Staged alongside the city's International Exhibition, Liège 1930 was the strongest tournament held in Belgium since the great Ostend events at the start of the century. Mir Sultan Khan opened with a sensational 6/6 — and then Savielly Tartakower reeled him in, beat him in their last-round encounter, and won by two clear points.
A tournament for the Exhibition
The tournament was organised as part of the International Exhibition that Liège hosted in 1930, and it drew a genuinely international field of twelve: Tartakower and Dawid Przepiórka of Poland, the fast-rising Indian master Sultan Khan, Aron Nimzowitsch, Akiba Rubinstein, Frank Marshall, Germany's Carl Ahues, England's George Alan Thomas, the Dutch master Henri Weenink, Argentina's Isaías Pleci, and two Belgians — the attacking hero Edgard Colle and the Liège master Victor Soultanbeieff, who worked mornings and played his games under a considerable time handicap.
Contemporary accounts called it the strongest event held in Belgium since the big Ostend tournaments at the beginning of the century.
Sultan Khan's sprint and stumble
Sultan Khan, the sensation of the era, started with six straight wins and led most of the way. A tough defensive draw against Rubinstein followed — and then the collapse: he lost his last four games and finished second on 6½, still ahead of the rest of the field.
Behind the top two, Ahues, Colle and Nimzowitsch shared third on 6, while the aging former greats Rubinstein and Marshall finished in the bottom half of the table.
Tartakower plays for the win
Tartakower went through the event undefeated, and by the final round the race had turned completely: needing only a draw against Sultan Khan to secure first place, he played for a win anyway — and got it. The victory fixed his margin at two full points, 8½ against Khan's 6½, one of the cleanest first places of his career.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tartakower, Saviely | 8½/11 | +6 -0 =5 | games |
| 2 | Sultan Khan, Mir | 6½/11 | +6 -4 =1 | games |
| =3 | Colle, Edgard | 6/11 | +4 -3 =4 | games |
| =3 | Ahues, Carl Oscar | 6/11 | +3 -2 =6 | games |
| =3 | Nimzowitsch, Aron | 6/11 | +3 -2 =6 | games |
| =6 | Przepiorka, Dawid | 5½/11 | +3 -3 =5 | games |
| =6 | Thomas, George Alan | 5½/11 | +3 -3 =5 | games |
| =8 | Rubinstein, Akiba | 5/11 | +3 -4 =4 | games |
| =8 | Weenink, Henri Gerard | 5/11 | +3 -4 =4 | games |
| 10 | Marshall, Frank James | 4½/11 | +3 -5 =3 | games |
| 11 | Soultanbeieff, Victor Ivanovich | 4/11 | +2 -5 =4 | games |
| 12 | Pleci, Isaias | 3½/11 | +1 -5 =5 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tartakower, Saviely | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Sultan Khan, Mir | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Colle, Edgard | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 4 | Ahues, Carl Oscar | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Nimzowitsch, Aron | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Przepiorka, Dawid | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 7 | Thomas, George Alan | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Rubinstein, Akiba | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Weenink, Henri Gerard | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Marshall, Frank James | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | |
| 11 | Soultanbeieff, Victor Ivanovich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | |
| 12 | Pleci, Isaias | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.