The 1st Candidates Brilliancy - Best Of The pre-1900s - Weiss vs. Pollock, 1889

Today we know that a world championship candidates tournament does not necessarily lead to a title defense by the reigning world champion, BUT does the existence of a world champion lead to a candidates tournament? That seems to be the case in the massive 1889 New York tournament. A mere three years earlier Steinitz had defeated Johannes Zukertort in what they claimed to be the first World Chess Championship match. As the great Paul Morphy had passed away two years prior to that match, the chess world seemed ready to accept Steinitz as the first champion, something they had been less willing to do after he claimed the mantle by defeating Adolf Anderssen in a match back in 1866.

Now three years later, it was time to find a new challenger for Steinitz, and most of the best players in the world attended the New York tournament where it was understood that the winner would contest a championship match against Steinitz. the format was incredibly grueling. Today, we talk about the great stress of 14-round tournaments and matches, but New York had 20 players and used a double round robin format. Thus, there were 38 (!) rounds in total!

The two emergent victors, Mikhail Chigorin and Max Weiss, each scored 29/38 points. They also split a four-game tiebreak match, leaving unsettled the question of who should challenge Steinitz. As it turns out, the answer was neither of them. Today, we deal with a lack of motivation on the part of the reigning champion, but in 1889, the lack of motivation was on the part of the challengers. Chigorin had in fact already played a match with Steinitz previously that year. He was not yet ready for the rematch that he did contest three years later. For his part, Max Weiss elected not to pursue a professional chess career and instead he turned to the more profitable enterprise of banking. Weiss was one of the absolute best players of his day, but because he merely dabbled in the game, few players are familiar with his games in the modern era.

The brilliancy prize-winning game in the tournament was a game featuring Weiss, but it was not a game he won. The Irishman, William Pollock, was a fierce attacker and he got the better of Weiss on the black side of the following Ruy Lopez. The final king hunt and ultimate checkmate is quite pretty, but my favorite move is 12...Nb4!!, a striking punishment for leaving the king in the middle.

Top 10 Games From Before 1900

• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• #15: Weiss vs. Pollock, 1889

• See also: Top 10 of the 1900s, Top 10 of the 1910s, Top 10 of the 1920s, Top 10 of the 1930s, Top 10 of the 1940s, Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s

If you like the content and want to support it, subscribe and follow on YouTube and Twitch!