St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament

Background

The St. Petersburg Chess Society’s tenth anniversary was marked by this tournament. Peter Petrovich Saburov served as the organizing committee’s president, with Boris Maliutin, Peter Alexandrovich Saburov, and O. Sossnitzky also on the committee. The original plan was to invite the world’s top twenty chess players, including champion Emanuel Lasker, challengers José Raúl Capablanca and Akiba Rubinstein, plus the All-Russian Masters’ Tournament winners Alexander Alekhine and Aron Nimzowitsch.

Old age kept Amos Burn, Richard Teichmann, and Szymon Winawer from attending. Tensions between Russia and Austria-Hungary, which would lead to war months later, caused Oldřich Duras, Géza Maróczy, Carl Schlechter, Rudolf Spielmann, Savielly Tartakower, Milan Vidmar, and Max Weiss to decline. Ultimately, eleven elite players from Germany, France, the UK, the US, Cuba, and the Russian Empire took part. Chessmetrics rated it a class 18 event, featuring six of the world’s top ten players.

Final

The final was a double-round tournament among the five players, with preliminary results carrying over. Capablanca held a 1½-point lead and was a heavy favorite. In the first half of the finals, Lasker narrowly escaped a loss against Capablanca, which would have virtually decided the tournament. Lasker made up half a point, with scores standing at Capablanca 11, Lasker 10, Alekhine 8½, Marshall 7, Tarrasch 6½.

In the 19th round, Lasker won a famous game against Capablanca using the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4), outplaying Capablanca in the endgame. Luděk Pachman noted that Lasker's opening choice was a masterstroke, as Capablanca sought simplification for a draw, but played too passively and was routed. In the following round, a shaken Capablanca lost as White from a superior position against Tarrasch.

Lasker scored 7/8 in the finals, overtaking Capablanca to win by half a point. Lasker received 1200 rubles plus a 4500-ruble appearance fee; Capablanca 800 rubles; Alekhine 500 rubles; Tarrasch 300 rubles; Marshall 250 rubles. A Brilliancy Prize Fund awarded Capablanca 125 rubles for his win over Bernstein, Tarrasch 75 rubles for his win over Nimzowitsch, and Blackburne 50 rubles for his win over Nimzowitsch. The prize fund was covered by the record gate of 6000 rubles. Tarrasch wrote a famous book on the tournament in German, translated into English in 1993.