London (1899) In the late spring of 1899, eighteen of the world's best chess masters were invited to participate in a double round robin tournament in London, England. Among those who attended were the World Champion, Emanuel Lasker, and the former world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz. Of the eighteen invited, Tarrasch declined his invitation, citing his medical practice as the higher priority. Charousek wished to attend but an illness at the time (which later proved fatal) prevented him. Amos Burn, who had agreed to come, left the first day when called away on business. The remaining fifteen players gathered in St. Stephen's Hall (1), found near the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Aquarium, where their play was dwarfed each day by the towering statues of historic statesmen. The time control for the tournament was set at fifteen moves every hour. Over the course of the tournament, the players were entertained and treated in a number of ways, including exhibitions by the London Chess Club at the Crystal Palace and gatherings at the Star and Garter Hotel in Richmond (a favorite stop over of Charles Dickens). Among the festivities, a banquet was held for the players at the Cafe Monaco on June 29th. The early rounds of the tournament proved surprising as Janowski took off with an early lead of 4 points after the first four rounds, while Lasker, who had dominated at Nuremburg in 1896, held only two points. It was at this point in the tournament that Richard Teichmann had to withdraw due to an eye infection (the same that later left him blind in one eye). His remaining games in the first half were considered lost by forfeit and those games have been excluded from this collection. The tide turned though, as Lasker's loss to Blackburne in the fourth round proved to be his only defeat. He went on to defeat Janowski in their first head-to-head game in the tenth round, and then never gave up the lead for the rest of the tournament. He finished four and a half points ahead of the shared seconds, once more asserting his dominance against the field of candidates vying for his crown. It was also to be an unfortunate landmark for Steinitz, who finished a tournament for the first time in his life without a prize. It was also to be his last for he died in poverty a year later. The final standings and crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1st Lasker 22˝/27 ** 1˝ ˝1 ˝1 ˝1 01 11 11 1˝ 1˝ ˝1 11 11 11 1 =2nd Janowski 18 /27 0˝ ** 10 01 11 1˝ 11 ˝1 00 11 10 11 01 1˝ 1 =2nd Pillsbury 18 /27 ˝0 01 ** ˝˝ ˝1 00 10 ˝˝ 11 11 11 11 1˝ 11 ˝ =2nd Maróczy 18 /27 ˝0 10 ˝˝ ** ˝˝ ˝1 01 1˝ 10 11 ˝1 ˝1 1˝ 11 1 5th Schlechter 17 /27 ˝0 00 ˝0 ˝˝ ** 1˝ 10 ˝1 ˝1 0˝ 11 11 11 11 1 6th Blackburne 15˝/27 10 0˝ 11 ˝0 0˝ ** ˝0 01 1˝ 01 10 1˝ 11 11 ˝ 7th Chigorin 15 /27 00 00 01 10 01 ˝1 ** 1˝ 1˝ 01 ˝1 10 11 10 1 8th Showalter 12˝/27 00 ˝0 ˝˝ 0˝ ˝0 10 0˝ ** 0˝ 0˝ 1˝ 11 11 01 1 9th Mason 12 /27 0˝ 11 00 01 ˝0 0˝ 0˝ 1˝ ** 00 01 00 11 ˝1 1 =10th Cohn 11˝/27 0˝ 00 00 00 1˝ 10 10 1˝ 11 ** 0˝ 1˝ 10 00 1 =10th Steinitz 11˝/27 ˝0 01 00 ˝0 00 01 ˝0 0˝ 10 1˝ ** ˝0 ˝1 11 1 12th Lee 9˝/27 00 00 00 ˝0 00 0˝ 01 00 11 0˝ ˝1 ** ˝1 ˝˝ 1 13th Bird 7 /27 00 10 0˝ 0˝ 00 00 00 00 00 01 ˝0 ˝0 ** 11 1 14th Tinsley 6 /27 00 0˝ 00 00 00 00 01 10 ˝0 11 00 ˝˝ 00 ** 0 15th Teichmann 2 /14 0 0 ˝ 0 0 ˝ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * Reference: (1) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_S... Original collection: Game Collection: London 1899, by User: suenteus po 147  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 186  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Tinsley vs Janowski   0-1 59 1899 London D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 2. J Mason vs Maroczy 0-1 52 1899 