Rudolf Spielmann
by Bill Wall
Rudolf Spielman was born on May 5, 1883 (some sources say 1884) in Vienna, Austria.
Spielmann was a lawyer, but never worked as one. He was a Viennese professional chess player who lived in Germany for most of his life.
Spielmann began participating in international tournaments in 1905. He took 3rd place at Scheveningen, Holland in 1905.
During World War I, he served in the Austrian army as an officer.
In 1919, he was Nordic Champion.
In 1927, he won the German championship.
In 1935 he wrote "The Art of Sacrifice."
As a Jew, he fled Germany and moved to Sweden in 1939.
He died in poverty in Stockholm, Sweden at the age of 59 on August 20, 1942. His family said that he locked himself in a room and starved to death. Other sources say he was admitted to the Aso hospital and died of hypertension and heart disease.
His Elo historical rating is 2560.
tournaments:
Berlin Ch 1903-1904 2nd-3rd
Coburg 1904 4th
Munich 1904 1st
Barmen B 1905 10th-11th
Hamburg 1905 1st
Scheveningen 1905 3rd
Munich 1906 2nd
Ostende 1906 14th-15th
Nuremberg 1906 12th
Berlin 1907 3rd
Karlsbad 1907 13th
Ostende 1907 12th-14th
Prague 1908 15th
St. Petersburg 1909 3rd
Munich 1909 3rd
Hamburg 1910 4th
Carlsbad 1911 12th
Abbazia 1912 1st
San Sebastian 1912 2nd (+8=8-3)
Bad Pistyan 1912
Baden-Baden 1912
Breslau 1912
Stockholm 1912
Vienna 1913
Baden-Baden 1914
Mannheim 1914
Stockholm 1919 1st (+6=3-3)
Berlin 1919
Berlin 1920
Gothenburg 1920
Bad Pistyan 1922 2nd (+11=7-0)
Teplitz-Schoenau 1922 1st (+6=6-1)
Vienna 1922
Copenhagen 1923
Carlsbad 1923
Maehrisch-Ostrau 1923
Scheveningen 1923
Merano 1924
Baden-Baden 1925
Marienbad 1925
Moscow 1925
Berlin 1926
Semmering 1926 1st (+10=6-1)
New York 1927
Bad Kissingen 1928
Budapest 1928
Dortmund 1928
Berlin 1928 3rd (+3=7-2)
Carlsbad 1929 2nd (+11=7-3)
San Remo 1930
Bled 1931
Amsterdam 1932
Vienna 1933
Maribor 1934
Sitges 1934
Sopron 1934
Moscow 1935
Warsaw (ol) 1935
Zandvoort 1936
Semmering 1937
Margate 1938
Nordwijk-aan-Zee 1938
Vasteras 1940
Kalmar 1941
Matches:
Leonhardt 1906 (+6=5-4)
Nimzovich 1908 (+4=1-1)
Mieses 1910 (+5=2-1)
Reti 1910 (+4=1-0)
Tartakower 1910 (+3=2-1)
Reti 1921 (+3=3-0)
Tartakower 1921 (+3=1-2)
Stahlberg 1930 (+3=1-1)
Stoltz 1930 (+3=1-2)
Pirc 1931 (+3=6-1)
Stoltz 1932 (+4=1-1)
Bogoljubov 1932 (+4=2-3)
Euwe 1935 (+4=4-2)
He was known as “The Master of Attack” and “The Last Knight of the King’s Gambit.”
In one of the tournament Spielmann was playing in, a spectator carelessly flicked an ash on Spielmann's pants, which caught on fire. He was so absorbed with the game that he failed to notice he was on fire and had to be rescued by onlookers.
Reti - Spielmann, Dortmund 1928
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nge2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.O-O Qa5 9.a3 O-O 10.Be3 Bxc3 11.Nxc3 Nd4 12.b4 Qa6 13.f4 Qc6 14.Qd2 Qxc3! (15.Qxc3 Ne2+ and 16...Nxc3) 0-1