Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 match ...

match with

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Cham ...

Early life

Schlechter was born into a Catholic family in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He is sometimes deemed to be Jewish, although others dispute this. He began playing chess at the age of 13. His first and only teacher was an Austria-Hungarian chess problemist, Dr. Samuel Gold. From 1893 onwards he played in over 50 international chess tournaments. He won or shared first at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

1900 (the 12th

DSB Congress The ''Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall became Chairm ...

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

1904 (the 14th DSB Congress),

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

1906, Stockholm 1906, Vienna 1908, Prague 1908, Hamburg 1910 (the 17th DSB Congress), and thrice in the Trebitsch Memorial in Vienna (1911, 1912, 1913). Schlechter played several matches. He drew with

Georg Marco Georg Marco (29 November 1863 – 29 August 1923) was an Austrian chess player. He was born in Chernivtsi (Cernăuţi), Bukovina (then part of Austria-Hungary). He later settled in Vienna and was secretary of the Viennese Chess Association. I ...

(+0 −0 =10) in 1893, drew with Marco and

Adolf Zinkl Adolf Julius Zinkl (10 June 1871 – 3 June 1944) was an Austrian chess master. Tournament results Born in Bohemia, he settled in Vienna, where he played in many tournaments in the 1890s. He took 4th in 1892/93, shared 2nd (''Quadrangular'') i ...

both (+4 −4 =3) in 1894, drew with

Dawid Janowski Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (25 May 1868 – 15 January 1927; often spelled ''David'') was a Polish-born French chess player. The Janowski variations of the Old Indian Defense and of the Queen's Gambit Declined are named after him. Biography B ...

(+2 −2 =3) in 1896, drew with

Simon Alapin Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin (russian: Семён Зиновьевич Алапин; – 15 July 1923) was a Russian chess player, openings analyst, and puzzle composer. He was also a linguist, railway engineer and a grain commodities merchant. B ...

(+1 −1 =4) in 1899, beat Janowski (+6 −1 =3) in 1902, drew with

Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German chess master. He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rub ...

(+1 −1 =1) in 1904, and drew with

Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Life Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...

(+3 −3 =10) in 1911.

Lasker–Schlechter match

In 1910 Schlechter played a match against

for the

(in Vienna and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

). Schlechter was leading by one point going into the tenth and final game of the match. In the tenth game tragedy struck: after first achieving a won game, Schlechter blundered into a clearly drawn position, and then blundered again which led to his loss of the game. The match ended tied at 5–5 (+1 −1 =8) and Lasker retained his title. It is disputed as to whether Schlechter needed to score +2 to win the match and thus needed to win the tenth game. No contract for the match has ever been found and no evidence supporting this rumor has ever been produced. (For match details see World Chess Championship 1910.) Schlechter distinguished himself as the first player in 16 years to seriously challenge Lasker's world title.

Later life

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he thrice won Trebitsch Memorial in Vienna. In the last year of his life, he took third in Vienna, lost a match to

Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandma ...

(+1 −2 =3), took second place in Berlin (''Quadrangular'',

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...

won), tied for third place in Kaschau, and took third place in Berlin (''Quadrangular'',

won). Schlechter died of pneumonia and starvation on 27 December 1918, and was buried in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

on 31 December 1918.

Assessment

The Carl Schlechter– Arthur Kaufmann–

Hugo Fähndrich Hugo Fähndrich (3 July 1851 – 3 July 1930) was an Austrian–Hungarian chess master. Born in Hungary, he moved to Vienna. In 19th/20th century, the Viennese chess school, founded by Max Weiss, was propagated by the Carl Schlechter– Arthur Kau ...

trio propagated the Viennese chess school, founded by

Max Weiss Miksa (Max) Weisz (21 July 1857 – 14 March 1927) was an Austrian chess player born in the Kingdom of Hungary. Weiss was born in Sereď. Moving to Vienna, he studied mathematics and physics at the university, and later taught those subjects. We ...

in the 19th century. Schlechter prepared the eighth and final edition of the famous ''

Handbuch des Schachspiels ''Handbuch des Schachspiels'' (''Handbook of Chess'', often simply called the ''Handbuch'') is a chess book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was a comprehensive reference book on the game, and one of the most im ...

'' openings

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions." Tre ...

. Published in eleven parts between 1912 and 1916, it totaled 1,040 pages and included contributions by

Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer. Career Spielmann was born in 1883, third child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an ol ...

, and

. International Master

William Hartston William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the '' Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...

called it "a superb work, perhaps the last to encase successfully the whole of chess knowledge within a single volume." He was a typical example of a gentleman chess player of old, offering courteous draws to opponents who felt unwell. If his opponent arrived late for a game, Schlechter would inconspicuously subtract an equal amount of time from his own clock. He also mentored many of his rivals, including

Oldřich Duras Oldřich Duras (also Důras; 30 October 1882, Pchery, Bohemia, then Austria-Hungary – 5 January 1957, Prague, then Czechoslovakia) was a leading Czech chess master of the early 20th century. FIDE awarded him the title of International Gran ...

List of opening variations named after Schlechter

There are several "Schlechter Variations" in the chess openings: *Schlechter Gambit of the Bird's Opening 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 Nc6 *Schlechter Variation of the

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 *Schlechter Variation of the

Slav Defence The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 c6 The Slav is one of the primary defenses to the Queen's Gambit. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be ...

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 (or via a Grünfeld move-order, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 c6) *Schlechter Variation of the Danish Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 d5

Notable games

Fried–Schlechter, Vienna 1894, From's Gambit (A02), 0–1
A breezy 14-move win by Schlechter, who sacrifices his queen and mates his opponent's king in the middle of the board.
Bernhard Fleissig–Schlechter, Vienna 1893 (friendly), Polish Opening: General (A00), 0–1
One of Schlechter's most famous games, Black sacrifices both his rooks and bishops.
Schlechter–Steinitz, Cologne 1898 Vienna Game (C28), 1–0
Schlechter routs the former World Champion in 24 moves.
Schlechter–Meitner, Vienna 1899, Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Moeller–Therkatz Attack (C54), 1–0
A combination in the endgame: White sacrifices his queen then makes a quiet move with his king, and Black is unable to prevent a mate in two moves.

In popular culture

The central character of the 1998 novel '' Carl Haffner's Love of the Draw'' by

Thomas Glavinic Thomas Glavinic (born 2 April 1972 in Graz) is an Austrian writer. With Kathrin Röggla and Daniel Kehlmann, he is among other contemporary Austrian authors being perceived as significantly shaping the literary discussion in Austria. Life The f ...

is closely based on Schlechter. The book presents a fictionalised account of his 1910 World Chess Championship match with Lasker.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlechter, Carl 1874 births 1918 deaths Austrian chess players Chess theoreticians 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century chess players Game players from Vienna Tuberculosis deaths in Hungary Deaths from pneumonia in Hungary Deaths by starvation