Baltic Chess Federation

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The Baltic Chess Federation was the chess federation of the Baltic chess players . It existed from 1898 until the end of the First World War .

background

The idea of ​​a chess association in the Russian Baltic provinces emerged in the 1890s. The establishment of the German Chess Federation (DSB) in 1877 and the subsequent series of DSB congresses had a stimulating effect not only on the Baltic German chess players. There were also a number of active chess clubs in existence at the time , including the clubs in Riga and Dorpat .

In 1897, Mikhail Chigorin's tour of the Baltic States played an important role in the practical implementation . The strongest Russian master visited Riga, Jurjew (Dorpat), Reval and Libau one after the other and supported the idea of ​​the planned union. The proximity to the capital Saint Petersburg also favored the merger, which finally preceded the All-Russian Chess Federation, founded in 1914, by a decade and a half.

History of the Chess Federation

At the initiative of the local chess club, a meeting of the chess clubs of Livonia and Estonia was called on April 2, 1898 in Riga . The result was the decision to found the "Baltic Chess Federation". Its main tasks included the popularization of the chess game in the Baltic States and, based on the German model, the regular organization of chess congresses with main and side tournaments. Friedrich Amelung was appointed First Secretary from 1898 to 1901 , followed by E. Henne between 1901 and 1913 and August Lüth from 1913 to 1914.

With the course and end of the First World War, the Baltic Chess Federation disintegrated. He can be seen as the forerunner of the chess organizations in the states of Estonia and Latvia , which were independent after 1918 .

The congresses

The Congress of the Baltic Chess Federation
No. time place Results in the main tournament
1. April 1899 Riga Winner: Robert Behting (Riga) 7½ out of 11, after a playoff against Carl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz in front of Carl Behting and Hans Seyboth .
2. April 1901 Yuryev 1st - 4th Carl Behting, Wilhelm von Stamm (both Riga), W. Sohn ( Pernau ), Rosenkrantz (Libau) 5 from 7
3. April 1904 Reval 1st – 2nd Bernhard Gregory (Reval), W. Ostrogski (Moscow) 6½ from 9
4th September - October 1907 Riga Two support groups with 16 participants, the first three made it to the final:

1. Rosenkrantz ( Saint Petersburg ) after 1-0 in the playoff 2. S. Lurie (Jurjew) each 4 out of 5

5. April 1911 Libau Winner: Arwid Kubbel (Riga) 12 out of 15
6th April 1913 Mitau Winner: A. Hartmanis (Riga) 11½ out of 14
7th 1916 Yuryev did not take place

Chess journalism in the Baltic States

The Baltic chess sheets are a central source for the history of the chess federation. Between 1888 and 1908, eight issues that appeared roughly every two to three years were published by Amelung. In addition to the historical part, they contained collected games from the Baltic States, as well as reprints of chess compositions, mainly from the local press. From issue 9 the Baltic Chess Pages by Carl Behting and Paul Kerkovius were published. The latter owned the printing press of the Rigaer Tageblatt in Riga, Domplatz 5, in which the Riga Chess Club edited a chess section.

The intense chess life in the region was reflected in the numerous chess columns in the Baltic newspapers, including the Rigaer Tageblatt, the Baltic daily newspaper and , from November 1895, the fortnightly feature section “For House and Family” of the Düna newspaper (initially with Andreas Ascharin , later with Carl Behting as editor) and from 1890 the Revalsche Zeitung . As early as 1881, Friedrich Amelung had set up a weekly chess corner in the Revaler Beobachter , which was continued by others after a while. In December 1896 a chess column was opened in the Rigaschen Rundschau under the direction of Paul Kerkovius, the St. Petersburg Herald led its weekly chess column from late 1892 under the editorship of Hermann Clemenz and the St. Petersburg newspaper from October 1895 under Hans Seyboth finally since January 1893 the Libauer Tageblatt under the editorship of Carl Kupffer. Occasionally the Neue Dorpater Zeitung and the Libausche Zeitung brought chess games. In addition, there was the monthly magazine Austrums , published in Latvian, with a chess section by Heinrich Adolphi .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Article in the Düna newspaper , May 1, 1899, p. 141.
  2. ↑ Deutsche Schachzeitung , January 1896, p. 28

literature

  • Anatoli Jewgenjewitsch Karpow et al.: Chess - encyclopedic dictionary. Sovetskaya encyclopedia . Moscow 1990, p. 319 (Russian). ISBN 5-85270-005-3
  • Bodo von Dehn: Well-known Baltic chess masters , in: Baltische Hefte , Hannover-Döhren, 9th year (1962/63), booklet 4