Prague 1908
Staged to mark the sixtieth jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Prague 1908 gathered twenty masters for a single round-robin that ended in a dead heat: the Bohemian Oldřich Duras and the Austrian Carl Schlechter finished level on 13½/19, half a point clear of the young Milan Vidmar. It was a home triumph for Duras and confirmation of Schlechter's standing as one of the world's elite — the man who, two years later, would come within a single game of the world title.
◈A tournament fit for a jubilee
Prague 1908 was mounted in honour of the sixtieth anniversary of Franz Joseph I's accession to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and it drew a field worthy of the occasion. Twenty masters played a single round-robin of nineteen rounds in the pavilion of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, organised by H. Pollak and K. Anderle, with special prizes for the finest games underwritten by Baron Albert Salomon von Rothschild.
The line-up spanned the great chess capitals of the day: alongside the co-favourites Carl Schlechter and Géza Maróczy came Akiba Rubinstein, then rising fast, the American Frank Marshall, the Frenchman Dawid Janowski, Richard Teichmann, Paul Saladin Leonhardt, Rudolf Spielmann and Jacques Mieses, set against a strong home contingent led by Oldřich Duras.
◈Two who could not be separated
Duras and Schlechter matched each other stride for stride and shared first place on 13½ points from nineteen games. Half a point behind on 13 came Milan Vidmar, whose fine result announced him as a coming force, with Rubinstein close on his heels at 12½ and Teichmann fifth on 12.
Maróczy took sixth on 11½, and the pack behind him bunched at 11 — Leonhardt and Marshall among them — with Janowski just below. For Duras the shared victory was one of the crowning results of his career, achieved on home soil; for Schlechter it was further proof of a positional mastery that would soon carry him to the very threshold of the world championship.
◈Schlechter's road to Lasker
Carl Schlechter was renowned for the depth and safety of his play — so hard to beat that he was nicknamed the drawing master, though his best tournaments showed real bite. His form through this period earned him a title match against Emanuel Lasker in 1910, which he drew 5–5, famously falling short of the win in the final game that would have made him world champion. Prague 1908 stands among the results that built that reputation, a jubilee tournament remembered for the two names that finished, inseparably, at its head.
◈Final Standings
The standings below are the historical final result. Only 187 of the 190 games played survive in our source; the remaining 3 are lost and appear as · in the cross table.
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Duras, Oldrich | 13½/19 | +11 -3 =5 | games |
| =1 | Schlechter, Carl | 13½/19 | +9 -1 =9 | games |
| 3 | Vidmar, Milan Sr | 13/19 | +10 -3 =6 | games |
| 4 | Rubinstein, Akiba | 12½/19 | +8 -2 =9 | games |
| 5 | Teichmann, Richard | 12/19 | +6 -1 =12 | games |
| 6 | Maroczy, Geza | 11½/19 | +6 -2 =11 | games |
| =7 | Leonhardt, Paul Saladin | 11/19 | +7 -4 =8 | games |
| =7 | Marshall, Frank James | 11/19 | +6 -3 =10 | games |
| =7 | Salwe, Georg | 11/19 | +7 -4 =8 | games |
| 10 | Janowski, Dawid Markelowicz | 10½/19 | +9 -7 =3 | games |
| 11 | Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich | 9½/19 | +8 -8 =3 | games |
| 12 | Alapin, Simon | 9/19 | +5 -6 =8 | games |
| =13 | Suechting, Hugo | 8½/19 | +2 -4 =13 | games |
| =13 | Mieses, Jacques | 8½/19 | +5 -7 =7 | games |
| 15 | Spielmann, Rudolf | 7½/19 | +6 -10 =3 | games |
| 16 | Prokes, Ladislav | 6½/19 | +4 -10 =5 | games |
| 17 | Von Bardeleben, Curt | 6/19 | +1 -8 =10 | games |
| 18 | Kvicala, Jan | 5½/19 | +2 -10 =7 | games |
| 19 | Rabinovich, Abram Isaakovich | 5/19 | +2 -11 =6 | games |
| 20 | Treybal, Frantisek | 4½/19 | +1 -11 =7 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duras, Oldrich | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | · | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Schlechter, Carl | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 3 | Vidmar, Milan Sr | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Rubinstein, Akiba | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Teichmann, Richard | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Maroczy, Geza | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 7 | Leonhardt, Paul Saladin | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Marshall, Frank James | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Salwe, Georg | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Janowski, Dawid Markelowicz | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 11 | Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich | · | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Alapin, Simon | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 13 | Suechting, Hugo | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 14 | Mieses, Jacques | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 15 | Spielmann, Rudolf | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 16 | Prokes, Ladislav | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 17 | Von Bardeleben, Curt | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 18 | Kvicala, Jan | · | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | · | ½ | |
| 19 | Rabinovich, Abram Isaakovich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | · | 1 | |
| 20 | Treybal, Frantisek | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player. · = game played but lost (not preserved in our source).