Winner's POV: Nuremberg 1883
In Winner's POV, we take a look at tournaments from the 19th century and see the games that allowed the top player to prevail. Some tournaments will be known and famous, others will be more obscure - in a time period where competition is scarce, I believe there is some value in digging for hidden gems in the form of smaller, less known events.
Nuremberg 1883: Winawer's Last Hurrah
In the previous chapter, we took a look at the Hauptturnier of this year's German Chess Federation Congress (see here). Now we'll turn our attention to the master tournament, featuring all of the big kahunas. Well, maybe not all - as this tournament was held only a month after the grueling London 1883 tournament, I wasn't too surprised to see the absences of top dogs Wilhelm Steinitz, Johannes Zukertort, Mikhail Chigorin, George Henry Mackenzie, etc. However, there are still many strong players playing, and there should be more than enough chess content to whet the appetite of any eager chess fan.
Format and Prizes
As before, this was a single round robin played at a rate of 20 moves per hour and three games every two days (ie two playing sessions per day, with one session reserved for playing out adjourned games). This fast-paced schedule was likely another deterrent for the aforementioned strong players.
The prizes, per the tournament book:
Comparing with Berlin 1881 (see here), we note that the top prize remains unchanged, though the lower prizes were increased somewhat. More prizes were added for places 6-9 but aren't included in this section of the tournament book - they amount to 120, 100, 80 and 70 Marks respectively.
Players
A very large and impressive field once again. The 1883 Edo list says the top of the field is Joseph Henry Blackburne (3rd), James Mason (4th), Szymon Winawer (5th), Curt von Bardeleben (9th), and then a bit of a drop to Max Weiss (15th), Johann Berger (17th), and a handful of other players in the top 30.
The Winner: Szymon Winawer
The story goes that, after Winawer's lackluster performance at London earlier in the year, he planned to retire from competitive chess. As such, he had not entered the tournament. However, if Leopold Hoffer from The Chess-Monthly is to be believed, a toothache is partially responsible for his participation:
Whether or not you believe it, it's an interesting story, and thus it makes for good content. Anyway, pre-tournament ambitions (or lack thereof) aside, Winawer is in it now. It's time to look at the Nuremberg 1883 tournament from the Winner's POV.
Round 1: vs. Isidor Gunsberg
We're looking at the first important tournament of Gunsberg's career. Prior to this, most of his chess-playing was done as the operator for the automaton Mephisto, with his only high-profile event being a lost match against Blackburne in 1881 (+4-7=3). Still, his reputation was such that people protested his entry into the London 1883 Vizayanagaram tournament, so perhaps his entry into this tournament is justified.
I admit that one of the reasons why this post took as long as it did was that going through this game really killed my motivation, because Winawer's play was very bizarre and I couldn't imagine going through a nearly 20-game tournament with this level of... unorthodoxy. However, I would say the game becomes very interesting after move 25, with both players having winning advantages at one point or another. Fittingly, the game ends with a horrible blunder that lost on the spot. Make of this game what you will.
Round 2: vs. Curt von Bardeleben
One month prior, von Bardeleben was the (surprise?) winner of the Vizayanagaram tournament (see here). With a first-round win under his belt (albeit against the 50-year-old Dr. Max Lange), I'd say he's sufficiently acclimated to the top-level chess scene.
A feature that is very present in Winawer's play is how much he prefers Knights over Bishops, regardless of the position. This game is a perfect example of that, as his Bishops were traded for both of von Bardeleben's Knights after only 12 moves. However, it ended up being a fine decision as von Bardeleben's 13. c5 was the first step toward closing the position and giving Winawer a clear plus in the minor piece battle.
I'm quite impressed by how easily Winawer seemed to get a winning position in this game, usually as a result of von Bardeleben's self-inflicted mistakes as he tried to drum up activity. Things weren't much better once the Queens were traded, and aside from one blip on move 36, Winawer really got to show off how much stronger of an endgame player he was. Back to 50%, things are still great.
Round 3: vs. Henry Bird
It sure would be something for Bird to actually win one of the games we're showing, wouldn't it?
Better luck next time, I guess.
Round 4: vs. Alexander Fritz
Fritz played in the Wiesbaden 1880 tournament, though none of his games made it into the post. Aside from that, the only other results I've seen are mediocre ones from the 1878 and 1880 West German Chess Association Congresses (4.5/9 and 1.5/9 respectively), so why he was invited to this - and future - DSB congresses is unknown to me.
