The book of the Cambridge Springs International Tournament 1904

Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

Published by Black Knight Press, New York, 1935

About this Item

[iv]+84+[1 ad] pages with diagrams and tables. Octavo (8" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's wrappers. The modern chess library Volume I. with Annotations by I. Chernev, R. Fine, D. Janowski et al.  (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5266; Betts 25 - 46) First edition. The 1904 Cambridge Springs International Chess Congress was the first major international chess tournament in America in the twentieth century. It featured the participation of World Champion Emanuel Lasker, who had not played a tournament since 1900 and would not play again until 1909. After the tournament Lasker moved to America and started publishing Lasker's Chess Magazine, which ran from 1904 to 1907. However, that was not the only chess magazine spawned by the tournament. The Daily Bulletins produced by Hermann Helms proved so popular that Helms started the American Chess Bulletin as a direct consequence of the tournament. Volume 1, Issue 1 of the magazine was devoted to Cambridge Springs. Helms was somewhat more successful than Lasker as a publisher and American Chess Bulletin would be edited and published by Helms from 1904 until his death in 1963. The surprising upset victory of Frank Marshall marked his rise to prominence in American chess and he would eventually reign as champion of the United States for twenty-six years. Janowski, Marshall and Teichmann all started the tournament very strongly. After six rounds Janowski led with 5½ points, followed closely by Marshall and Teichmann with 5. Teichmann became ill and would only score an additional 1½ points in the remaining nine rounds.[9] Marshall and Janowski continued their torrid pace through the ninth round where they both had eight points, followed by Lasker in third with 6½. In the tenth round however, Janowski started to falter and lost two games in a row, including one to Fox. Going into the 15th and final round Marshall was in first place with 12 points, but he was only one point ahead of Janowski, who in turn was only one point ahead of Lasker. Marshall played black against Fox who was up a pawn after 20 moves. However, Fox quickly blundered a rook and Marshall won. Meanwhile, Janowski and Lasker were playing against each other for second place. Janowski, with a one-point lead, only needed a draw with the white pieces to clinch the second prize. Janowski launched a very spirited attack against Lasker's king, which was stuck in the center of the board. Lasker was up to the challenge though, and built a defense that turned back Janowski's attack and eventually won the game. Marshall finished first, undefeated with 13/15, and with his last round victory Lasker tied Janowski for second place with 11/15. Condition: Light edge wear else very good. Seller Inventory # C2880

Bibliographic Details

Title: The book of the Cambridge Springs ...

Publisher: Black Knight Press, New York

Publication Date: 1935

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition