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12th DSB Congress, Munich (1900) Munich, Bavaria, Germany; 22 July 1900—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 Jacob 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 Moritz Billecard Amos Burn Wilhelm Cohn Alexander Halprin Franz G Jacob David Janowski Georg Marco Geza Maroczy Harry Nelson Pillsbury Carl Schlechter Jackson Whipps 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 5; games 1-25 of 125  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Von Gottschall vs Burn 0-1 43 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C53 Giuoco Piano 2. J N Berger vs Janowski ½-½ 77 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 3. Maroczy vs Von Bardeleben 1-0 73 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C82 Ruy Lopez, Open 4. W Cohn vs M Billecard 1-0 23 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C50 Giuoco Piano 5. Halprin vs H Wolf ½-½ 72 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D05 Queen's Pawn Game 6. G Marco vs Pillsbury ½-½ 45 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich B73 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 7. Showalter vs Schlechter ½-½ 48 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C77 Ruy Lopez 8. Von Popiel vs F G Jacob 1-0 46 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C44 King's Pawn Game 9. Burn vs Maroczy 0-1 104 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 10. Janowski vs G Marco 0-1 58 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 11. M Billecard vs Von Popiel ½-½ 43 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 12. Halprin vs J N Berger 1-0 28 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D05 Queen's Pawn Game 13. Pillsbury vs Von Gottschall 1-0 25 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D55 Queen's Gambit Declined 14. Schlechter vs W Cohn ½-½ 36 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D09 Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit, 5.g3 15. Von Bardeleben vs Showalter 0-1 19 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C45 Scotch Game 16. H Wolf vs F G Jacob 1-0 34 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 17. Showalter vs Burn 1-0 49 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted 18. Von Gottschall vs Janowski 0-1 30 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C26 Vienna 19. Maroczy vs Pillsbury ½-½ 58 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C67 Ruy Lopez 20. J N Berger vs H Wolf 1-0 49 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D05 Queen's Pawn Game 21. W Cohn vs Von Bardeleben 1-0 29 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 22. F G Jacob vs M Billecard 0-1 47 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 23. G Marco vs Halprin 1-0 43 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C49 Four Knights 24. Von Popiel vs Schlechter 0-1 49 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich C44 King's Pawn Game 25. Burn vs W Cohn 1-0 28 1900 12th DSB Congress, Munich D08 Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit  page 1 of 5; games 1-25 of 125    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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