Oldrich Duras was one of the world’s strongest players from 1905 to 1914, and shared 1st place at strong tournaments in Vienna and Prague in 1908. Below, I explore his life and games.
Photo: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Table of contents:
Biography
Early life
Oldrich Duras was born in 1882 in Prague, Austria-Hungary, although today the city is the capital of the Czech Republic. After playing in a few smaller events, Duras first gained international recognition when he shared 1st place with Rubinstein in Haupturnier A at Barmen 1905, ahead of, notably, a young Vidmar. A playoff match between Duras and Rubinstein was abandoned after two draws when Rubinstein had to leave, and so first prize was shared between them.
Gaining experience
Duras then travelled to Ostend in 1906 to compete at the large, multi-stage tournament organised by Gunsberg. In a field which included many of the world’s strongest players, Duras eventually finished 18th out of 36. He then travelled to Nuremberg, where he finished 2nd behind Marshall, but ahead of Schlechter and Chigorin.
A busy year
1907 was a busy year in Duras’ chess career. He began the year with a strong performance at the Trebitsch Memorial in Vienna, where he went undefeated over 13 rounds and finished in clear 2nd place, behind only Mieses. This was made even more impressive by the strength of the field, which included Tartakower, Vidmar, Maroczy and Schlechter. A few months later, he returned to Ostend, where he took 7th place.
Later that year, Duras took part at the famous Karlsbad tournament, where many of the world’s leading players gathered to compete. There he shared 7th place with Teichmann in a field of 21, ahead of some famous names like Marshall, Tartakower and Spielmann. This result further enhanced his reputation and underlined his ability to compete with the very best in the world.
1908
1908 was perhaps the most successful year for Duras. A strong tournament took place in Vienna from March to April that year, and many famous players took part, including Maroczy, Schlechter, Rubinstein, Teichmann, and Spielmann, among others. In this world-class field, Duras finished in shared 1st place with Maroczy and Schlechter.
A few weeks later, another very strong event was held in Prague, with many of the same players. Here too Duras shared 1st place, this time with only Schlechter. These two impressive results, where Duras twice finished at the head of a world-class field, confirmed his status as one of the world’s leading players.
Competing at the top
Duras continued to compete at the top level over the next few years. He finished in shared 3rd place with Spielmann at St Petersburg 1909, behind Rubinstein and Lasker, and ahead of Bernstein, Teichmann, Schlechter and Tartakower. At Hamburg 1910, he took 2nd place with an impressive 11/16 score, behind only Schlechter, and ahead of Nimzowitsch, Spielmann, Teichmann, Marshall and Alekhine.
In 1911, however, Duras suffered a disappointing result at San Sebastian. All the world’s leading masters except for Lasker took part. The tournament is remembered as Capablanca’s breakthrough on to the international stage, taking clear 1st place at a time when, before the tournament, he was not particularly well known. For Duras, however, the tournament did not go well, and he finished in shared 13th place out of 15 players. Despite this, 14 games against the world elite could only strengthen his chess. Later that year, when many of the same players assembled at Karlsbad for another super tournament, Duras finished 10th out of 24.
1912 saw Duras share 1st place with Rubinstein at Breslau, ahead of many famous names like Teichmann, Schlechter, Tarrasch, Marshall and Spielmann. This result also earned Duras the title of German Champion, an honour he shared with Rubinstein. That same year Duras achieved an impressive 2nd place at the Kings Gambit tournament held in Abbazia (now Opatija in Croatia), ahead of Réti, amongst others. Only Spielmann finished ahead of him.
Before the war
1913 was an interesting year for Duras. He drew two games with Cohn in an intercity match between Berlin and Prague, before travelling to New York to compete at a tournament hosted by the Rice Chess Club. There he finished 2nd, behind only Capablanca. Duras also played a match with Marshall, although he lost 3,5-1,5.
In 1914, Duras was sharing 10th place with Walter John at the German Chess Congress in Mannheim when the event was interrupted by the outbreak of WWI. The event could not continue, and Duras travelled back to Austria-Hungary to join the army.
Later years
After the war, Duras did not resume a serious chess career. He took up a role in the Ministry of Defence of the new Chekoslovakia, and it is possible that his work did not permit him much time for travelling to and competing in chess tournaments. However, he wrote a coloumn for the publication Ceské Slovo from 1922 to 1931, and became well-known as a composer of chess puzzles.
Duras was eventually awarded the grandmaster title by FIDE in 1950, based on his results from 1905 to 1914. He died in 1957, at the age of 74.
Legacy
Today Duras is remembered as one of the world’s strongest players from 1905 to 1914, and for his numerous compositions.
Game Analysis
Duras won an instructive game against Sjoberg at Gothenburg 1909.
Lessons from this game:
- An attack on the king is often prepared by inducing the pawns in front of the king to advance, creating weaknesses for the attacking side to exploit.
- Knights are happiest when nestled into outposts deep in enemy territory.
- A queen can even be trapped in the middle of the board!
Puzzles
Duras – Teichmann, Ostend 1906
Duras – Spielmann, Vienna 1907
Alekhine – Duras, Hamburg 1910
Schlechter – Duras, Hamburg 1910
Solutions
Further Reading
To find more about Duras’ life and games, the following are useful sources:
Duras’ chessgames.com page,
this chessbase article by Siegfried Hornecker,
this chess.com article by simaginfan,
and this chess.com article by kahns.
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