Carl Schlechter was one of the world’s strongest players in the early 20th century, and played a World Championship Match against Lasker in 1910. Below, I explore his life and games.
Photo: Cleveland Public Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Table of contents:
Biography
Early Life
Carl Schlechter was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1874. He learned to play chess at the age of 13, and found himself in a fortunate environment, as Vienna was one of the major chess cities in the world at the time. In 1892, the famous player Berthold Englisch recognised Schlechter’s potential, and introduced him to the chess scene in Vienna.
1893 was an important year for Schlechter. He drew a ten game match with the more experienced player Georg Marco, and won a tournament in Vienna. This announced his arrival as a leading player in Vienna chess circles. At the end of the year, Schlechter finished third at another Venna tournament, confirming this reputation.
International Breakthrough
1894 saw Schlechter compete in his first major tournament against leading international players, at Leipzig. He finished in 11th place, scoring 8/17. This was invaluable experience for the young Schlechter. He returned to Vienna to take 3rd place in the Vienna Championship, and then travelled to take part in the strongest tournament of the 19th century, Hastings 1895. There Schlechter finished 9th, scoring 11/21. However, he recorded a memorable victory over the tournament winner, Pillsbury, in their individual game.
Best of Vienna
Armed with international tournament experience against the world’s leading players, Schlechter shared 1st place at the Vienna Championship in 1896. This was followed by a 2nd place at the Vienna Chess Club tournament, before setting off to compete in more international events. Shared 7th place at Nuremberg was improved upon by shared 4th with the Polish-French master David Janowski at Budapest, before Schlechter took 2nd place at another Vienna tournament. 1896 also saw Schlechter draw a seven-game match with Janowski.
The next few years saw Schlechter regularly putting in strong performances and achieving respectable results in international events. These include Berlin 1897 (=5th), Vienna 1898 (5th), Cologne 1898 (6th), and London 1899 (5th). In 1899, Schlechter became co-editor, along with fellow Austrian master Johann Berger, of the Deutsche Schachzeitung, a popular German chess magazine.
International Success
The turn of the century was a successful period for Schlechter. He shared second at the Kolisch Memorial of 1899/1900, before sharing first with Pillsbury at Münich 1900. This was an important step in his chess journey, as it was his first major international tournament victory. It was especially impressive that he finished ahead of a field including Maroczy, Burn, Marco and Janowski. Schlechter then returned to win the master group of a tournament in Vienna.
1901 saw Schlechter record an impressive second place at Monte Carlo, behind only Janowski, but ahead of Chigorin, Gunsberg, Marshall and Alapin, amongst others. The following year, Schlechter took revenge by defeating Janowski in a match in Karlsbad (+6 -1 =3).
In the next few years, Schlechter performed solidly and well in international events. 1904 and 1905, however, were particularly successful years for him. 2nd at Monte Carlo and shared 6th at Cambridge Springs was overshadowed by shared first place at the 14th German Chess Congress in Coburg. Schlechter also won the Kings Gambit Declined tournament at Vienna 1904/5, as well as the Austro-Hungarian Championship in Vienna in 1905.
Ostend 1906
Schlechter’s impressive results continued into 1906, as he shared first place with Ossip Bernstein in Stockholm. However, the highlight of the year was Schlechter’s clear first place finish at the incredibly strong tournament at Ostend. Schlechter finished ahead of an impressive 36 player field, which included Maroczy, Rubinstein, Teichmann, Burn, Marshall, and Janowski. The following year, after sharing 4th place with Nimzowitsch at Karlsbad, Schlechter furthered his literary career by editing the tournament book, along with Georg Marco.
World Championship Challenger
1908 was an important year for Schlechter’s chess career. He shared first place with Maroczy and Duras at Vienna, and again shared first at Prague, with Duras. Schlechter therefore challenged Lasker to a World Championship Match. Lasker accepted the challenge, based on the strength of Schlechter’s recent results, and the match was scheduled to be played in 1910.
Before the match came the strong tournament at St Petersburg in 1909. Although Lasker shared first place with Rubinstein, Schlechter suffered a disappointing result, finishing in shared eighth. To some in the chess world, it seemed as though Schlechter would not be able to seriously challenge Lasker the following year.
World Championship Match
However, the match turned out to be extremely close. Ten games were played, the first five in Vienna, and the second five in Berlin. The first four games were drawn, before Schlechter struck in the fifth. He was thus was leading by one win to none as the match moved to Berlin. They drew the next four games too, and so Schlechter was leading by one point going into the last round.
Despite only needing a draw to win the match, Schlechter pushed hard for a win, and Lasker ultimately won a lengthy and nervy game. The match was thus declared drawn, and Lasker kept his crown. Details about the match are scarce, and it is still today unclear whether there was a clause in the match rules stating that Schlechter would have to win by two games to win the title. He was the first player to seriously threaten Lasker’s crown.
Before the War
Schlechter continued to be active in the international tournament scene in the next few years. He finished in clear first at Hamburg 1910, ahead of Nimzowitsch, Marshall, Alekhine and Tarrasch, and won the Trebitsch memorial four times in four years. An interesting 16 game match with Tarrasch in Cologne in 1911 finished drawn. That same year, he finished second with Rubinstein at Karlsbad, behind only the experienced English-German master Richard Teichmann.
World War I
However, the start of World War I severely disrupted the international chess scene, depriving Schlechter of income and opportunities. He again won the local Trebitsch Memorial tournament in Vienna in 1915. Strong international events, though, were hard to come by. He therefore turned to writing, and in 1918 his books Die Budapester Verteidigung des Damengambits: eine theoretische Studie and Das angenommene Königsgambit, on the Budapest Gambit and the King’s Gambit Accepted respectively, were published.
Also in 1918, the last year of the war, Schlechter finished second at the Berlin Four Masters tournament behind Vidmar, and third at the Berlin Grandmasters tournament, behind Lasker and Rubinstein, but ahead of Tarrasch. Additionally, he played a six game match against Rubinstein in Berlin, losing by one win to two, with three draws.
Legacy
Later in the year, Schlechter played a tournament and simul in Budapest. However, his health may have been compromised by the harsh conditions of the war years, and a few days after the event, he was admitted to hospital. He died on 27 December 1918 at the age of 44.
Today Schlechter is remembered for his polite and gentlemanly behaviour and his literary works, as well as his extremely close World Championship Match with Lasker.
Game Analysis
Schlechter won an instructive game against Maroczy at the first Trebistch Memorial in Vienna in 1907, which finished with an attractive combination.
Lessons from this game:
- Every pawn move is a critical moment in the game. The advance gains space, but weakens squares that the pawn can no longer go back to defend. In the game, 17.e4?! gains space but weakens the a7-g1 diagonal, which black can exploit.
- Undefended pieces are often the tactical elements which make combinations work.
- Two bishops pointing towards the enemy king on adjacent diagonals are a dangerous weapon!
Puzzles
Flessig – Schlechter, Vienna 1893
Schlechter – Meitner, Vienna 1899
Schlechter – John, Barmen 1905
Schlechter – Suechting, Vienna 1908
Solutions
Further Reading
For more information about Schlechter and his life and games, the following are useful sources:
The first volume of Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors,
Schlechter’s chessgames.com page,
his chess.com page,
the chessgames.com page about his match with Lasker,
and the book Carl Schlechter!: Life & Times of the Austrian Chess Wizard by Warren Goldman.
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Great job James! This is a quality piece of work
Thanks!