The summer chess season is now upon us, with several important tourneys scheduled over the coming months. First to begin is the Austro-Hungarian Championship, which opened yesterday in Budapest with 13 participants, among them the familiar faces Tartakower, Spielmann, and Vidmar, the young contenders Reti and Breyer, and the veterans Marco and Brody. The Hungarian Masters Forgacs, von Balla, Asztalos, Barasz, Sterk, and Szekely round out the field.
The first round, while not distinguished by any particular brilliancies, nevertheless produced four decisive games, the winners being Asztalos, Barasz, Breyer, and Spielmann. The game scores arrived here in our offices within the last hour, allowing us time only for the briefest of examinations, and we have done our best to provide a short summary of each encounter below.
Asztalos 1-0 Vidmar. The two players contested a lengthy Ruy Lopez in which neither side seemed for choice over the first 50 or so moves. Asztalos then began to make gradual progress in an endgame of Queen and Knight against Queen and Bishop, at last winning a pawn at his 67th turn and forcing his opponent's resignation 16 moves thereafter.
von Balla 1/2 - 1/2 Tartakower. Dr. Tartakower essayed the Sicilian Defense against the King's pawn opening of his opponent, and, while appearing to stand a bit worse through much of the contest, called upon his considerable endgame skill to hold the draw. This game, like the previous one, saw Black fighting first with Queen and Bishop against White's Queen and Knight, and later with Bishop against Knight alone, in this instance, however, with better success than that achieved by Vidmar.
Barasz 1-0 Szekely. The first player gained an advantage in a Caro-Kann Defense, forcing Black's Knight out of play on the King-side, and later broke through successfully on the other wing.
Breyer 1-0 Sterk. White opened the position to his advantage with the exchanging combination 17.Nxd5 and soon brought about a highly favorable endgame.
Brody 0-1 Spielmann. Brody, perhaps hoping to begin the tourney with a quiet game, chose as White the Exchange Variation of the French Defense, but was forced to lay down his arms in the face of Spielmann's systematic encroachment of the King-side.
Forgacs 1/2 - 1/2 Marco. A Philidor Defense by the old Master led to a quiet draw in 22 moves.
Reti had the bye.
Scores after Round 1: Asztalos, Barasz, Breyer, Spielmann 1; von Balla, Tartakower, Forgacs, Marco 1/2; Vidmar, Szekely, Sterk, Brody, Reti* 0. *Denotes those players who have already had the bye.
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