Carl Schlechter

Infobox chess player
playername = Carl Schlechter


birthname =
country = AUT
datebirth = birth date|1874|3|2
placebirth = Austria
datedeath = death date and age|1918|12|27|1874|3|2
placedeath =
title =
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion =
rating =
peakrating =

Carl Schlechter (March 2, 1874 - December 27, 1918) was a leading Austrian chess master at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.

Early life

Schlechter was born in Vienna. From 1893 onwards he played in over 50 international chess tournaments, including four wins: Munich in 1900 (shared), Ostend in 1906, Vienna in 1908 (shared) and Hamburg in 1910.

Lasker-Schlechter match

In 1910 Schlechter played a match against Emanuel Lasker for the World Chess Championship (in Vienna and Berlin). He needed only a draw in the tenth and last game to win the match, but missed first a win, then a clear draw before losing the game. The match ended tied at 5-5 (+1 -1 =8), and Lasker retained his title.

For details on the match, including the uncertainty over whether Schlechter had to win by a two point margin, see World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker-Schlechter).

In any case, Schlechter distinguished himself by being the first person in 16 years to seriously threaten to claim Lasker's world title.

Later life

Schlechter also played matches with Siegbert Tarrasch in 1911 (drawn) and Akiba Rubinstein in 1918 (lost).

Schlechter prepared the eighth and final edition of the famous Handbuch des Schachspiels openings treatise. Published in eleven parts between 1912 and 1916, it totaled 1,040 pages and included contributions by Rudolf Spielmann, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Richard Teichmann. International Master William Hartston called it "a superb work, perhaps the last to encase successfully the whole of chess knowledge within a single volume." [William Hartston, "The Kings of Chess", Harper & Row, 1985, p. 87. ISBN 0-06-015358-X.]

Schlechter died in Budapest of pneumonia and starvation.Fact|date=July 2008

Schlechter was a typical example of a gentleman chess player of old, offering courteous draws to opponents who felt unwell. If his opponent arrived late for a game, Schlechter would inconspicuously subtract an equal amount of time from his own clock. He also mentored many of his rivals, including Oldřich Duras.

Notable chess games

* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1409558 Fried-Schlechter, Vienna 1894, From's Gambit (A02), 0-1] A breezy 14-move win by Schlechter, who sacrifices his queen and mates his opponent's king in the middle of the board.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1120921 Bernhard Fleissig-Schlechter, Vienna 1895, Polish Opening: General (A00), 0-1] One of Schlechter's most famous games, a scintillating win where Black sacrificed both his rooks and both his bishops.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1120971 Schlechter-Steinitz, Cologne 1898 Vienna Game (C28), 1-0] Schlechter routs the former World Champion in 24 moves.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1121017 Schlechter-Meitner, Vienna 1899, Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Moeller-Therkatz Attack (C54), 1-0] An interesting combination in the endgame: White sacrifices his queen, then makes a quiet move with his king - and black is unable to prevent a mate in two moves.

Notes

References

External links

*chessgames player|id=10503