Author: Tian Xingjian
This is a group photo of the participants of the 1929 Carlsbad Masters, and the clarity of the photos is so high that we can even see everyone's expression clearly.
Get close to history, analyze those tournaments that have long been dusted by the years, understand the history of chess, understand the chess characters in history, and find the unique charm of chess through those past stories.
In the summer of 1929, in the spa resort of Czechoslovakia, Carlsbad, the fourth International Masters (the first three competitions were also held here, in 1907, 1911 and 1923), which was a grand national elephant round robin, in addition to the then world champion Alyohin and the former champion Lasker did not appear, the world's top 22 chess players participated in the competition, including not only the famous Kapa Blanca, Bogoryupov, Marshall, Marshall, Rubenstein, Nimtsovich and Spielman, as well as a female chess player, the first female world champion, Minchik.
The tournament takes place from July 30 to August 28 at the Imperial Hotel Kurhaus, and each match requires 30 steps in 2 hours and 15 steps in 1 hour thereafter.
Top 8 points
I drew a picture of the points of the top 8 players in the final result, the horizontal coordinate is the first few rounds, the vertical coordinate is the points, it can be seen that Spielman has been far ahead in the first half of the schedule, the first 10 rounds achieved a staggering 9 points, and then Capablanca slowly caught up from the 13th round, but the final victory belonged to Nimtzovic, who won almost always in the second half of the schedule, after the final round of victory over Tatakovel, Nimtsovich finished first with a good record of 10 wins, 1 loss and 10 points, and won the grand prize of 20,000 crowns, closely behind 14.5 points of Capablanca, Spielman and Rubinstein of 13.5 points, and Mincick only scored 3 points, the bottom of the record.
Final ranking table
The victory gave Nimtsovic the opportunity to challenge for the world title, but in both of the following competitions in SanRemo in 1930 and Bled in 1931, Nimzovic lost to Alyohin, and until his death in 1935, he failed to compete with Alyohin for the world championship. Nevertheless, the Carlsbad Masters recorded the pinnacle of Nimzovic's career and validated the validity of his national elephant theory from one side.
Let's unlock who the masters in the photo are one by one, and try to describe their experiences and characteristics in the form of keywords and phrases, from front row to back row, from left to right:
group photo
【Front Row】
1 left – Vera Menchik (1906-1944) born in Moscow, learned chess at the age of 9, moved to England, a disciple of Marooch, a situational game, good at the endgame, the first women's champion, died in the German air raid on London.
2nd from left – Rudolf Spielmann (1883-1942) was born in Vienna, Jewish, winner of several major competitions, mild and sensitive personality, fierce chess style, like complex situations, master of tactical combinations, "The Art of The Outcast".
3rd from left – Milan Vidmar (1885-1962) Yugoslav, electrical engineer, transformer inventor, 10th president of the University of Ljubljana, amateur chess player, then the world's top ten, 1948 top five referee.
4th from left – Jose Raul Capablanca (1888–1942) was born in Havana, Cuban champion, third world champion, chess machine, delicate and elegant chess style, master of endgame, diplomat, died of a heart attack, died of the same hospital as Lasker, "My National Elephant Career".
Bit C - Mysterious Figure A.
4th from right – Efim Bogoljubov (born in Kiev 1889-1952), captured at the outbreak of World War I, champion of the Soviet Union, moved to Germany, failed to challenge Alyohin twice, and lost to Yu wei after World War II.
Right 3 – Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) was born in Riga, a Danish citizen, a Russian champion, several major tournament winners, a long debate with Tarash, ultra-modernist icon ideology, named after Nimzo's Indian defense, died of pneumonia, My System.
2nd from the right – Akiba Rubinstein (1880-1961) Pole, later Belgian nationality, young and poor, 14 years old contact with the national elephant, several major tournament champions, want to challenge Lasker due to the cancellation of the First World War, the king of the endgame of the car soldiers, the opening change is named after him.
1 from right – Geza Maroczy (1870-1951), Hungarian, mathematics teacher, top of many competitions, teacher of Yu wei and Minchik, London 1922.
【Middle Row】
1st from left – Paul F Johner (1887-1938) was born in Zurich, won the Swiss Championship several times, and is a famous musician.
2 left – Ernst Gruenfeld (1893–1962) Austrian, impoverished at an early age, left leg amputated in an accident at the age of 5, German champion, opening theorist, Glenfield Defense [D80] named after him, with which he defeated Alyohin.
3rd from the left – Max Euwe (1901-1981) Dutchman, 4-year-old chess student, doctor of mathematics, university professor, fifth world champion, president of the Fideso, chess promotion activist, more than 70 books on chess, "Middle Game".
4th from left – Hermanis Karlovich Mattison (born 1894-1932) in Latvia, defeated Capablanca in a wheel war, chess player, latvia's strongest player, died of tuberculosis.
4th from right – George Alan Thomas (1881-1972) An Englishman born in Turkey, who learned chess from his mother, defeated Lasker in a wheel war, won the British badminton championship 21 times, and was round of 16 at the 1922 Wimbledon Championships.
Right 3 – Mysterious Figure B.
2nd from right – Friedrich Saemisch (1896–1975) German, Austrian champion, often losing due to lack of time in his later years, opening theorist, named after Nimzo India's [E24] and King Wing India's [E80].
Karl Gilg (1901-1981) was born in Austria, German, played for Czechoslovakia, moved to Germany in World War II, and was awarded the IM title.
【Rear Row】
1 left – Fred Dewhirst Yates (1884-1932) Englishman, multiple British champions, who defeated most of his contemporaries, died in a dream in 1932 due to a pipe failure.
2 left – Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) born in Russia, unpublished Doctor of Laws, served in World War I, moved to Paris, is well-known on the field, one of the founders of the ultramodern school, a great contribution to the opening theory, a prolific writer, "My Best Match".
3rd from left – Frank James Marshall (born 1877–1944) in New York, American champion, defeated Lasker at the Olympics, defeated Lasker and Capablanca in a combative style, named after several variations, "Fifty Years of My Chess".
Center – Karel Treybal (1885-1941) Czech, amateur chess player, then the strongest Czech chess player, president of the court, executed by the Nazis in 1941.
3rd from right – Esteban Canal (1896-1981) Peruvian, emigrated to Italy and naturalized, Hungarian champion, honorary GM.
2nd from right – Albert Becker (1896-1984) was born in Vienna, Austrian champion, made a great contribution to the opening theory, and moved to Argentina.
1 from right – Edgar Colle (1987-1932) Belgian, Belgian champion, started with a system named after him, was in poor health, and died of a fourth stomach ulcer surgery.
Knocking on the Blackboard: Leave the Job (1)
Mystery Person A; Mystery Figure B
Mysterious figures
Knocking on the Blackboard: Leave the Job (2)
01
【Bai Xian】The black side threatens that h2 will be killed, how can the white side reverse the situation?
02
How did the white side invade the black side's position and gain material superiority?
03
【Black First】In the actual game, the black side came out of 22.... Bb5, is there a better way to go?
04
[Bai Xian] Bai Fang has already laid out the array, how should I launch the final blow?
05
【Bai Xian】How does the white side take advantage of the weakness of the black side to gain the advantage of sub-force?
Starting from the next issue, we will introduce the wonderful performances of different chess players in this competition and reveal the answers to the previous issue.
Stay tuned!