First Women’s Chess Tournament in Berlin

By André Schulz; with picture by Dagobert Kohlmeyer

A large number of spectators had the privilege to witness the rebirth of an old tradition. The newspaper Neues Deutschland initiated and sponsored a chess tournament. In the early days of tournament chess newspapers all over the world were the first chess players and organisers turned to. Every prestigious newspaper had a regular chess column. Thus it was only natural to provide the news to be published by making them happen. Of the all the tournaments in Germany linked to newspapers, the “Eliteturnier“ in 1928 might well be the most famous. It took place from 11th to 29th October in the Café König in Berlin, one of the great chess coffeehouses of that time. The organizer was Jacques Mieses, who staged the tournament for his newspaper, the famous Berliner Tageblatt. The prize fund of 10,000 German Marks and Mieses’ organizational skills attracted a very strong field that made for what we today would call a supertournament.

IM Elisabeth Pähtz 1.5 – .5 IM Inna Gaponenko to win this event.

The full article can be read herePosted by Picasa

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Tags: