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Karlsbad (1929) The fourth international master chess tournament to be held in the spa resort of Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia in 1929 was a round robin event involving 22 of the best chess masters in the world. Of the top players, only world champion Alexander Alekhine and former world champion Emanuel Lasker were missing. The line up of players included such names as Jose Capablanca, Efim Bogoljubov, Frank Marshall, Akiba Rubinstein, Milan Vidmar, Aron Nimzowitsch, and Rudolf Spielmann. Among the remaining invitations, one notable participant was Vera Menchik, the women's world champion, who joined despite the protests of some male colleagues, including fellow participant Albert Becker. The tournament was held in the Kurhaus Imperial Hotel from July 30 to August 28. The time control used was 30 moves in two hours followed by 15 moves in one hour. Despite Spielmann's amazing beginning of 9 points earned in the first ten rounds followed by Capablanca's shared lead in the standings from the thirteenth round on, it was to be Nimzowitsch's "finest hour," with a win over Savielly Tartakower propelling him to first place and the grand prize of 20,000 Kronen. Although he used this victory to campaign for his right to challenge Alekhine for the world championship, losses to the world champion at San Remo (1930) and Bled (1931) would dash his chances of competing for the world crown. Nevertheless, this victory amongst such a field of chess masters would shine as the high point of Nimzowitsch's career. Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia, 31 July - 26 August 1929 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 Pts 1 Nimzowitsch * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 15 =2 Capablanca ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 14½ =2 Spielmann 0 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 14½ 4 Rubinstein ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 13½ =5 Becker ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 12 =5 Vidmar 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 12 =5 Euwe 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 12 8 Bogoljubov 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 11½ 9 Grünfeld ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 11 =10 Canal ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 10½ =10 Mattison 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 10½ =12 Tartakower 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 10 =12 Maróczy ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ * 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 10 =12 Colle ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 10 =12 Treybal ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 10 =16 Sämisch 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 9½ =16 Yates 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 9½ =18 Johner 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 9 =18 Marshall ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 1 1 9 20 Gilg 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ 8 21 Thomas ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * 1 6 22 Menchik 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 * 3 This collection would have been impossible without the continued and incredible effort of <sneaky pete>, to whom I owe a great debt. Original collection: Game Collection: Karlsbad 1929, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 10; games 1-25 of 231  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Bogoljubov vs Euwe   ½-½ 23 1929 Karlsbad C47 Four Knights 2. Colle vs Saemisch ½-½ 50 1929 Karlsbad A40 Queen's Pawn Game 3. E Canal vs A Becker 1-0 43 1929 Karlsbad C50 Giuoco Piano 4. Gilg vs P Johner 1-0 45 1929 Karlsbad D33 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 5. Maroczy vs H Mattison 0-1 51 1929 Karlsbad B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 6. Rubinstein vs K Treybal 1-0 64 1929 Karlsbad C72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O 7. Tartakower vs Capablanca ½-½ 26 1929 Karlsbad A03 Bird's Opening 8. G Thomas vs A Nimzowitsch ½-½ 35 1929 Karlsbad C16 French, Winawer 9. Vidmar vs Marshall 1-0 48 1929 Karlsbad D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 10. Yates vs Menchik 1-0 52 1929 Karlsbad C14 French, Classical 11. Spielmann vs Gruenfeld 1-0 24 1929 Karlsbad D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 12. K Treybal vs Bogoljubov 0-1 62 1929 Karlsbad B40 Sicilian 13. Gilg vs Colle 1-0 83 1929 Karlsbad D02 Queen's Pawn Game 14. Euwe vs E Canal 1-0 32 1929 Karlsbad E22 Nimzo-Indian, Spielmann Variation 15. Gruenfeld vs Maroczy 1-0 34 1929 Karlsbad D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 16. A Becker vs Yates 1-0 35 1929 Karlsbad E34 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation 17. Capablanca vs G Thomas ½-½ 47 1929 Karlsbad D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 18. P Johner vs Menchik 1-0 37 1929 Karlsbad D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 19. Marshall vs Spielmann 0-1 57 1929 Karlsbad B40 Sicilian 20. H Mattison vs Tartakower 1-0 27 1929 Karlsbad B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 21. A Nimzowitsch vs Rubinstein ½-½ 43 1929 Karlsbad A04 Reti Opening 22. Saemisch vs Vidmar ½-½ 43 1929 Karlsbad D17 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 23. Bogoljubov vs A Nimzowitsch 0-1 50 1929 Karlsbad E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 24. Colle vs P Johner 0-1 29 1929 Karlsbad D00 Queen's Pawn Game 25. Yates vs Euwe ½-½ 40 1929 Karlsbad B02 Alekhine's Defense  page 1 of 10; games 1-25 of 231    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Dec-21-12    Conrad93: An amazing win by Nimzowitsch in a competition full of the world's best. Dec-21-12    Sneaky: It's a tough crowd when names like Maroczy, Tartakower, Saemisch, Yates, and Marshall all end up in the bottom half. Perhaps Nimzowitsch's finest hour. Feb-18-13    capanegra: Yes, great tournament by Nimzowitsch. Surely it must have been his finest hour. He was also very lucky in two games: He won a full point from a hopeless position in Nimzowitsch vs Euwe, 1929 And Capa lost a full point due to a rare blunder in Saemisch vs Capablanca, 1929 Mar-14-13    ughaibu: Capablanca didn't lose a full point, by that blunder, did he? Mar-09-14    RedShield: Alekhine covered this event for the <New York Times> and continued the critical appraisal/bitchslapping of Capablanca's play that he'd begun in the 1927 New York tournament book. All quotes from Winter's Capablanca book. <Will that very superior technician Capablanca turn the trick? His victory would, at least, mean a great gain for chess, for nobody can reach the top in such a world tournament with only drawn games to his credit. He would have to abandon his morbid theories.> <It is the quality of Capablanca's games, however, that suggests comment. He shows a fighting spirit and a wealth of ideas all right, but one is compelled to note a certain tactical insecurity. In Moscow [1925], for instance, Capablanca did not take pains to win against strong opponents, he rather contented himself with tedious, symmetrical variations of the Queen's Gambit. In Carlsbad on the other hand he was determined to win against Rubinstein and Bogoljubow; he combined, even exposed himself to certain risks, and yet did not succeed. Against Thomas he even drifted into a very tight corner; Thomas might have won.> <Spielmann, in contradistinction to Marshall, has adapted his style of play to the present-day demands and this explains his success. After the fashion of Jose Capablanca of Cuba, he now follows the tendency of avoiding complications, but compared to the Cuban grandmaster, with whom he shares the same technique of simplification, he has the advantage of livelier imagination and greater accuracy.> <It is true that the Cuban has succeeded - but not without some lucky incidents - to carry through his obvious intention to draw his games against dangerous opponents and "swallow all the small fish" by means of his superior technique.> <While such a mistake [Capa's blunder of a piece vs Samsich] never has happened to masters of a less high class, such as A. Nimzowitsch of Denmark and Dr. Vidmar of Yugoslavia, in their long careers, such negligence with Capablanca is sporadical and nearly typical. Just remember the 1914 St. Petersburg game with Tarrasch, the 1916 New York test with Chajes, the London match [sic] with Morrison, the Moscow test of 1925 against Verlinsky, the twelfth game at Buenos Aires 1927 and the Kissingen match [sic] of the same year [sic] against Spielmann. This short statistical outline, which easily could be continued, shows sufficiently that the former world's champion lacks an important component of chess playing strength, namely an imperturbable attention which separates the player absolutely from the outside world. Therefore, with him, such mistakes as in the Samisch game cannot be counted as a crash incident. Regarding the sporting point of view, however, Capablanca's defeat has a positive value in that it prevents a new legend of his invioability, which this tournament would more than have justified, because he twice before was clearly exposed to defeat and only had to thank the carelessness of his opponent for his rescue.