Nottingham 1936 chess tournament

The Nottingham 1936 chess tournament was a 15-player round robin tournament held August 10–28 at the University of Nottingham. It was one of the strongest of all time.

Dr. J. Hannak wrote in his 1959 biography of Emanuel Lasker that "when it comes to awarding the plum for 'the greatest chess tournament ever', in 1936, the Nottingham Tournament was certainly just that".[1] W. H. Watts in the Introduction to the tournament book called Nottingham 1936 "the most important chess event the world has so far seen".[2]

It is one of the very few tournaments in chess history to include five past, present, or future world champions (Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe and Botvinnik).[3][4] A number of other prominent players, such as Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky and Salo Flohr, were in the tournament.

According to the unofficial Chessmetrics ratings, the tournament was (as of March 2005) one of only six tournaments in history that had the top eight players in the world playing.[5] (Chessmetrics gives the top eight at the time as, in order: Euwe, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Flohr, Capablanca, Reshevsky, Fine, Bogoljubow).[6]

The event is also notable for being Lasker's last major event,[7][8] and for Botvinnik achieving the first Soviet success outside the Soviet Union.

In parallel with the main tournament, the venue also played host to the 1936 British Women's Championship. The event was won by Edith Holloway (1868-1956), age sixty-eight and a former winner in 1919.[9]

Results

Nottingham 1936[10]
#Player010203040506070809101112131415Result
1 Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union) x½½½½½½½111111½10
2 José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba) ½x½½110½1½½111110
3 Max Euwe (Netherlands) ½½x½10½01½11111
4 Reuben Fine (United States) ½½½x½½½1½1½11½1
5 Samuel Reshevsky (United States) ½00½x1½111½111½
6 Alexander Alekhine (France) ½01½0x1½½11½1½19
7 Salo Flohr (Czechoslovakia) ½1½½½0x111½0011
8 Emanuel Lasker (Soviet Union) ½½100½0x½1½1111
9 Milan Vidmar (Yugoslavia) 000½0½0½x1½½1½16
10 Efim Bogoljubow (Germany) 0½½000000x½1111
11 Savielly Tartakower (Poland) 0½0½½0½½½½x0011
12 Theodore Tylor (United Kingdom) 00000½10½01x½½½
13 C.H.O'D Alexander (United Kingdom) 00000010001½x½½
14 George Alan Thomas (United Kingdom) 000½0½00½00½½x½3
15 William Winter (United Kingdom) ½000½000000½½½x

References

  1. Dr. J. Hannak, Emanuel Lasker: The Life of a Chess Master, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 297.
  2. A. Alekhine, The Book of the Nottingham International Chess Tournament, Dover Publications, 1962, p. ix. ISBN 0-486-20189-9.
  3. Hannak wrote in 1959, "it is certainly the only tournament in chess history that could boast the attendance of as many as five world champions, past, present, and future". Hannak, p. 297.
  4. Since then, Moscow 1971 and the 1973 Soviet Chess Championship both included five world champions: Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, Mikhail Tal, and Boris Spassky. Chess Informant, Volume 12, Šahovski Informator, 1972, p. 235. B. Cafferty and M. Taimanov, The Soviet Championships, Cadogan Books, 1998, p. 160. ISBN 1-85744-201-6.
  5. "Formulas". Chessmetrics.com. Retrieved on 2009-02-19.
  6. Event Details: Nottingham, 1936, Chessmetrics
  7. Hannak, pp. 297, 299.
  8. J. Sonas, Chessmetrics Player Profile: Emanuel Lasker. ChessMetrics.com. Retrieved on 2009-01-17.
  9. K. Whyld, Guinness Chess, The Records, Guinness Books, 1986, p. 91. ISBN 0-85112-455-0.
  10. Alekhine, The Book of the Nottingham International Chess Tournament, p. 289.

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