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Berlin (1920) This first tournament organized and partly sponsored by chess publisher Bernhard Kagan was held in December 1920 in the Kerkaupalast in Berlin. Its owner, Herr König, supplied the playing hall for free and also donated a large sum to the prize fund. Playing hours were from 2 pm to 8:30 pm, with half an hour rest after the first time control. The surprising winner was the original and undaunted Gyula Breyer, whose "type of play predestines to both successes and failures", as the Deutsche Schachzeitung wrote on this occasion. Striking is the small number of draws. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Breyer * 1 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 6½ =2 Bogoljubov 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 5½ =2 Tartakower 1 ½ * 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 5½ 4 Réti 0 ½ 1 * 1 1 1 0 0 ½ 5 =5 Maróczy 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 4½ =5 Mieses 1 ½ 0 0 ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 4½ =5 Tarrasch 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 1 ½ 1 4½ 8 Sämisch ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 * ½ ½ 3½ 9 Leonhardt 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 3 10 Spielmann 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 * 2½ Original collection: Game Collection: Berlin 1920 by User: sneaky pete.  page 2 of 2; games 26-45 of 45  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. Bogoljubov vs P Leonhardt ½-½ 45 1920 Berlin D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 27. Breyer vs Spielmann 1-0 39 1920 Berlin C14 French, Classical 28. Maroczy vs Tarrasch 1-0 56 1920 Berlin D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 29. Reti vs Tartakower 1-0 38 1920 Berlin C11 French 30. Saemisch vs J Mieses 0-1 51 1920 Berlin A80 Dutch 31. Tartakower vs Maroczy   ½-½ 45 1920 Berlin A02 Bird's Opening 32. Tarrasch vs Saemisch   1-0 77 1920 Berlin C49 Four Knights 33. Spielmann vs Bogoljubov 0-1 43 1920 Berlin C28 Vienna Game 34. J Mieses vs Breyer 1-0 33 1920 Berlin B23 Sicilian, Closed 35. P Leonhardt vs Reti 1-0 65 1920 Berlin B32 Sicilian 36. Bogoljubov vs Reti   ½-½ 79 1920 Berlin A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 37. Breyer vs Tarrasch 1-0 75 1920 Berlin C11 French 38. Maroczy vs P Leonhardt 1-0 52 1920 Berlin C48 Four Knights 39. Saemisch vs Tartakower   ½-½ 36 1920 Berlin C11 French 40. Spielmann vs J Mieses 0-1 33 1920 Berlin A80 Dutch 41. P Leonhardt vs Saemisch ½-½ 50 1920 Berlin E12 Queen's Indian 42. J Mieses vs Bogoljubov   ½-½ 44 1920 Berlin C01 French, Exchange 43. Reti vs Maroczy 1-0 19 1920 Berlin D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 44. Tarrasch vs Spielmann 1-0 60 1920 Berlin C49 Four Knights 45. Tartakower vs Breyer   1-0 38 1920 Berlin B32 Sicilian  page 2 of 2; games 26-45 of 45    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Sep-16-13    GrahamClayton: A quote from page 235 of Chess Review, October 1937: ‘The Berlin tournament of 1920, played during the post-War turmoil and financed very generously by Bernhard Kagan, probably has a higher percentage of good games than any other tournament ever played.’ Source: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/..., 1920 Sep-17-13    HeMateMe: Do the tournaments only show up in <new kibitzing> if someone posts a comment? In other words, do the tournament pages lie dormant, unless there is frequent dialogue? Sep-17-13    JimNorCal: Can also find them here, of course. Tournament Index Bottom of page, link "Tournament Index" Sep-17-13    HeMateMe: ah, thank you JNC. Feb-20-18    JimNorCal: <GrahamC> posts a quote about the high quality of the games of this tourney, which very well be true. But note also that 5 games, about 10%, were 25 moves or less. Feb-20-18    Marmot PFL: Several of those were losses by Jacques Mieses in the first half, but he fought back to reach an even score. Feb-04-22    Fusilli: I looked at the table and I thought, "Hm... Why did Breyer's name doesn't appear more often in chess history?" Then I checked and the answer is that he died the year after this, age 28. Early loss for the chess world. I play his variant of the Ruy Lopez all the time. Love it. NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. 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