Winawer's experiments in the Pirc/Modern would begin in this round, and the opening couldn't have been more of a success. Fritz's poor piece placement forced him to castle "by hand" with Ke1-d2-c1, but as the game will show, the White King was never anything close to being safe.
Round 5: bye
After the first four rounds, Winawer's 3/4 was actually good enough for shared first place. Topping the leaderboard with him was Emil Schallopp, who started with a bye in round one but then picked up three consecutive victories, including one against Blackburne in round four:
A draw in this round put Schallopp at the top with 3.5 points, followed by Winawer and others on 3.
Round 6: vs. James Mason
Prior to Vienna, the head-to-head score was 3-0 in favour of Winawer. With Mason scoring 3-1 between Vienna and London, things were now much closer. Were it not for Winawer's retirement after this, I imagine this could become quite the interesting rivalry.
Mason was full of surprises in this opening, electing to play the Scotch for the first time in his career, and playing a rare 7th move that Winawer reacted badly (but typically) to. However, a premature attack starting on move 11 was swiftly refuted by Winawer, who saddled his opponent with an IQP and forced him to show that there was some equivalent in activity - a task Mason never ended up completing.
Honestly, this game is somewhat disappointing. Mason is a player who generally plays very interesting chess, but here he really did nothing to seriously stop himself from collapsing. I suppose his sequence starting at move 29 was supposed to meet this end, but it just didn't. Not the best game of the tournament, I don't think.
Round 7: vs. Max Weiss
The last time we saw Weiss in a tournament, I didn't have a portrait of him; that issue has since been remedied. You're welcome.
Weiss had clearly looked to his countryman Berthold Englisch for some opening inspiration in this game, though Winawer's on-brand 7th move ensured the game would quickly be in novel territory. This was otherwise a very bad game from Winawer, who lagged behind in development all game and never really stood a chance at equalizing. Although Weiss missed a handful of quicker wins, he never relinquished his advantage, and converted the endgame rather smoothly. This is really just a horrible game from Winawer, there's not much else to say about it.
Round 8: vs. Joseph Blackburne
Blackburne continues to be a very challenging opponent for Winawer, with their lifetime score before this tournament being 4-1 in favour of Blackburne (albeit with 8 draws). I'm sure Winawer remembered how poorly he played against Blackburne during the latter's tear through Berlin 1881, and would doubtlessly like to remedy that.
This is a game whose opening I'd rather not talk about, as neither side did things I was too fond of. Blackburne managed to get both Bishops pointed at the castled King, but gave one of them away instantly for little benefit. Winawer, meanwhile, spent a lot of time shuffling pieces around so his Queen could sit on e3, where it was eventually traded off having done basically nothing. Really, the game can be said to truly begin after the first time control - thanks to Winawer making a terrible error and giving Blackburne free play.
The endgame was a rather trivial stomp for Blackburne, though there's one more interesting tidbit to share. At Berlin, I made note of a funny joke pulled by Blackburne in his game against Winawer; if we can once again believe what's written in The Chess-Monthly, this game had its own funny ending:
Round 9: vs. Arnold Schottländer
We last saw Schottländer at Wiesbaden, where Englisch got his revenge for the absolute massacre he faced at Leipzig 1879 (see here). Winawer also beat him at that same tournament, so he wasn't going into this game completely unprepared.
Another Pirc was on the docket for this game, with the players getting into completely novel territory after only five moves. It didn't really lead to much of anything interesting, however, until Schottländer's incorrect 16. f4 thrust. It accomplished nothing other than allowing Winawer to pick up a pawn, and from there he converted the endgame. While not the most exciting game ever, I'm sure Winawer was happy for an easy win after the previous two rounds.
Round 10: vs. Louis Paulsen
At Vienna, I mentioned that Paulsen was more than likely past his peak, and the stomp Winawer gave him certainly didn't help his case. However, the former German #1 managed to get a win in the second half of the tournament, so perhaps the old dog still has some bite in him.
