Vienna 1873

The international chess tournament in Vienna 1873 was held during the world exhibition 1873.

The tournament took place in the rooms of the Wiener Schachgesellschaft from June 21 to August 29. The time limit was twenty moves per hour. It was a twelve player tournament and each participant played every other for a match for two points with a maximum of three games. There were eleven rounds of match competitions. Every short match had to be ended within two days. If the overall score gave no winner (1:1,=1 or 0:0,=3), the result was drawn with a half point given to each player. Wilhelm Steinitz won the tournament after a play-off with Joseph Henry Blackburne (2–0).
After this tournament Steinitz was regarded as the strongest player in the world.

Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria, Baron Albert Salomon von Rothschild and Baron Ignaz von Kolisch contributed large sums to the prize fund. The prizes winners were: Steinitz 10 points & winner of playoff (1000 guldens (F) & 200 golden ducats), Blackburne 10 points (600 F), Anderssen 8½ points (300 F), Rosenthal 7½ points (200 F). Scores of the other players were: Paulsen and Bird 6½, Fleissig and Meitner 3½, Heral, Schwarz and Gelbfuhs 3, Pitschel 1.

Interesting Games:

[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1873.07.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Blackburne, Joseph Henry"]
[Black "Steinitz, William"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qd5 Be7
8. Nc3 Bf6 9. Bd2 O-O 10. O-O-O a6 11. Be2 d6 12. f4 g6 13. Qd3 Bg7 14. h4 h5
15. g4 hxg4 16. h5 Be6 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. e5 Qe8 19. Nd5 Qf7 20. Nf6+ Bxf6 21.
exf6 Bf5 22. Qg3 Qxa2 23. Bc3 Kf7 24. Rh7+ Ke8 25. Bxg4 Be4 26. Qe3 d5 27. Qc5
1-0

[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1873.08.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Steinitz, William"]
[Black "Anderssen, Adolf"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O
Nbd7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Rc1 c5 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qa4 Ne4 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. Rfd1
Bxg5 15. Nxg5 Qxg5 16. Rxd7 Rfb8 17. Qb3 Bc6 18. Qxf7+ Kh8 19. h4 Qg4 20. Rxa7
Rxa7 21. Qxa7 Rxb2 22. Qxc5 Qe6 23. Rd1 h6 24. Rd6 Qf7 25. Nd1 Re2 26. Kf1
1-0

[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1873.08.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anderssen, Adolf"]
[Black "Blackburne, Joseph Henry"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. Nc3 g6 8. d4
exd4 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nd7 13. O-O Bg7 14. Qd3 O-O
15. Be3 Qe7 16. Rae1 Rfb8 17. b3 Qe5 18. Na4 Re8 19. f3 Qb5 20. c4 Qe5 21. Qd2
a5 22. f4 Qe7 23. Bf2 c5 24. Re2 f5 25. Rfe1 Qf7 26. exf5 Rxe2 27. Rxe2 Qxf5
28. g4 Qf7 29. Bg3 Bd4+ 30. Kh2 Re8 31. Rxe8+ Qxe8 32. Qe1 Qe3 33. Qxe3 Bxe3
34. Nc3 Nb6 35. Kg2 Kf7 36. Kf3 Bd4 37. Nb5 d5 38. cxd5 Nxd5 39. Ke4 c6 40.
Nxd4 Nc3+ 41. Kd3 cxd4 42. a4 Ke6 43. Be1 Nd5 44. Ke4 c5 45. f5+ gxf5+ 46.
gxf5+ Kd6 47. Bxa5 Nf6+ 48. Kd3 Nd7 49. Bd2 Kd5 50. Bf4 Kc6 51. Ke4 Nb6 52. f6
Nd5 53. f7 Nf6+ 54. Kd3 Nd7 55. Kd2
1-0

The two playoff games:

[Event "Vienna playoff-1st place"]
[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1873.08.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Blackburne, Joseph Henry"]
[Black "Steinitz, William"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. d3 Bc5 8. c3
O-O 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 Be7 11. Nbd2 Kh8 12. Nf1 a5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Bxa4 d5 15.
Qc2 dxe4 16. dxe4 Nd7 17. Bg3 Nc5 18. Rd1 Qe8 19. Ne3 Ba6 20. Nd5 Bd6 21. Nh4
Rb8 22. Nf6 Qe6 23. Bxc6 Qxf6 24. f3 Rb6 25. Bd5 Rfb8 26. b3 Nxb3 27. Nf5 Nc5
28. c4 Rb2 29. Nxd6 cxd6 30. Qc3 R8b3 31. Qxa5 Re3+ 32. Kf1 Rxf3+ 33. Kg1 Rxg3
0-1

[Event "Vienna playoff-1st place"]
[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1873.08.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Steinitz, William"]
[Black "Blackburne, Joseph Henry"]

1. a3 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. e4 c5 4. dxc5 Qc7 5. Bd3 Qxc5 6. Ne2 Nc6 7. Be3 Qa5+ 8.
Nbc3 d6 9. O-O Bd7 10. b4 Qd8 11. Rb1 b6 12. Nd5 Nf6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bh6 Ne5
15. h3 Rg8 16. f4 Nc6 17. Qd2 Qc7 18. c4 Nd8 19. Rfc1 Ne6 20. Nc3 Qb7 21. Nd5
Bh8 22. Kh1 Rc8 23. Qf2 Bc6 24. Qh4 Nd4 25. Bg5 Bxd5 26. cxd5 Kd7 27. Bxe7
Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Rc8 29. Rd1 Rc3 30. Bf6 Qc8 31. Qg4+ Nf5 32. Bb5+ Kc7 33. Bxc3
h5 34. Qf3 Nh4 35. Bxh8 Qxh8 36. Rc1+ Kb7 37. Qc3 Qd8 38. Qc6+ Kb8 39. Ba6
1-0

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Last Updated on Thursday, 25 November 2010 23:00