Friday, January 18

New York tournament preview: Janowski

David Janowski surely needs no introduction to our readers. The veteran of countless chessboard battles and author of a chrestomathy of delightful brilliancies, he remains, after nearly two decades of Master chess, one of the foremost exponents of our game. Janowski's fighting spirit, his "va banque" style, and his disdain for the draw may perhaps not produce consistent results, but in compensation almost always lead to much thrilling and, we daresay, beautiful chess. There seems to be current in the chess world today the unfortunate opinion that Janowski's best days are behind him; we, however, cannot share this view, and would not count ourselves in the least surprised were he to capture one of the top places in the present tourney. Indeed, even outright victory seems to us within his reach.

We append one of our favorite Janowski games, a victory over Dr. Tarrasch, achieved at the Ostend tournament of 1905, and we invite our readers to compare the positions after White's 29th and 35th moves. Seldom have we witnessed such a hurricane sweep across the chessboard, leaving only a defenseless and denuded King in its wake. This is Janowski in full flight, a sight we sincerely hope to see again in the coming days.

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