Unfortunately for Paulsen, this game was also not a great one for him. It was very weird all around, from the opening moves, to Winawer's plan of giving up his Bishop pair followed by pushing his Kingside pawns forward for a caveman-style attack. Not only did this complete lack of self-preservation not come back to bite Winawer, it was actually Paulsen who had to find more difficult moves. He made a few subpar choices, and the man credited with influencing Steinitz's positional principles succumbed to an attack in a way he hadn't since his games against Paul Morphy over two decades ago.
Round 11: vs. Johann Berger
Berger's last event was Berlin 1881, where he finished on exactly 50% (8/16). He was one of the only people to not lose against Blackburne, though he did succumb to Winawer in their game. Still, it's clear that he's deserving of his master title.
Perhaps feeling inspired by his recent attacking victory, Winawer opted for Chigorin's 8. a4 in this Open Spanish. He was able to quickly convince Berger to trade off a Knight for a Bishop, and then, once more, the Kingside pawns started running forward. Unlike last game, Winawer's attack could have come back to bite him, but Berger had to find the proper move right at the time control. When he didn't, Winawer broke through and dismantled the pawn shelter in front of Berger's King.
Interestingly, Winawer's attack didn't end up getting him much of anywhere, as he used the momentum to trade down into an endgame. Objectively speaking it was very equal, but our subject clearly knew how to push better than his Austrian opponent knew how to defend. All it took was one mistake on move 35, and Winawer's pawns overwhelmed his opponent's camp, collecting a very smooth point overall.
Round 12: vs. Carl Leffmann
When we last saw Leffmann at Leipzig 1877, I said that I knew basically nothing about this guy. I still know very little, though I did learn that he (probably) earned his master title by winning the Hauptturnier of the 1871 West German Chess Federation Congress - it appears the tradition goes back much earlier than 1881 (though it came with much less prestige, I reckon).
Following the same line as the previous game, Winawer once again deviated on the eighth move, this time with Zukertort's 8... Ne7. From an objective standpoint, it accomplished essentially nothing; even though Leffmann wasn't able to find the most punishing path possible, he would always be on the better side of any equality. This was especially true right after the first time control, as Winawer managed to win a piece, but it cost him a handful of pawns and a whole slew of positional troubles.
Ever the fighter, Winawer hung on into the endgame, and somehow things became more complicated once the Queens were gone. Both players understandably made mistakes, but by the time the second time control was reached, Winawer had managed to hold the balance. That was, until an inexcusable blunder happened just five moves later. Our subject could consider themselves very lucky that this happened against the man at the bottom of the standings, because anyone stronger would have gleefully taken the full point with both hands.
Round 13: vs. Martin Bier
Here's another man who I've refined my knowledge about since we last saw him at Leipzig 1879. He played a tournament in Wesselburen in June (not July, as I previously asserted), which he won with 8.5/9 - this score is doubtlessly what earned him entry into the Leipzig tournament, and his respectable fourth place (6.5/11) secured him entry into future tournaments. I doubt anyone besides me actually cares, but I'm sharing anyway.
Winawer elected for the rare Ponziani for this game, and it took until move 13 for the game to look something like regular chess. It wasn't looking like a very interesting game for quite some time, with Winawer gaining plenty of Queenside space and Bier standing by and watching patiently for something to actually happen. This was not the best plan of action, and when things got tactical, Winawer easily came out on top. His 30th move is definitely not the best, but he made up for it with his 31st, which is the thumbnail for this chapter.
Round 14: vs. Wilfried Paulsen
The score between these two currently stands 2-1 in favour of Winawer. Interestingly, all three games were won by the Black pieces.
Although Winawer played the Center Game a handful of times over the last year, Wilfried Paulsen was definitely a more dedicated fan. The opening was a very huge success for him (quite the trend for Winawer, his openings don't seem to be all that great), but his advantage was quickly removed once he traded Queens. Winawer immediately seized the initiative, used it to win a pawn, and steered the game toward a rather pleasant endgame. Once more, Winawer received a very nice blunder from his opponent, and used it to win an exchange and the game. That's win #4 for Black.
Round 15: vs. Vincenz Hruby
Funny trivia, both of Winawer's victories over Hruby at the Vienna 1882 tournament took 34 moves. This was Hruby's last recorded tournament, so I don't really have much to say about him.
