Bad Kissingen 1928
In a Bavarian spa town in the summer of 1928, most of the world's leading masters gathered for one of the strongest tournaments of the decade — only reigning World Champion Alexander Alekhine was missing. Efim Bogoljubow won it outright, finishing a full point clear of the deposed champion José Raúl Capablanca, and the result helped vault Bogoljubow into a world-championship match with Alekhine the following year. ChessBase would later rank Bad Kissingen among the fifty greatest tournaments ever played.
◈A champions' field in a Bavarian spa
Held as the master tournament of the 11th Bavarian Chess Federation Congress, Bad Kissingen 1928 drew nearly the entire elite of the era into a single round-robin of twelve. The one great absentee was World Champion Alexander Alekhine; almost everyone else was there. The field ran from the deposed champion Capablanca and the challengers-in-waiting Bogoljubow, Aron Nimzowitsch and Akiba Rubinstein through the young Dutchman Max Euwe, the theoreticians Richard Réti and Savielly Tartakower, and the veterans Frank Marshall, Rudolf Spielmann, Fred Yates, Siegbert Tarrasch and Jacques Mieses.
It was, by any measure, a supertournament of its day, and ChessBase later included it in a list of the fifty greatest chess tournaments of 1851–1986.
◈Bogoljubow ahead of the ex-champion
Bogoljubow finished on 8/11, a clear point ahead of Capablanca on 7, with Euwe and Rubinstein sharing third on 6½ and Nimzowitsch just behind on 6. Capablanca, who had lost his title to Alekhine only the previous year, had been widely expected to force a rematch; instead it was Bogoljubow who emerged from Bad Kissingen as the coming challenger.
The tournament proved a genuine turning point in the championship picture. Within a year Bogoljubow, not Capablanca, sat across the board from Alekhine in the World Chess Championship 1929 — and Bad Kissingen remains the high point of his tournament career.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bogoljubow, Efim | 8/11 | +6 -1 =4 | games → |
| 2 | Capablanca, Jose Raul | 7/11 | +4 -1 =6 | games → |
| =3 | Euwe, Max | 6½/11 | +4 -2 =5 | games → |
| =3 | Rubinstein, Akiba | 6½/11 | +4 -2 =5 | games → |
| 5 | Nimzowitsch, Aron | 6/11 | +3 -2 =6 | games → |
| 6 | Reti, Richard | 5½/11 | +2 -2 =7 | games → |
| 7 | Marshall, Frank James | 5/11 | +3 -4 =4 | games → |
| =8 | Tartakower, Saviely | 5/11 | +2 -3 =6 | games → |
| =8 | Yates, Frederick Dewhurst | 5/11 | +2 -3 =6 | games → |
| 10 | Spielmann, Rudolf | 4½/11 | +1 -3 =7 | games → |
| 11 | Tarrasch, Siegbert | 4/11 | +0 -3 =8 | games → |
| 12 | Mieses, Jacques | 3/11 | +0 -5 =6 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bogoljubow, Efim | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 2 | Capablanca, Jose Raul | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Euwe, Max | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Rubinstein, Akiba | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 5 | Nimzowitsch, Aron | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Reti, Richard | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 7 | Marshall, Frank James | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Tartakower, Saviely | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 9 | Yates, Frederick Dewhurst | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Spielmann, Rudolf | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Tarrasch, Siegbert | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 12 | Mieses, Jacques | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.