The masters' tournament of the fourteenth German Chess Federation Congress ended not with one champion but with three. Curt von Bardeleben, Carl Schlechter and Rudolf Swiderski all finished on 7½ of 12, sharing a title that remains the finest result of Swiderski's short career.
The fourteenth German Congress
The Deutscher Schachbund had staged a masters' congress every two or three years since 1879, and in 1904 it came to the Bavarian town of Coburg. As always the Meisterturnier — the masters' event — was the centrepiece, played alongside a lower Hauptturnier for rising talent. That subsidiary field included two players who would go far: the young Aaron Nimzowitsch and Milan Vidmar, in a section won by Augustin Neumann.
Thirteen masters contested the top tournament as a single round-robin of 78 games. The entry mixed established names — Schlechter, von Bardeleben, Georg Marco, Jacques Mieses, Johann Berger — with the rising Ossip Bernstein and the local hope Rudolf Swiderski of Saxony.
A three-way finish
Carl Schlechter came as the favourite but was beaten early by Swiderski, who took the lead with his bold, king-marching style. Swiderski's nerve failed him near the end — a costly loss to Walter John let the field back in — and it was the veteran von Bardeleben, a leading German master of the 1880s and 1890s, who caught up with a final-round win.
When it was over, von Bardeleben, Schlechter and Swiderski were tied on 7½ points, half a point ahead of Bernstein and Marco on 7. There was no playoff; the three shared the championship. It was the best result of Swiderski's career.
“Of all the chess masters I ever met, Swiderski was the most weird.”
Three champions, three sad endings
All three co-champions died in sad circumstances within twenty years. Rudolf Swiderski took his own life in 1909; Carl Schlechter, who had come within a game of the world title in 1910, died in Budapest in 1918, worn down by the hardships of the First World War; and Curt von Bardeleben died in 1924 after a fall from a window.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Swiderski, Rudolf | 7½/12 | +6 -3 =3 | games |
| =1 | Von Bardeleben, Curt | 7½/12 | +5 -2 =5 | games |
| =1 | Schlechter, Carl | 7½/12 | +4 -1 =7 | games |
| =4 | Bernstein, Ossip Samuel | 7/12 | +3 -1 =8 | games |
| =4 | Marco, Georg | 7/12 | +2 -0 =10 | games |
| =6 | Berger, Johann Nepomuk | 6½/12 | +4 -3 =5 | games |
| =6 | Mieses, Jacques | 6½/12 | +3 -2 =7 | games |
| =8 | Suechting, Hugo | 6/12 | +3 -3 =6 | games |
| =8 | Wolf, Heinrich | 6/12 | +3 -3 =6 | games |
| 10 | Forgacs, Leo | 5/12 | +0 -2 =10 | games |
| =11 | Caro, Horatio | 4/12 | +2 -6 =4 | games |
| =11 | John, Walter | 4/12 | +2 -6 =4 | games |
| 13 | Von Gottschall, Hermann | 3½/12 | +1 -6 =5 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swiderski, Rudolf | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | |
| 2 | Von Bardeleben, Curt | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Schlechter, Carl | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Bernstein, Ossip Samuel | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Marco, Georg | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Berger, Johann Nepomuk | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Mieses, Jacques | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Suechting, Hugo | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Wolf, Heinrich | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Forgacs, Leo | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Caro, Horatio | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | John, Walter | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 13 | Von Gottschall, Hermann | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.