Tournament books

I mentioned in the last article that A.V.R.O 1938 was one of the most extensively covered tournaments in chess literature and I have now drawn up a list of the top 31 tournaments based on the number of publications listed in Gino Di Felice's Chess Competitions 1824-1970.

The list shows the number of publications, the event and Di Felice's reference number. 

There are some caveats in interpreting these figures as Di Felice's entries include pre-tournament programs, prospectuses and similar material, articles in non-tournament books, all reprints and later editions, scrapbooks of cuttings, and coverage in composite works etc. As an example, the Sixth American Chess Congress held in New York, 1889, has 11 publications listed. Five of these are pre-tournament matter, one is a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings and one is a modern reprint, leaving just four original tournament books on the event. Furthermore, events after 1970 are not included.

However, the relative numbers do give some indication of the importance and popularity of the major tournaments.


34  World Championship, The Hague and Moscow, 1948.                    576
30  Candidates Tournament, Neuhausen-Zurich, 1953.                     1465 
22  A.V.R.O. International Tournament, Amsterdam, 1938.                   45
19  Nottingham International Tournament, 1936.                             1563
16  St. Petersburg International Tournament, 1914.                          1932
15  New York International Tournament, 1927.                                 1496
14  Carlsbad International Tournament, 1929.                                    895
14  New York International Tournament, 1924.                                 1495
13  Candidates Tournament, Amsterdam/Leeuwarden, 1956.                 50
13  Candidates Tournament, Curaçao, 1962.                                       550
12  Candidates Tournament, Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, 1959.                   296
12  Hastings International Tournament, 1895.                                    764
12  Second Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica, 1966.                              1939
11  Candidates Tournament, Budapest, 1950.                                     401
11  The Chess Tournament, London, 1851.                                        1161
11  First Piatigorsky Cup, Los Angeles, 1963.                                     1186
11  Moscow International Tournament, 1935.                                     1383
11  Sixth American Chess Congress, New York, 1889.                         1481
10  Groningen International Tournament, 1946.                                   710
10  Soviet Union Championship, Leningrad/Moscow, 1941.                  1108
10  The Chess Congress of 1862, London, 1862.                                1163
10  Moscow International Tournament, 1925.                                     1381
10  Interzonal Tournament, Palma de Mallorca, 1970.                         1658
10  Interzonal Tournament, Portorož, 1958.                                       1728
10  San Remo International Tournament, 1930.                                  1919
  9  31st Soviet Union Championship, Leningrad, 1963.                       1118
  9  Moscow International Tournament, 1936.                                     1385 
  9  Ostend International Tournament, 1907.                                      1629
  9  St Petersburg International Tournament, 1909.                             1929
  9  Interzonal Tournament, Sousse, 1967.                                          2071
  9  Interzonal Tournament, Stockholm, 1962.                                     2111    

Almost one-third of this list is made up of World Championship events. The unique World Championship Tournament of 1948 tops the poll and a further nine Candidates and Interzonal tournaments are included.

 

© Michael Clapham 2020