th Pirc 7½ points ( +3, = 9, - 7 );
19th Chekhover 5½ points ( +3, = 5, -11 );
20th Menchik 1½ points ( +0, = 3, -16 ).
- Allocation Of Prizes
- Foreign Players
Flohr 400 dollars
Lasker 250 dollars
Capablanca 150 dollars
Spielmann 100 dollars
Lilienthal 1000 roubles
- Soviet Players
Botvinnik 5000 roubles
Levenfish 2250 roubles
Kan 2250 roubles
Ragozin 1000 roubles
Romanovsky 1000 roubles
- Special Izvestiya Prizes
Ragozin - best result against Foreign masters (6 out of 8) Flohr - best result against Soviet masters (8½ out of 12) Capablanca - best result against Soviet masters (8½ out of 12) As a result of finishing joint first The All-Union Committee for Physical Culture awarded the title of grandmaster to Mikhail Botvinnik. He also received a car from The People's Commissariat Of Heavy Industry. Best Games of the Tournament.
=1st Lasker for his game against Capablanca
=1st Botvinnik for his game against Riumin
3rd Spielmann for his game against Chekhover
=4th Riumin for his game against Rabinovich
=4th Ragozin for his game against Lilienthal
=6th Capablanca for his game against Ragozin
=6th Levenfish for his game against Bohatirchuk.
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190 games, 1935 - Netway Masters Tt 1992
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The Netway Masters tournament of 1992 was organized as an appreciation of Australian invitations that had been extended to New Zealand players in recent Sydney tournaments. It was also a chance for young players to gain IM norms. Sponsorship was arranged with the Auckland Company Netway Communications and invitations were sent to Lembit Oll and Anthony Miles with the rest of the twelve player field made up of Australian and New Zealand players. This made the tournament a Category V event where seven points from eleven games were needed to gain an IM norm. The tournament was not without incident. At the opening reception Lembit Oll was unwell and wanted to play out his games on a short time control. Other players disagreed with this proposal and Oll therefore withdrew from the tournament. With Oll's withdrawl it looked like the tournament would collapse but Ian Rogers cut short his holiday in the Australian Outback, stepped into the breach and saved the day. Ortvin Sarapu who was Oll's host for two weeks was very upset with the situation and it showed in his play.
On the positive side Benjamin Martin played very well and obtained an IM norm of seven points with three rounds to spare. The tournament ran from the 31st of March to the 12th of April and was held in Durham House, Finance Plaza in Albert Street in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Auckland Chess Association team responsible for running the tournament included
Co-ordinator : Paul Stanley Spiller;
Funding : Ewen McGowen Green;
Tournament Arbiter : Robert Gibbons;
Committee : Ortvin Sarapu, Martin P Dreyer and Nigel Metge. The playing sessions were six hours long begining at 1pm and finishing at 7pm. Adjournments went for a further two hour playing session. The time control was 40 moves per hour and 20 moves per half hour thereafter. - The Final Standings :
=1st Miles 10 points (+9, =2, -0);
=1st Rogers 10 points (+9, =2, -0);
3rd Martin 8 points (+7, =2, -2);
4th Levi 5½ points (+4, =3, -4);
=5th Garbett 5 points (+2, =6, -3);
=5th Sarfati 5 points (+4, =2, -5);
=5th Small 5 points (+3, =4, -4);
8th Noble 4½ points (+1, =7, -3);
=9th Sarapu 3½ points (+1, =5, -5);
=9th Wallace 3½ points (+3, =1, -7);
=11th Dreyer 3 points (+0, =6, -5);
=11th Metge 3 points (+2, =2, -7).
The Netway Masters 1992 Trophy was presented to Tony Miles on tie-break. - Prizes in New Zealand dollars were :
1st $1500
2nd $ 750
3rd $ 400
4th $ 200
5th $ 150
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66 games, 1992 - New York 1924
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In December 1923 following an aborted attempt to arrange a World Championship match between Capablanca and Alyekhin, Herman Helms, publisher of the American Chess Bulletin, Harry Latz the General Manager of the Hotel Alamac in New York and Norbert Lederer the Secetary of the Manhattan Chess Club set about organizing a tournament to rival Cambridge Springs 1904.
The tournament took place in the Hotel Alamac from the 16th of March to the 18th of April 1924. The participants were Dr Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca, Alyekhin, Marshall, Janowski, Maroczy, Bogolyubov, Reti, Tartakover, Edward Lasker and Yates.
The time limit was 30 moves in 2 hours and 15 moves per hour thereafter.
Capablanca was expected to be the winner but the 55-year old Dr Lasker proved that he was by no means a spent force and ran away with the tournament. In a number of ways the tournament paralleled the St. Petersburg 1914 Tournament with the top three place getters ten years older. It was also notable for Reti's use of his own Opening, Capablanca's first tournament loss in eight years and a number of masterpieces that were created. - The Final Standings were :
1st Dr Lasker 16 points (+13, =6, -1); 2nd Capablanca 14½ points (+10, =9, -1); 3rd Alyekhin 12 points (+6, =12, -2); 4th Marshall 11 points (+6, =10, -4); 5th Reti 10½ points (+9, =3, -8); 6th Maroczy 10 points (+6, =8, -6); 7th Bogolyubov 9½ points (+8, =3, -9); 8th Tartakover 8 points (+4, =8, -8); 9th Yates 7 points (+5, =4, -11); 10th Ed Lasker 6½ points (+2, =9, -9); 11th Janowski 5 points (+3, =4, -13). - Prizes :
1st $1500
2nd $1000
3rd $750
4th $500
5th $250
Brilliancy Prizes :
A silver cup and $75 in gold went to Reti for his win over Bogolyubov in Round 12. $50 to Marshall for his win over Bogolyubov in Round 18. $25 to Capablanca for his win over Lasker in Round 14. -
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110 games, 1924
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