Modern Ideas in Chess

Richard Reti was a formidable over the board grandmaster as shown by his victories at the splendid tournaments of Kaschau 1918, Gothenburg 1920 and Teplitz Schonau 1922. His victims included Capablanca, Alekhine and Nimzowitsch, while his elegant destruction of Bogolyubov deservedly won the beauty prize at New York 1924.

Reti was clearly one of the top players in the world, defeating at least once almost every leading player of his era. He defeated Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Rubinstein, Bogoljubov and Tartakower. The only top player he never defeated was Emanuel Lasker. Among his noteworthy accomplishments, he won the most famous game ever played between two grandmasters. He also created the most famous and most instructive endgame study ever created. He also defeated Capablanca in a game that was the Great Cuban's first loss in more than eight years. He created new opening systems, including the Réti Opening.