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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Margate Tournament

Alexander Alekhine7/9(+6 -1 =2)[games]
Rudolf Spielmann6/9(+3 -0 =6)[games]
Vladimir Petrov5.5/9(+5 -3 =1)[games]
Eero Book5/9(+3 -2 =4)[games]
Philip Stuart Milner-Barry5/9(+3 -2 =4)[games]
Harry Golombek4.5/9(+2 -2 =5)[games]
Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander4/9(+2 -3 =4)[games]
Edward Guthlac Sergeant3.5/9(+1 -3 =5)[games]
Vera Menchik3/9(+2 -5 =2)[games]
George Thomas1.5/9(+0 -6 =3)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Margate (1938)

The 1938 Premier Tournament of the traditional Margate Easter Congress featured a respectable international presence, most notably that of world champion Alexander Alekhine. He faced off against fellow invaders Rudolf Spielmann, Vladimir Petrov, and the perennial Finnish Champion Eero Einar Böök. The local English contingent was led by Philip Stuart Milner-Barry, who managed shared 4th, followed by Harry Golombek, Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander, Edward G Sergeant, and women's world champion Vera Menchik, who scored two victories to finish above tail-ender George Alan Thomas. The British Chess Magazine lauded the Champion, reporting that "Dr. Alekhine won the tournament fairly comfortably, though he lost one game (to Petrov). Yet on the whole his play was of a very high standard, notably so against Böök where he played a game worthy to be classed amongst the best examples of Alekhine's genius. In short, he is now playing as well as he ever did." Alekhine also co-wrote the tournament book with Milcíades A. Lachaga.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Alekhine * ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7 2 Spielmann ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 6 3 Petrov 1 0 * 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 5½ =4 Böök 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 5 =4 Milner-Barry 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 5 6 Golombek 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 ½ 4½ 7 Alexander ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 4 8 Sergeant 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 3½ 9 Menchik 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 3 10 Thomas 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1½

Margate (1937) and Margate (1939) were the previous and subsequent congresses in this series, respectively.

Source: Alexander Alekhine's Chess Games, 1902-1946, by Leonard Skinner and Robert Verhoeven. McFarland 1998, p. 262.

Original collection: Game Collection: Margate 1938, by User: sneaky pete.

 page 2 of 2; games 26-45 of 45  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
26. Alekhine vs E Book 1-0251938MargateD26 Queen's Gambit Accepted
27. Petrov vs Milner-Barry  1-0571938MargateE00 Queen's Pawn Game
28. G Thomas vs C H Alexander  0-1311938MargateA03 Bird's Opening
29. Golombek vs Menchik  1-0351938MargateD11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
30. E G Sergeant vs Spielmann ½-½221938MargateC63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense
31. E Book vs Petrov  1-0631938MargateC17 French, Winawer, Advance
32. Menchik vs E G Sergeant 0-1261938MargateA13 English
33. Spielmann vs Alekhine  ½-½261938MargateB74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
34. C H Alexander vs Golombek  0-1571938MargateB74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
35. Milner-Barry vs G Thomas 1-0691938MargateC25 Vienna
36. Golombek vs Milner-Barry  ½-½421938MargateD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
37. G Thomas vs Petrov  0-1341938MargateB80 Sicilian, Scheveningen
38. E G Sergeant vs C H Alexander  ½-½571938MargateC84 Ruy Lopez, Closed
39. E Book vs Spielmann  ½-½161938MargateC48 Four Knights
40. Alekhine vs Menchik 1-0481938MargateD54 Queen's Gambit Declined, Anti-Neo-Orthodox Variation
41. G Thomas vs Golombek  ½-½351938MargateB57 Sicilian
42. Menchik vs E Book 1-0461938MargateD43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
43. Milner-Barry vs E G Sergeant 1-0321938MargateC29 Vienna Gambit
44. Spielmann vs Petrov 1-0311938MargateC10 French
45. C H Alexander vs Alekhine ½-½501938MargateC16 French, Winawer
 page 2 of 2; games 26-45 of 45  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
Feb-26-16  hemy: 1938 Margate chess Congress included 4 tournaments of 10 players in each one: Premier Tournament, Reserves A, B and C.

Reserves A
Ernest Ludwig Klein (Austria) 7
Moishe Mendel Najdorf (Poland) 6.5
Gerald Abrahams (England) 6
Nicolas Rossolimo (France) 6
Paul List (Lithuania) 4.5
Andrew Rowland Benedick Thomas (England) 4
Adrian Garcia Conde (England) 3.5
Frits van Seters (Holland) 3.5
Baruch Harold Wood (England) 2.5
Henry Holwell Cole 1.5

Reserves B
S. Landau 7.5
G. Koltanovski 7
L. Prins 6.5
K. Opočenský 6
J. König 5
V. A. Vinser 4
F. G. T. Collins 3.5
L. C. G. Dewing 2.5
A. Eva 1.5
L. Illingworth 1.5

Reserves C
G. Meyer 6.5
G van Doesburgh 6.5
V. A. T. Schelfhout 5.5
Sonja Graf 5
C. B. Heath 5
B. Reilly 5
Z. Solmanis 4.5
V. Skillicorn 3
F. N. Jatneson 2.5
H. J. Snowden 1.5

Information about the Reserves tournament was collected by me from the newspapers in Estonian and German languages:

Postimees / 25 Apr 1938, Page 6
Postimees / 08 May 1938, Page 6
Päewaleht / 04 May 1938, Page 5
Hamburger Nachrichten / 22 Apr 1938, Page 4
Hamburger Nachrichten / 23 Apr 1938, Page 3

Mar-05-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  jessicafischerqueen:

A notable game from this tournament in which <Vladimirs Petrovs> hands world champion <Alexander Alekhine> his only defeat in the event:

V Petrov vs Alekhine, 1938

Mar-05-16  KlingonBorgTatar: I'm an Alekhine fan and like to collect books written or co- authored by him. Is there a reprint of the tournament book co-authored by the winner? If there's none an e- copy might do. Thanks in advance.
Mar-07-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  jessicafischerqueen:

<KlingonBorgTatar> I've never seen a copy of the tournament book anywhere, but if someone on earth has the power to get it, it's <Tony Peterson>. He has secured several rare chess books for me in the past. He's very friendly and returns emails promptly. Twice he didn't have the book I wanted, but each time he was able to find a copy for me. He has close contact with other excellent European booksellers, such as <Dr. Fiala>, another great resource for rare chess books.

You can contact <Mr. Peterson> from his website here:

http://www.chessbooks.co.uk/

His email:

tony@chessbooks.co.uk

Jan-22-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Sponsored by the British aircraft manufacturer founded by Alliott Verdon Roe called Avro, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro, and sometimes known as Avro 1938.
Jul-26-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  jessicafischerqueen:

<offramp> known to whom? If you think <AVRO 1938>, at least nowadays, you think of this tournament here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVRO_...

Jul-26-18  zanzibar: I think it a bit of a misnomer to cite Alekhine as co-author of the tournament book:

http://www.chesslund.com/detail.asp...

LSAK attributes only Lachaga, though some of the games were annotated by Alekhine (and others by other participants).

Jul-26-18  zanzibar: ~ Keres was originally slated to participate, but withdrew to engage in a match with Stahlberg instead. Spielmann and Schmidt (who didn't play) were reported as new additions.

<Chess Review (1938) p78>

Aug-19-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Najdorf did well in the Reserves A but it seems that only one of his games survives: A R B Thomas vs Najdorf, 1938.
Dec-23-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: Despite being an active international player for nearly 4 decades, this was the first and only time that Rudolf Spielmann played in a tournament in England.

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