> Mar-09-14    perfidious: Given the animus which existed between those great masters, difficult to tell where Alekhine's objectivity ends and criticism, for its own sake, begins. Mar-09-14    Howard: Apparently, Alekhine believed that Capablanca was the "only" elite player to make these kinds of amateurish mistakes. Ahhhh.....didn't Alekhine once hang his queen in a 1930's game ?!? The reason a lot of people don't know that is because his opponent (don't recall who it was) OVERLOOKED it. Thus, Alekhine was able to rectify his mistake. Jan-03-15    Severin: 2 wins and 17 losses for Menchik. That's a pretty rough debut.... Mar-13-16    TheFocus: The following special prizes were awarded: Prize for the best played game - divided between Nimzowitsch and Euwe for their games with Bogoljubow and Sir G.A. Thomas, respectively. Brilliancy prizes: First to F. Saemisch for his game with Gruenfeld; second and third to Maroczy and Dr. Vidmar for their games against Canal and Dr. Euwe, respectively; fourth and fifth to F.J. Marshall and P. Johner for their games against Sir G.A. Thomas and Colle, respectively; sixth, to Rubinstein for his game against Miss Menchik; seventh, to Canal for his game against Johner. Prizes for the most games won: First, to Spielmann, eleven victories; second and third, divided between Capablanca and Nimzowitsch, each with ten victories - <American Chess Bulletin>, September-October 1929, pg. 151. Feb-02-17    zanzibar: I just got all of Alekhine's articles from the NYT's. One would assume they are out of copyright, being from 1929, so perhaps I'll post them. But I would recommend reading the entire series from the start - Alekhine frames the tournament with these headings in his first article: < DR. ALEKHINE GIVES VIEWS AT CARLSBAD World's Chess Champion Sees Two Schools in Conflict With Each Other. * * * * * * TEST FOR THE REFORMISTS * * * * * * Says They Will Be Opposed to Those Who Place the "How" Over the "What" * * * * * MANY STARS ON BOTH SIDES * * * * * Capablanca Leads Side Rating Victory All-Important, While Bogoljubow Heads the "Artists". > On Capa's side are Maroczy, Vidmar, Euwe and Gruenfeld. Capa's group is labeled "reformists", and adds this: <To just such a deadening level the reformist school, these pseudo-scientists, would reduce the noble game of chess, but fortunately there prevails a strong oppositional force which first asserted itself in the play of Breyer and Reti, whose premature deaaths were a distinct loss to the chess world.> The "artist" group includes Bojo, Nimzowitch, Tartakower, Canel, Saemisch and Colle. OK, that's enough for now, and that's just the first part of the first article! (NYT 1929-08-01 - p21) . Feb-25-17    Allanur: was Alekhine not sent an invitation or did he reject to attend? if so, why? Is there any info about that? Feb-25-17    Retireborn: It would have been too close to the Bogoljubow match, I expect. Feb-25-17    Paarhufer: In order to participate at this tournament Alekhine tried to postpone the start of the WC match from 6 to 25 September, but the organizers in Wiesbaden rejected. He was present in Karlsbad during the whole tournament and wrote articles for American newspapers (tournament book). See also http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... Feb-25-17    tamar: <Only eight days after the conclusion of the Carlsbad tourney I shall be called upon to defend my title. The challenger is no less a person than Bogoljubow, victor of the Moscow and Kissingen tourneys. Consideration for himself apparently did not prevent this grand master from entering the lists at Carlsbad, and in this connection the following must be taken into account: a challenger has much less to risk than the defender of the title.> Alekhines 1st article on Carlsbad Dec-22-20    technical draw: I think we can call this TMOACT (The mother of all chess tournaments.) Dec-22-20    HeMateMe: beer and sauna on off days. What's not to like? Mar-12-21    carpovius: 12 points difference between the first and last place)) Mar-30-22    Thomasdada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5J... a rare historic film of the town of Karlsbad in 1928/29, then and now a famous spa town. Worth watching. Shows lufe and location of this and similar famous tournaments in these decades (often held in these kind of spa towns). Apr-05-22    An Englishman: Good Evening: Nimzowitsch's final four opponents consisted of Vidmar, Speilmann, Marocsy and Tartakower. All while keeping an eye upon Capablanca. Going 3.5-0.5 under these circumstances looks almost as impressive as his performance during the entire tournament. Jun-14-22    kingscrusher: Congrats to Nimzo - great writer and proof of his writings in winning this tournament :) NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. 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