Dawid Janowski
Encyclopedia
Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (in English usually called David Janowski) (25 May 1868, Wołkowysk, – 15 January 1927, Hyères
, France
) was a leading Polish
chess
master and subsequent French citizen.
Born into a Polish family in Wołkowysk, Russian Empire
(now Belarus
), he settled in Paris around 1890 and began his professional chess career in 1894. He won tournaments in Monte Carlo
1901, Hanover
1902 and tied for first at Vienna
1902 and Barmen
1905. In 1915 he left Europe for the United States and spent the next nine years there before returning to Paris.
Janowski was devastating against the older masters such as Wilhelm Steinitz
(+5−2), Mikhail Chigorin
(+17−4=4) and Joseph Henry Blackburne
(+6−2=2). However, he had minus scores against newer players such as Siegbert Tarrasch
(+5−9=3), Frank Marshall (+28−34=18), Akiba Rubinstein
(+3−5), Géza Maróczy
(+5−10=5) and Carl Schlechter
(+13−20=13). He was outclassed by world champions Emanuel Lasker
(+4−25=7) and José Raúl Capablanca
(+1−9=1), but scored respectably against Alexander Alekhine
(+2−4=2).
Janowski played very quickly and was known as a sharp tactician who was devastating with the bishop pair. Capablanca annotated some Janowski games with great admiration, and said, "when in form [he] is one of the most feared opponents who can exist". Capablanca noted that Janowski's greatest weakness as a player was in the endgame, and Janowski reportedly told him, "I detest the endgame." American champion Frank Marshall remembered Janowski's talent and his stubbornness. In "Marshall's Best Games of Chess" he wrote that Janowski "could follow the wrong path with greater determination than any man I ever met!" Reuben Fine
remembered Janowski as a player of considerable talent, but a "master of the alibi" with respect to his defeats. Fine said that his losses invariably occurred because it was too hot, or too cold, or the windows were open too far, or not far enough. He also noted that Janowski was sometimes unpopular with his colleagues because of his predilection for doggedly playing on even in an obviously lost position, hoping his opponent might blunder. Edward Lasker
in his book Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters recalled that Janowski was an inveterate but undisciplined gambler who would often lose all of his chess winnings at the roulette wheel.
Janowski played three matches against Emanuel Lasker
: two friendly matches in 1909 (+2 -2 and +1 =2 -7) and one match for the world chess championship in 1910
(=3 -8). The longer 1909 match has sometimes been called a world championship match, but research by Edward Winter
indicates that the title was not at stake.
In July–August 1914, he was playing an international chess tournament, the 19th DSB Congress
(German Chess Federation Congress) in Mannheim
, Germany, with four wins, four draws and three losses (seventh place), when World War I
broke out.
Players at Mannheim representing countries now at war with Germany were interned. He, as well as Alexander Alekhine
, was interned but released to Switzerland
after a short internment.
Then he moved to the United States, where he shared first place with Oscar Chajes
, ahead of José Raúl Capablanca
, at New York 1916, won at Atlantic City 1921 (the eighth American Chess Congress
) and took third place at Lake Hopatcong
1923 (the ninth ACC).
He died in France on 15 January 1927 of tuberculosis
.
The Janowski Indian Defense is named after him.
Hyères
Hyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) was a leading Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
master and subsequent French citizen.
Born into a Polish family in Wołkowysk, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
), he settled in Paris around 1890 and began his professional chess career in 1894. He won tournaments in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo chess tournament
The Monte Carlo chess tournament was established in 1901. There were a series of very strong tournaments held in Monte Carlo, from 1901 to 1904, and again after a long break from 1967 to 1969.-1901:...
1901, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
1902 and tied for first at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
1902 and Barmen
Barmen
Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which in 1929 with four other towns was merged with the city of Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. Barmen was the birth-place of Friedrich Engels and together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the...
