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12th DSB Congress, Munich (1900) Munich, Bavaria, Germany (22 July-18 August 1900) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Score Place/Prize ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 1 Pillsbury • ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 12 1st-2nd 1000ℳ 2 Schlechter ½ • ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 1st-2nd 800ℳ* 3 Maroczy ½ ½ • 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 12 3rd 600ℳ 4 Burn ½ 0 0 • 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 10½ 4th 400ℳ 5 Marco ½ ½ 0 0 • ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 10 5th 300ℳ 6 Cohn 0 ½ 0 0 ½ • 1 0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 8 6th 250ℳ 7 Berger ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 • ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 7½ 7th-8th 87ℳ 50₰ 8 Janowski 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ • 1 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 7½ 7th-8th 87ℳ 50₰ 9 Showalter 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 0 • 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 7½ 7th-8th 87ℳ 50₰ 10 Wolf 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 • 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7½ 7th-8th 87ℳ 50₰ 11 Von Popiel 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 0 • 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 6½ 12 Von Gottschall 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 1 • 1 1 ½ 1 6½ 13 Halprin ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 • ½ ½ ½ 5 14 Von Bardeleben 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ • 1 0 3 15 Billecard 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 • 1 3 16 Jakob 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 • 1½ ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— * Schlechter received the Silver Cup (Luitpold prize) in lieu of equal cash. Tie-break matches for first, second, and third places: 1 2 3 4 Score ————————————————————————— Pillsbury 1 1 Maroczy 0 0* ————————————————————————— Pillsbury 0 1 ½ ½ 2 Schlechter 1 0 ½ ½ 2 ————————————————————————— * Maroczy withdrew and settle for 3rd place. Introduction The 12th German Chess Federation Congress was held in Munich, German Empire (Bavaria) from July 22nd-August 18th, 1900. It featured several of the world's best players plus the usual gang of cannon fodder, to wit: Johann Nepomuk Berger, Maurice Billecard, Amos Burn, Wilhelm Cohn, Alexander Halprin, Friedrich G Jakob, David Janowski, Georg Marco, Geza Maroczy, Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Carl Schlechter, Jackson Showalter, Curt von Bardeleben, Hermann von Gottschall, Ignatz von Popiel, Heinrich Wolf. By round 4 the tournament had developed into a three-way race among Maroczy, Pillsbury and Schlechter, and they stayed there the rest of the way. Janowski was never a factor, Marco kept up for a while but couldn't stand the pace, and Burn made only a mild charge. By round 10, the big three were a full point ahead and it seemed obvious one of them would be the eventual winner. The plot began to thicken after round 13. Pillsbury had taken his first sole lead at 11.0 points, Maroczy and Schlechter being 1/2-point behind. The latter two were scheduled to play in round 15, and neither could have relished the thought of trying to beat each other in order to catch Pillsbury. It was essential that Pillsbury be slowed down in round 14 to give them a chance to catch up, but he was playing Halprin whose score of 3.5-9.5 didn't inspire much confidence. What happened next is one of the classic stories. To understand it fully, we need to go back to H Wolf vs Pillsbury, 1900 from round 12: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 In round 3, Maroczy played the quieter 6.Bxc6, and the game was eventually drawn after Pillsbury had the advantage. Wolf goes for a more complicated line, with which Pillsbury was also familiar. 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 d6 8.e6 fxe6 9.axb5 Ne7 This appears to be an innovation by Pillsbury; previously, 9...Nb8 was played. 10.Nc3 Ng6 11.Ng5 Be7 12.Qh5 Bxg5 13.Bxg5 Qd7 click for larger view Now Wolf tried <14.Ra3>. This allowed Black to castle safely, beat back a kingside attack and convert his extra pawn in 40 moves. Maroczy studied the position, and discovered the astounding idea of <14.b6> and 15.