Zurich 1934 was an international

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 ...

tournament held in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

from 14 to 29 July 1934 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Schachgesellschaft Zürich (the Zurich Chess Society).

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

won, followed by

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

and

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

tied for second-third. The tournament also served as the 1934 Swiss Championship, won by Hans Johner as the highest-ranking Swiss player.

The tournament field

The tournament pitted seven Swiss players against nine internationals, including six of the world's leading players. The major omissions were

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was the third World Chess Championship, world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he was widely renowned for his exceptional Chess ...

(Cuba) and

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid 1930s to the late 1 ...

(United States). There were no Soviet players either, and they would not return to international competition until the next year. This type of international tournament in which one third to one half of players were from the host country was first used at Moscow 1925, and later at Moscow 1935 and Kemeri 1937. The tournament field featured the world champion

(France), former world champion

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 ...

(Germany), two-time championship challenger Efim Bogoljubov (Germany), future champion

(Netherlands), and championship contender

(Czechoslovakia). Alekhine won with 13/15 points, his only loss being to Euwe who finished tied for second with Flohr at 12. Alekhine again demonstrated his superiority over his contemporaries, although his winning margin of 1 point was much narrower than at Bled 1931 (5½ points) or San Remo 1930 (3½ points). About a month before the tournament began, Euwe had accepted Alekhine's terms for a championship match to be held in the autumn of the next year. Euwe would win that 1935 World Championship match, becoming the fifth world chess champion. The Czech master Flohr was considered a worthy championship challenger for many years in the 1930s, but the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

German occupation of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

made it impossible for Flohr to arrange a match. Flohr was leading after 11 rounds, but Alekhine caught up in round 12 when they each had 10 points, a half point ahead of Euwe and a full point ahead of Bogoljubov. Alekhine took the lead in round 13 with a win over Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden) while Flohr drew with Bogoljubov. One month earlier Bogoljubov had lost the 1934 World Championship match, his second attempt to challenge Alekhine. At Zurich he finished fourth at 11½, a half point behind Euwe and Flohr. Lasker was returning to competition for the first time since Moscow 1925—a nine-year layoff. Lasker started strong, beginning the tournament with a fine win playing black against Euwe in round 1. After 7 rounds Lasker was tied for the lead with Flohr at 5½ points. At age 65 and being out of practice, Lasker was at a disadvantage in a long tournament and lost in rounds 8, 10 and 12 to Bogoljubov, Nimzowitsch, and Alekhine to finish at a very creditable fifth with 10 points. This was the only time that Alekhine, Bogoljubov and Nimzowitsch beat Lasker. Earlier in round 5 Ståhlberg and Lasker played for the first time in their careers, with the younger Swede victorious.

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch (; , ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimzowitsch was one of the best chess players in the world. He was the foremost f ...

(Denmark) was formerly a world championship contender, but in 1934 his health was declining and he would die just a year later at age 48. He finished tied for sixth with

Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born ...

(France). Bernstein was a tournament veteran who would be in the inaugural group of grandmasters when

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

created the title in 1950. According to a well-known anecdote, after missing a winning line against Fritz Gygli (Switzerland), Bernstein is reported to have asked "Am I not a chess idiot?" When Lasker agreed, Bernstein had the former world champion sign an affidavit attesting to that fact.

Selected games

In round 1 Lasker defended a

Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...

against Euwe. After 35. Ng3-e4 (see diagram) Euwe's knight

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

ed Lasker's queen and rook. Lasker turned the tables by trading his queen for a rook, knight and pawn, winning with 35...Qxe5! 36. Nf6+ Qxf6 37. Rxf6 Nxf6 38. Rc1 Ne4 39. Be2 Nd4 40. Bf3 Nxf2 41. Qc4 Nd3 42. Rf1 Ne5 43. Qb4 Nexf3+ 44. gxf3 Ne2+ 45. Kh2 Nf4+ 46. Kh1 R2d4 47. Qe7 Kg7 48. Qc7 R8d5 49. Re1 Rg5 50. Qxc6 Rd8 0–1. Euwe was again on the white side of a Queen's Gambit Declined in round 5 against Alekhine. Euwe won a pawn and the game with 31. Nf7!. After 31...Kxf7 32. Qh5+ Ke7 33. Rxe6+ Kxe6 34. Re1+ Kd6 35. Qc5+ Kd7 36. Qf5+ Black will be mated. Instead Alekhine gave up a pawn with 31...Qe8 32. Rxe6 Qxe6 33. Nd8 Qe4 34. Nxc6 but was forced to resign on his 53rd move. In round 12 Alekhine defeated Lasker for the only time in yet another Queen's Gambit Declined. After 25. Nd6-f5+ Kg7-h8 (see diagram), Alekhine forced Lasker to resign at once with 26. Qxg6! as Black has no defense against the threat of Qg7# (26...hxg6 27. Rh3+ Nh6 28. Rxh6#).Alexander Alekhine vs Emanuel Lasker, Zurich 1934
at chessgames.com

Crosstable

Notes

References

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External links