1905. In 1915 he left Europe for the United States and spent the next nine years there before returning to Paris.
Janowski was devastating against the older masters such as Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
(+5−2), Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
(+17−4=4) and Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
(+6−2=2). However, he had minus scores against newer players such as Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
(+5−9=3), Frank Marshall (+28−34=18), Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the world championship in 1914, but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I...
(+3−5), Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...
(+5−10=5) and Carl Schlechter
Carl Schlechter
Carl Schlechter was a leading Austrian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.-Early life:...
(+13−20=13). He was outclassed by world champions Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
(+4−25=7) and José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
(+1−9=1), but scored respectably against Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
(+2−4=2).
Janowski played very quickly and was known as a sharp tactician who was devastating with the bishop pair. Capablanca annotated some Janowski games with great admiration, and said, "when in form [he] is one of the most feared opponents who can exist". Capablanca noted that Janowski's greatest weakness as a player was in the endgame, and Janowski reportedly told him, "I detest the endgame." American champion Frank Marshall remembered Janowski's talent and his stubbornness. In "Marshall's Best Games of Chess" he wrote that Janowski "could follow the wrong path with greater determination than any man I ever met!" Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...
remembered Janowski as a player of considerable talent, but a "master of the alibi" with respect to his defeats. Fine said that his losses invariably occurred because it was too hot, or too cold, or the windows were open too far, or not far enough. He also noted that Janowski was sometimes unpopular with his colleagues because of his predilection for doggedly playing on even in an obviously lost position, hoping his opponent might blunder. Edward Lasker
Edward Lasker
Edward Lasker was a leading German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author.-Background:...
in his book Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters recalled that Janowski was an inveterate but undisciplined gambler who would often lose all of his chess winnings at the roulette wheel.
Janowski played three matches against Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
: two friendly matches in 1909 (+2 -2 and +1 =2 -7) and one match for the world chess championship in 1910
World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker-Janowski)
Emanuel Lasker faced David Janowski in the second 1910 World Chess Championship. It was played from November 8 to December 8, 1910 in Berlin, Lasker successfully defending his title.-Background:...
(=3 -8). The longer 1909 match has sometimes been called a world championship match, but research by Edward Winter
Edward Winter (chess historian)
Edward Winter is an English journalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. He writes a regular column on that subject, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase.-Chess Notes:...
indicates that the title was not at stake.
In July–August 1914, he was playing an international chess tournament, the 19th DSB Congress
DSB Congress
The Deutschen Schachbund had been 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 Chairman and Hermann Zwanziger the General Secretary...
(German Chess Federation Congress) in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Germany, with four wins, four draws and three losses (seventh place), when World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out.
Players at Mannheim representing countries now at war with Germany were interned. He, as well as Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
, was interned but released to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
after a short internment.
Then he moved to the United States, where he shared first place with Oscar Chajes
Oscar Chajes
Oscar Chajes was an Austrian, then American chess player.-Biography:Chajes was Jewish and was born in Brody, Galicia, in what is now Ukraine. In 1909, he won in Excelsior, Minnesota . In 1910, he took 2nd in Chicago. In January/February 1911, he tied for 3rd-4th in New York...
, ahead of José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
, at New York 1916, won at Atlantic City 1921 (the eighth American Chess Congress
American Chess Congress
The American Chess Congress was a series of chess tournaments held in the United States, a predecessor to the current U.S. Chess Championship. It had nine editions, the first played in 1857 and the last in 1923.-First American Chess Congress :...
) and took third place at Lake Hopatcong
Lake Hopatcong
Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in the state of New Jersey, USA, approximately 4 square miles in area. The lake is located in the mountains of northern New Jersey, north of Netcong and along the border between Sussex and Morris counties.The lake is within the borders of four...
1923 (the ninth ACC).
He died in France on 15 January 1927 of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
.
The Janowski Indian Defense is named after him.
External links
- Edward Winter, Janowsky Jottings (1998)