<Nd5>, giving White a strong attack. He went over the line with Halprin the night before round 14, hoping to give Pillsbury the surprise of his life. Pillsbury was probably suspicious as soon as Halprin, who normally played 1.d4, came out with 1.e4 instead. Then when Halprin went into the complicated 6.dxe5 line, the radar was probably on full blast. But 14.b6 and 15.Nd5 were still a total surprise, leaving him facing a dangerous opening innovation with the clock ticking and first place at stake. Despite all this, Pillsbury managed to fend off the attack in what is generally considered one of the greatest draws in chess history. It wasn't enough to maintain his lead, though, as both Maroczy and Schlechter won to catch Pillsbury. All three played hard in the last round, but draws resulted and the tournament itself ended with a three-way tie for first. However, there were still tiebreak games to be played. Originally each of the three players were scheduled to have two games with each other. However, Maroczy lost the first game to Pillsbury after a horrible blunder and withdrew due to ill health. The format was then changed to a four-game mini-match between Pillsbury and Schlechter. Schlechter won the first game, Pillsbury the second, then after two more draws they finally called it a day. If you're looking for other interesting games, take a glance at Janowski vs Maroczy, 1900 from round 4. The finish is particularly fascinating. Credit Original collection: Game Collection: Munich 1900, by User: Phony Benoni.  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 33  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. J Berger vs Janowski ½-½ 77 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 2. Halprin vs H Wolf ½-½ 72 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D05 Queen's Pawn Game 3. G Marco vs Pillsbury ½-½ 45 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich B73 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 4. Showalter vs Schlechter ½-½ 48 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C77 Ruy Lopez 5. Schlechter vs W Cohn ½-½ 36 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D09 Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit, 5.g3 6. M Billecard vs von Popiel ½-½ 43 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 7. Maroczy vs Pillsbury ½-½ 58 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C67 Ruy Lopez 8. J Berger vs G Marco ½-½ 23 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D05 Queen's Pawn Game 9. von Gottschall vs J Berger ½-½ 11 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C28 Vienna Game 10. Halprin vs von Popiel ½-½ 50 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D05 Queen's Pawn Game 11. von Gottschall vs Maroczy ½-½ 31 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich B23 Sicilian, Closed 12. W Cohn vs G Marco ½-½ 35 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D00 Queen's Pawn Game 13. F G Jakob vs Halprin ½-½ 26 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C67 Ruy Lopez 14. Schlechter vs Pillsbury ½-½ 44 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 15. Halprin vs M Billecard ½-½ 41 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D00 Queen's Pawn Game 16. H Wolf vs Burn ½-½ 83 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 17. G Marco vs von Popiel ½-½ 38 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich B12 Caro-Kann Defense 18. Burn vs Pillsbury ½-½ 32 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 19. von Bardeleben vs Janowski ½-½ 47 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C79 Ruy Lopez, Steinitz Defense Deferred 20. Maroczy vs von Popiel ½-½ 63 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich A03 Bird's Opening 21. Janowski vs Burn ½-½ 52 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C67 Ruy Lopez 22. J Berger vs Schlechter ½-½ 32 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D00 Queen's Pawn Game 23. Halprin vs von Bardeleben ½-½ 17 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D02 Queen's Pawn Game 24. G Marco vs M Billecard ½-½ 34 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C49 Four Knights 25. M Billecard vs von Gottschall ½-½ 30 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D50 Queen's Gambit Declined  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 33    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Mar-27-16    TheFocus: "The prize winners are: First: Pillsbury and Schlechter split the first prize of 1,000 marks and second prize of 800 marks. Third: Maroczy - 600 marks Fourth: Burn - 400 marks Fifth: Marco - 300 marks Sixth: Cohn - 250 marks Seventh and eighth: 200 marks and 150 marks split between Berger, Showalter, Janowsky and Wolf Maroczy received Baron Rothschild's prize, 300 marks, for having won the largest number of games exclusive of draws," - <The Field>, August 18, 190, pg. 233. Oct-02-18    offramp: Another very good Tournament intro by User: Phony Benoni, and how characteristic of his oeuvre! Mar-30-21    Nosnibor: The drawn game between Maroczy and Pillsbury is wrongly ascribed to the Paris 1900 Tournament in Sergeant and Watts book on Pillsbury`s Chess Career. 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. 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