150 years ago, from 21 June to 29 August 1873, the “First International Vienna Chess Congress” was held in Vienna. Some of the best players in the world accepted the invitation and played mini-matches against each other. In the end, Wilhelm Steinitz and Joseph Blackburne tied for first place. A play-off match decided the tournament’s winner.
Kieseritzky s Immortal Game chessbase.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chessbase.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
3.5
As the table shows, Alekhine did not suffer a single loss, whereas Schmidt lost two games: one against Georg Kieninger and one against Alekhine. The two later tournament winners, Schmidt and Alekhine, met each other in the fourth round and in this game Schmidt had what he later described as his most unforgettable chess experience . According to Schmidt, Alekhine in this game moved a rook and just took the move back . (See Eva Regina Magacs, Michael Negele,
Paul Felix Schmidt: A Winning Formula, Exzelsior Verlag, Edition Randstein 2017, p. 106).
What happened?
Alekhine shared his version of the events in this game with Francesco Lupi, who then retold Alekhine s tales to the chess public in the British magazine CHESS. Alekhine probably overlooked the simple mate after 31.Rb8+ because he had drunk too much cognac during the game. In his account of the incident Alekhine more or less openly admits that he was drunk during the game, but he provides a different explanation fo