The players began with a weird first four moves that they had also played in Vienna, though Winawer's weak fifth move followed by Hruby's novelty ensured we'd not be looking at a repeat game. Winawer's insistence on trading Bishops for Knights gave him a miserable position in this game, and he quickly faced a Queenside pawn storm. However, as soon as that was locked up, Hruby's focus switched to the Kingside, and suddenly Winawer had to be worried that his King would be in danger. Once he accepted a pawn that came with Hruby getting full control of the h-file, things got serious.
As the attack raged on, it's quite curious that Hruby's King was positioned in somewhat of an awkward spot tactically. This meant that Hruby needed to sacrifice a Rook to continue his assault, which he did, but it elevated the stakes tremendously. Hruby had a sizeable pawn mass, all of Winawer's pieces were tied up, and checkmate was potentially in the air... but the position was too complicated for Hruby, and one wrong decision on move 49 saw his advantage - and his point - slip away. I think this is perhaps the luckiest game for our subject of the entire tournament.
Round 16: bye
Due to Dr. Max Lange withdrawing from the tournament, Winawer received a win by default in this round. This is incredibly important for the standings; after round 15, Blackburne was in the lead with 11, followed by Winawer on 10.5 and Fritz Riemann on 10. With Winawer receiving a free win, Blackburne - who played Schottländer with White in this round - needed a win of his own to stay at the top of the crosstable. He was surprisingly unsuccessful.
In the final three rounds, both Blackburne and Riemann get a bye, so Winawer would actually be the favourite to win at this point. Let's look at how he finished.
Round 17: vs. Fritz Riemann
This is more of a must-win game for Riemann than it is for Winawer, which is awkward as Riemann got the Black pieces. The last time this happened, at Berlin, Riemann lost very quickly. Has his play improved since then?
In our second Ponziani of the event, Riemann sacrificed the exchange on move 8, which was objectively incorrect but immediately paid off. Winawer made a mistake on move 11, and suddenly all of the Black pieces sprang to life. Riemann even got the chance to sacrifice once more, going down a full Rook in order to open up Winawer's King. However, an incorrect check on move 18, and all Riemann could do was give perpetual checks. On the one hand, forcing such an easy draw with Black against one of the world's best is quite the accomplishment; on the other, given the potential and the tournament situation, I'm not sure how happy I would be about this in his shoes.
Round 18: vs. Emil Schallopp
Although Schallopp was the tournament leader back in round five, he has since fallen off back toward the middle. Interestingly, at this time he was actually leading Winawer 2-1 in their head to head, so this was far from a sure thing.
I think this is the first time we've encountered an objective mistake as early as move three. Winawer, once again, really lost the opening battle, though Schallopp's Queenside castling ensured that there would always be the potential for chaos. Indeed, Schallopp's attack was quickly met with Winawer's Knight and Queen running interference, and a repetition was offered right at the first time control. Whether or not Winawer genuinely offered it or just wanted to make the time control was moot; Schallopp declined it and immediately went wrong.
I actually think that this is one of Winawer's more beautiful positional wins, especially after the Queens were exchanged. Schallopp's position had a surprising number of weaknesses, and Winawer found ways to enlarge and then attack them very simply. Of course, he was very lucky to survive the opening (and the attack that followed), but the best players are always a little lucky.
Round 19: vs. Jacques Schwarz
In the final round of the Vienna tournament, Winawer faced off against the uncle, Adolf Schwarz. Now, in his final tournament for almost a decade, he ends it against the nephew. They've played once before, a drawn game in Berlin, so nothing is guaranteed.
Unfortunately, we have to end this chapter with a French. Fortunately for Winawer, it was a French that he had faced twice in London earlier in the year, so he was very comfortable. Schwarz, on the other hand, was definitely not. After missing the f6 break on moves 14 and 15, he collapsed rather quickly. End-of-tournament exhaustion is definitely real, and when you don't have tournament victory to motivate you, it can clearly cause a lot of damage. Winawer's Knights also caused a lot of damage, as the game will show.
Conclusion
Another beast of a tournament done. I'll definitely be changing up the format for future posts, because these tournaments are starting to get very large, very regularly.
As for Winawer, as mentioned, this would be his last tournament for a very long time (almost 10 years). He's a very strange player; his openings are unorthodox, his middlegames are optimistic and eccentric, but his tenacity and endgame prowess are of the highest calibre. It may not have been a pleasure, but it was certainly an experience going through all of his games. Hopefully you all get something out of them as well.
The next installment will be a little different so bear with me (whenever I get around to writing it...)
