Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the world’s strongest players in the 1890s, and played a World Championship Match against Lasker in 1908. Below, I explore his life and games.
Photo: Cleveland Public Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Table of contents:
Biography
Early life
Siegbert Tarrasch was born in 1862 in Breslau, Germany, although today the city is called Wroclaw, and is part of Poland. Growing up, he attended the same school as the famous player Adolf Anderssen before him. It was during his school years that Tarrasch learned to play chess, at the age of 15. After finishing school, he studied medicine in Berlin. While in Berlin, he became acquainted with Berthold Lasker, who was the older brother of Emanuel Lasker, and a strong chess player himself.
International breakthrough
1889 proved to be a breakthrough year for Tarrasch, as he won the 6th German Chess Congress in Breslau. His score of 13/17 was 1,5 points ahead of the English master Amos Burn in second place. As the field was very strong, and included such famous names as Burn, Mieses, Gunsberg and Blackburne, this result firmly established Tarrasch in the international tournament scene.
Tarrasch followed this up with another first place, at Manchester 1890. As the field included leading English players such as Mackenzie, Blackburne and Gunsberg, this further enhanced his reputation. In 1892, Tarrasch then took first place at the international tournament at Dresden.
Missed opportunity
Tarrasch was now seen as one of the world’s strongest players, and some in the chess world were eager to see him challenge for the ultimate title. The Havana Chess Club offered to host a World Championship match between Tarrasch and the reigning World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz. However, Tarrasch declined, saying he was occupied with his medical work as a doctor.
Around this time, the rising star Emanuel Lasker challenged Tarrasch to a match. However, Tarrasch declined, saying that his tournament successes far surpassed Lasker’s. He therefore suggested that Lasker win a major international tournament before challenging him to a match. Lasker would go on to directly challenge Steinitz for the World Championship, winning the title in 1894.
Tarrasch vs Chigorin
Instead of Lasker, Tarrasch decided to play a match with Mikhail Chigorin, who had recently played two World Championship matches, in 1889 and 1892. The match was played in St Petersburg, and the winner would be the first to ten wins. Neither player proved superior, and the match finished drawn, nine wins apiece with four draws.
Leipzig and Hastings
1894 was another successful year for Tarrasch, as he won the 9th German Chess Congress in Leipzig with the incredible score of 13,5/17. He was then invited to the strongest tournament of the 19th century, Hastings 1895. In a field which included all the top players of the time, Tarrasch finished fourth, behind only Pillsbury, Chigorin, and World Champion Lasker. Also around this time, Tarrasch published his first chess book, Dreihundert Schachpartien, which was a collection of 300 of his games.
Nuremberg and Vienna
The 1890s continued to be a successful decade for Tarrasch, as he finished in shared third place with Pillsbury at Nuremberg 1896, behind only Lasker and Maroczy. This was followed by a tournament victory at Vienna 1898. He finished in shared first place with Pillsbury, but won the playoff match. This latest victory underlined a decade of international tournament success, in which only Lasker’s results rivalled those of Tarrasch.
The match that wasn’t
The turn of the century did not mark the end of his tournament victories, however, as Tarrasch finished first at Monte Carlo 1903, scoring 20/26. The field was very strong, as it included Maroczy, Pillsbury and Schlechter. This latest achievement convinced Tarrasch to challenge Lasker for the World Championship.
Lasker accepted the challenge, and the match was scheduled for 1904. However, Tarrasch later suffered a skating accident, and asked for a postponement of the match. Lasker did not accept the postponement, and the match collapsed. Some thought that the skating accident was an excuse, and that Tarrasch was not able to raise the necessary funds for a title match.
Tarrasch vs Marshall
Instead, Tarrasch played a match against the American master Frank Marshall in 1905. The year before, Marshall had brilliantly won the strong international tournament at Cambridge Springs. However, Tarrasch dominated the match, winning by eight wins to one, with eight draws.
World Championship
1907 was another successful year for Tarrasch, as he won the strong tournament at Ostend, scoring 12,5/20. He finished ahead of Schlechter, Marshall, Janowski, Burn and Chigorin. This latest victory at a strong international tournament again sparked interest in a World Championship Match, and this time, it took place.
The match was held in the German cities of Düsseldorf and Münich, and the winner would be the first to eight wins. The match began badly for Tarrasch, and after seven games, Lasker was leading by five wins to one, with one draw. The rest of the match was fairly even, but Tarrasch could not make up such a large points deficit, and Lasker ultimately won by eight wins to three, with five draws. By this time, Tarrasch was past his prime.
St Petersburg
Following the World Championship Match, Tarrasch began to play less frequently and successfully. In 1912, his second chess book, Die Moderne Schachpartie, was published. Despite his advancing years, Tarrasch performed well at the strong tournament at St Petersburg in 1914, finishing fourth. Only Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine finished ahead, and Tarrasch finished higher up the tournament table than Marshall, Bernstein, Rubinstein and Nimzowitsch, amongst others. 1914 also saw the start of World War I, and the international chess scene was severely disrupted.
Later years
After the war, Tarrasch took a respectable shared seventh place at Mährisch-Ostrau in 1923. However, it was clear that the ageing master, who the year before had celebrated his 60th birthday, had lost some of his chess strength. This did not diminish his passion for writing, though, and 1931 saw Tarrasch publish another chess book, Das Schachspiel. Tarrasch died in 1934 from pneumonia, at the age of 71.
Legacy
Today, Tarrasch is remembered as an excellent opening theoretician, an incredible author, and an extremely strong player. Important lines in the Queens Gambit and the French Defence bear his name, and his books have helped generations of players to improve their chess. He was among the world’s elite in the 1890s and 1900s, and his games are still studied today, over a century later.
Game Analysis
Tarrasch’s victory against Carl Schlechter at Leipzig 1894 is particularly instructive, and demonstrates the power of a space advantage.
Lessons from this game:
- A common idea for the side with less space is to exchange pieces. This leaves the remaining pieces with more room to manoeuvre. In this game, 7…Nxd4 is a good example.
- It is always useful to search for the worst placed piece, and to find a plan to improve it. In this game, , 28.Ne2! is a good example.
- A cramped position can be freed with a well timed pawn break, opening lines for the pieces and striking back at the opponent’s space gaining pawns. In this game, 23…d5! would have been a good exmaple.
Puzzles
Tarrasch – Mason, Breslau 1889
Showalter – Tarrasch, Vienna 1898
Tarrasch – Mieses, Monte Carlo 1903
Tarrasch – Janowski, Ostend 1907
Solutions
Further Reading
For more information about Tarrasch and his games, the following are useful sources:
The first volume of Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors,
Tarrasch’s chesgames.com page,
his chess.com page,
his World Chess Hall of Fame page,
this chessbase article about his life and chess,
and this chessbase article about his life and chess.
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