Some 200 years ago, chess became a matter of personal challenge and international competition. But long before then, men travelled by ship from one country to another to compete. In some cases they travelled from separate continents, naturally by ships in the absence of aeroplanes. Competition was the key, whether it was a tournament or a match.
Cuba’s Capablanca travelled by ship to compete in the great St Petersburg Chess Society tournament of 1914. Nicholas 11, Czar of Russia, was host to the tournament and subscribed 1000 rubles to the prize fund.
The German world champion Emanuel Lasker was there. Akiba Rubinstein was there; the end-game artist from the Polish ghetto who had won five successive tournaments and who many thought was the strongest player alive. The world’s most important players were there: Marshall, Bernstein, Alekhine and Tarrash.
