Marshall's Brilliant Victory
In the spring of 1904, most of the chess world's elite gathered in the
sleepy northwestern Pennsylvania town of Cambridge Springs, where the
first great tournament of the twentieth century was to take place. World
Champion Emanuel Lasker topped the field. The champions of America
(Harry Pillsbury), Russia (Mikhail Chigorin), France (David Janowski)
and the Austria-Hungarian Empire (Carl Schlechter) were also playing.
Among the other players in this historic fifteen-round-robin event was a
young master from Brooklyn, Frank Marshall. He had some international
experience, including defeating World Champion Lasker in their
individual encounter at Paris in 1900. However, he certainly was not
considered among the favorites at the time. Nevertheless, Marshall
finished in first place, two full points ahead of the rest of the field,
the only undefeated player.
The story of this great tournament is superbly told by author Robert
Sherwood. Each game is deeply annotated, while contemporary sources and
rare archival photos nicely supplement the round-by-round account.
With this victory, Frank Marshall took his place among the world-class
players of his era. You are invited to join Marshall on his journey in
this splendid account of his magnificent triumph in the first major
international tournament of the twentieth century.
