Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (March 6, 1838 – November 29, 1919) was a Polish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883.

Tournament and match results

At the Paris 1867 tournament held at the

Café de la Régence The Café de la Régence in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there. The Café's masters included, but are not limited to: * Paul Morphy * Françoi ...

, his first international tournament, Winawer finished in second place, tied with

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a Bohemian-Austrian, and later American, chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

behind Ignatz Von Kolisch. He remained one of the world's best players for the next 15 years. At Warsaw 1868, Winawer won the first chess tournament conducted in Poland. He won an 1875 match in

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against Russian master Ilya Shumov, 5–2. At Paris 1878 Winawer tied for first place (+14−3=5) with Johannes Zukertort, ahead of Joseph Henry Blackburne and George Henry Mackenzie, but took second prize after the play-off. At

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1881 he finished =3rd with

Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; ; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a ma ...

. Winawer's best result was a first place tie with Steinitz at Vienna 1882, in what was the strongest chess tournament in history up to that time. At

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1883 he failed to place for the first time, but later that year at

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

( 3rd German Congress) he finished first, defeating Blackburne who took second place. After a long absence Winawer returned to chess in the 1890s, but by then he had been surpassed by younger players including Siegbert Tarrasch and

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher. He was the second World Chess Champion, holding the title for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially ...

. At

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1892 and

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1896, he placed sixth. He lost an 1896 match to Dawid Janowski 2–5. He turned 63 during his final international tournament, Monte Carlo 1901, and did not place among the prizewinners. Winawer continued to play competitive chess into his 60s, and in his career he faced all of the top players from the last third of the 19th century, from

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (6 July 1818 – 13 March 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. ...

to Lasker. His rivalry with Blackburne stretched from 1870 to 1901, and they met in competitive games in five consecutive decades. Winawer died in Warsaw on November 29, 1919, aged 81.

Legacy

Winawer has several opening variations named for him. The most popular is the Winawer Variation of the

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5. Black usually plays ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

(1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4). His name is also associated with the Winawer Attack in the Ruy Lopez. At Monte Carlo 1901, Winawer's last international tournament, he introduced the Winawer Countergambit in the

Slav Defense The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 c6 The Slav is one of the primary defenses to the Queen's Gambit. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be ...

in a game against Frank Marshall.

Sample game

In one of his best known games, he beat Steinitz in

in 1896:

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 O-O 7.O-O-O Re8 8.Bc4 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Nxe4 10.Qf4 Nf6 11.Nf3 d6 12.Ng5 Be6 13.Bd3 h6 14.h4 Nd5 15.Bh7+ Kh8 16.Rxd5 Bxd5 17.Be4 f6 18.Bxd5 fxg5 19.hxg5 Ne5 20.g6 1–0

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winawer, Szymon 1838 births 1919 deaths Chess players from Warsaw 19th-century Polish Jews Chess players from the Russian Empire Jewish chess players Chess theoreticians 19th-century Polish chess players

Tournament and match results

Legacy

Sample game

References

See also

External links