London B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 3. Chigorin vs Pillsbury 0-1 47 1899 London C52 Evans Gambit 4. Blackburne vs Teichmann   ½-½ 50 1899 London C50 Giuoco Piano 5. Lasker vs Steinitz ½-½ 25 1899 London C66 Ruy Lopez 6. W Cohn vs Schlechter 1-0 32 1899 London C44 King's Pawn Game 7. Bird vs Showalter 0-1 45 1899 London C11 French 8. Blackburne vs W Cohn 0-1 77 1899 London C26 Vienna 9. Maroczy vs F J Lee ½-½ 44 1899 London B12 Caro-Kann Defense 10. Steinitz vs Janowski 0-1 45 1899 London D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 11. Chigorin vs Tinsley   1-0 37 1899 London B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 12. Lasker vs Schlechter ½-½ 30 1899 London C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 13. Teichmann vs Pillsbury   ½-½ 66 1899 London C49 Four Knights 14. J Mason vs Bird 1-0 64 1899 London C50 Giuoco Piano 15. Lasker vs F J Lee 1-0 39 1899 London B19 Caro-Kann, Classical 16. Tinsley vs Maroczy   0-1 62 1899 London D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 17. Bird vs Pillsbury 0-1 27 1899 London C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit 18. Schlechter vs Showalter   ½-½ 28 1899 London D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 19. Chigorin vs Teichmann 1-0 28 1899 London C55 Two Knights Defense 20. J Mason vs Steinitz 0-1 50 1899 London C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 21. W Cohn vs Janowski   0-1 22 1899 London B23 Sicilian, Closed 22. Pillsbury vs W Cohn   1-0 56 1899 London C80 Ruy Lopez, Open 23. Teichmann vs Tinsley 1-0 28 1899 London C10 French 24. Showalter vs F J Lee 1-0 55 1899 London B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 25. Lasker vs Blackburne 0-1 46 1899 London C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 186    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)     Apr-13-13    keypusher: Reposting this curious fact: London 1899 was a disaster for the White pieces overall. According to Hoffer's tourament book, White scored as follows: +59-81=46, or .31/.44/.25 I wonder if there has been another major tournament in which White scored so badly? Some particularly bad openings for White: Vienna Game +1-7=1 (Steinitz had a terrible system that accounted for a number of the losses) Evans Gambit +0-2=0 Sicilian Defense +1-5=0 Philidor +0-4=0 But even stalwart openings fared poorly: QP Game +12-20=10 (this includes a lot of games by bottom finishers against the leaders) Ruy Lopez +10-11=4 Scotch +1-3=0 These openings did well: Ponziani Opening +3-0=0 (the tournament book called it the "English Knight's Opening." Caro-Kann +3-0=3 White's score with the French and the QGD looks good only by comparison to the other mainstay openings: French +10-8=5 (players were jumping at the chance to take on Chigorin's 2.Qe2) QGD +7-6=11 Tournament winner Lasker was no exception to the general rule. He gave up five draws and a famous loss to Blackburne with White, and just two draws with Black. He also won the first brilliancy prize (against Steinitz) with Black. I don't think this was normal for him. At St. Petersburg 1909 he was +9-0=0 with White, while giving up two losses and three draws with Black. NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other users. Nothing in violation of United States law. See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific tournament and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! home | about | login | logout | F.A.Q. | your profile | preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | new kibitzing | chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Little ChessPartner | privacy notice | contact us Copyright 2001-2013, Chessgames Services LLC Web design & database development by 20/20 Technologies