Paris 1878 chess tournament

The revival of France after the Franco-Prussian War was demonstrated by a world exhibition. Paris was a city of light for the first time. A great chess tournament took place in the exhibition hall from 17 June to 31 July 1878. The participation of George Henry Mackenzie and James Mason made it the first intercontinental tournament in Europe. Eleven double rounds were played. Wilhelm Steinitz was present as reporter for The Field.

The event was won by Szymon Winawer and Johannes Hermann Zukertort, who decided to share the first prize after they each won a play-off game. They drew twice, so another play-off was necessary. Zukertort won both games and gained the first prize. Mackenzie defeated Henry Edward Bird twice in the struggle for the fourth place.

Winners of the prizes were: Zukertort (1000 Frans + two Sèvres vases), Winawer (500 F + one vase), Joseph Henry Blackburne (1500 F), Mackenzie (1000 F), Bird (500 F), and the ill Adolf Anderssen (200 F). Zukertort’s vases were priced at 5800 Francs. He needed cash. It took three days until he could sell them much below the estimated value.^[1]

The results and standings:^[2]

#	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Szymon Winawer (Russian Empire) /  Poland	x	1 0	½ ½	0 ½	1 1	½ 1	0 1	1 1	½ 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	16.5
2	Johannes Zukertort (German Empire) /  Poland	0 1	x	1 0	½ 0	1 1	1 ½	½ ½	1 1	1 1	½ 1	1 1	1 1	16.5
3	Joseph Henry Blackburne (United Kingdom) /  England	½ ½	0 1	x	0 1	1 0	0 0	1 ½	1 ½	1 1	1 ½	1 1	1 1	14.5
4	George Henry Mackenzie (United States) /  Scotland	1 ½	½ 1	1 0	x	0 1	0 0	0 1	½ 0	0 1	1 1	1 1	1 ½	13.0
5	Henry Edward Bird (United Kingdom) /  England	0 0	0 0	0 1	1 0	x	1 1	1 0	1 0	0 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	13.0
6	Adolf Anderssen (German Empire) / Prussian Silesia	½ 0	0 ½	1 1	1 1	0 0	x	1 0	0 ½	1 1	1 0	1 0	1 1	12.5
7	Berthold Englisch (Austria-Hungary) / Czech Silesia	1 0	½ ½	0 ½	1 0	0 1	0 1	x	½ ½	0 1	½ ½	1 1	1 0	11.5
8	Samuel Rosenthal (France) /  Poland	0 0	0 0	0 ½	½ 1	0 1	1 ½	½ ½	x	0 1	1 0	1 1	1 1	11.5
9	Albert Clerc (France)	½ 0	0 0	0 0	1 0	1 0	0 0	1 0	1 0	x	0 1	1 0	1 1	8.5
10	James Mason (United States) /  Ireland	0 0	½ 0	0 ½	0 0	0 0	0 1	½ ½	0 1	1 0	x	1 1	1 ½	8.5
11	H.W.B. Gifford (Netherlands) /  England	0 0	0 0	0 0	0 0	0 0	0 1	0 0	0 0	0 1	0 0	x	1 ½	3.5
12	Karl Pitschel (Austria-Hungary) /  Austria	0 0	0 0	0 0	0 ½	0 0	0 0	0 1	0 0	0 0	0 ½	0 ½	x	2.5

References