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Wilhelm Steinitz and Szymon Winawer shared first and second place at the Second International Chess Tournament in Vienna, Austria from May 10th to June 24th, 1882. The tournament was held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Chess Society. Vienna was previously the site of one of the very first international tournaments in 1873, which was also won by Steinitz in a two-game playoff over Joseph Henry Blackburne.
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Coming into the tournament, Steinitz was the favorite despite his long absence from tournament chess (nearly 10 years). Steinitz was also bringing a 25-game winning streak into the tournament, but was bound to have that streak broken as a result of being rusty from his long layoff. The streak was indeed broken early on in the tournament in round three, as he drew a game with George Henry Mackenzie. Ironically enough, this was Steinitz’s first draw since the 1873 Vienna tournament. He then lost three consecutive games to Johann Zukertort, Vincenz Hruby, and Preston Ware.
The game format for the event was a grueling double round-robin, consisting of 34 games. The time control was 15 moves an hour, with 2 hour breaks after 4 hours of play. All games started at 10:00am and were adjourned at midnight if necessary. The rigorous format took it’s toll on several players, as Henry Bird became very ill between rounds 29 and 33; and Bernhard Fleissig actually withdrew from the event after the 20th round.
Steinitz regained his form and stormed back to the top of the tournament leader board, moving into third place at the halfway point, just a point behind the leader Mackenzie. His strong play continued in the second half of the tournament and he ended up tying for first place with Winawer, subsequently splitting a 2-game playoff with the Polish player.
Mackenzie made a strong showing for the United States, leading for much of the tournament and eventually sharing fourth prize with Zukertort. Mason, in one of the best performances of his career, finished alone in third place in a tournament considered by some to be the strongest of the 19th century.
Vienna marked the greatest success in Winawer’s career, but he withdrew from competitive chess only a year later. Steinitz, on the other hand, had strengthened his reputation as the best player in the world, with the realization that his competitors were not far behind him. TEST
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