The first Baltic Chess Congress took place in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia (then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

), in 1899. The winner was Robert Behting, the elder brother of

Kārlis Bētiņš Kārlis Bētiņš (german: Carl Behting; 27 October 1867, Bērzmuiža – 28 March 1943, Riga) was a Latvian chess master and composer of studies. He tied for 3rd-5th at Riga 1899 (the 1st Baltic Congress, his brother Roberts Bētiņš won), too ...

, who won a play-off game with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz. The second Baltic Chess Congress was played in

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern Europe, Northern Europe, European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres ...

, Estonia (then Russian Empire), in 1901. There were four winners. The first Baltic Chess Championship was held in the city of

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...

, Lithuania, on May 22–27, 1931. The eight-player single

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

was won by

Isakas Vistaneckis Isakas Vistaneckis (Isaak, Itzhak Vistinietzki) (29 September 1910 in Marijampolė – 30 December 2000 in Tel Aviv) was a Lithuanian Jewish chess player who held the chess title of Correspondence Chess International Master (IM). Biography In 1930 ...

(LTU) 4.5/7, a half point ahead of S. Gordonas (LTU),

Paul Saladin Leonhardt Paul Saladin Leonhardt (13 November 1877 – 14 December 1934) was a German chess master. He was born in Posen, Province of Posen, German Empire (now Poland), and died of a heart attack in Königsberg during a game of chess. A player with ...

(GER),

Vladas Mikėnas Vladas Mikėnas (17 April 1910 – 3 November 1992) was a Lithuanian chess player and journalist. He was awarded the titles of International Master and Honorary Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster by FIDE. Early career Vladas Mikėnas played for ...

(EST/LTU) and

Vladimirs Petrovs Vladimirs Petrovs (russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Петро́в, translit=Vladimir Mikhailovich Petrov; 27 September 1907 – 26 August 1943) was a Latvian Russian chess player. He was born in Riga, in the Governorate of L ...

(LAT). The three others,

Fricis Apšenieks Fricis Apšenieks ( Old orthography: ''Fritzis Apscheneek''; 7 April 1894 in Tetele, Courland Governorate – 25 April 1941 in Riga, Latvian SSR) was a Latvian chess master. Biography In 1924, Apšenieks finished 2nd, behind Hermanis Matison ...

(LAT), Aleksandras Machtas (LTU), and E. Gertschikoff (GER) finished in consecutive places.

Winners

References

{{reflist
RUSBASE (part V) 1919-1937,1991-1994
Supranational chess championships Chess in Estonia Chess in Latvia Chess in Lithuania 1899 in chess 1931 in chess 1945 in chess Recurring events established in 1899 Recurring events disestablished in 1988 Chess in Europe