Gothenburg 1920
Staged by the Gothenburg Chess Society to mark its fortieth anniversary, the 1920 jubilee tournament was the first great international gathering after the First World War. Richard Réti, at the height of his early hypermodern period, took first prize with 9½/13 — edging the endgame virtuoso Akiba Rubinstein by half a point in a field that also gave the Nimzo-Indian Defence its modern tournament début.
◈A jubilee tournament
The Gothenburg Chess Society announced its jubilee tournament to celebrate forty years of the club, with backing from the patron Erik Olson. The players were divided into three groups — Group A for international masters who had already won first prize in a master tournament, and Groups B and C for lesser and Nordic players. The elite Group A assembled a remarkable field: Réti, Rubinstein, Efim Bogoljubov, Siegbert Tarrasch, Savielly Tartakower, Borislav Kostić, Jacques Mieses, Géza Maróczy, Aron Nimzowitsch, Rudolf Spielmann, Gyula Breyer, Georg Marco, Jørgen Møller and Alexey Selezniev.
Coming so soon after the war, this was the first major international tournament in years, and it became a showcase for the new hypermodern ideas: the Nimzo-Indian appeared in its modern form and the Queen's Indian was extensively tried out, with Bogoljubov famously winning material from Tarrasch out of the opening.
◈Réti overtakes Rubinstein
Rubinstein led for much of the event, but the race came down to the last round. Réti beat Spielmann to finish on 9½/13 while Rubinstein could only draw with Breyer, and so Réti seized first prize by half a point. Bogoljubov took third on 8 — remarkably, without drawing a single one of his thirteen games.
There was consolation for Rubinstein in their individual encounter: his win over Réti here, a bishop-against-knight ending, has long been anthologised as a model of his endgame technique, even as Réti carried off the tournament itself.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reti, Richard | 9½/13 | +7 -1 =5 | games → |
| 2 | Rubinstein, Akiba | 9/13 | +7 -2 =4 | games → |
| 3 | Bogoljubow, Efim | 8/13 | +8 -5 =0 | games → |
| =4 | Kostic, Boris | 7½/13 | +5 -3 =5 | games → |
| =4 | Mieses, Jacques | 7½/13 | +5 -3 =5 | games → |
| =4 | Tarrasch, Siegbert | 7½/13 | +5 -3 =5 | games → |
| 7 | Tartakower, Saviely | 7½/13 | +4 -2 =7 | games → |
| 8 | Maroczy, Geza | 6/13 | +2 -3 =8 | games → |
| 9 | Marco, Georg | 5½/13 | +2 -4 =7 | games → |
| 10 | Breyer, Gyula | 5½/13 | +1 -3 =9 | games → |
| 11 | Spielmann, Rudolf | 5/13 | +3 -6 =4 | games → |
| 12 | Nimzowitsch, Aron | 4½/13 | +1 -5 =7 | games → |
| 13 | Moller, Jorgen | 4/13 | +2 -7 =4 | games → |
| 14 | Selezniev, Alexey Sergeevich | 4/13 | +1 -6 =6 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reti, Richard | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Rubinstein, Akiba | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Bogoljubow, Efim | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Kostic, Boris | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Mieses, Jacques | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Tarrasch, Siegbert | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 7 | Tartakower, Saviely | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 8 | Maroczy, Geza | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Marco, Georg | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Breyer, Gyula | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 11 | Spielmann, Rudolf | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 12 | Nimzowitsch, Aron | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 13 | Moller, Jorgen | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 14 | Selezniev, Alexey Sergeevich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.