Leo Forgacs, playing Black, defeated Gyula Breyer to retain the lead after the tenth round of the Austro-Hungarian Championship tournament in Budapest. Forgacs, with 7 points, stands one half-point ahead of Rudolf Spielmann and Saviely Tartakower, each of whom likewise recorded a victory on the day, the former at the expense of Lajos Asztalos and the latter by topping Karoly Sterk. Forgacs and Tartakower have two games each remaining, while Spielmann has three, a circumstance likely to make the finish most tight indeed. In other contests, Zoltan von Balla assumed clear fourth place with 5 points by defeating Richard Reti, and, to complete a round comprised wholly of decisive games, Zsigmond Barasz took the full point from Georg Marco. Milan Vidmar had the bye, while Miklos Brody was also free, owing to his pairing with the withdrawn player Jeno Szekely.
Scores after Round 10: Forgacs* 7; Spielmann, Tartakower* 6 1/2; v. Balla* 5; Breyer, Asztalos*, Marco* 4 1/2; Brody, Vidmar* 3 1/2; Reti 2 1/2; Barasz 2; Sterk 1. *Denotes those players with a free day remaining.
We have three games to offer to our readers today, though Forgacs' triumph over Breyer is sadly not among them, and it pains us greatly to find ourselves once again unable to share with our audience the sporting achievements of a man who now bids fair to claim the Championship of one of the greatest chess powers of the earth. Tartakower's victory over Sterk is also lacking. We find this entire situation deplorable. If such vital information proves so difficult to come by in our day, what will be the fate of researchers a century hence? We pity their future plight.
To present that which is in our possession, we begin with Spielmann's defeat of Asztalos, in which the Viennese tactician defended the Ruy Lopez with the sharp 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 f5, and landed the final blow in a contest in which both Kings came under heavy attack:
Reti, as second player in a Queen's Gambit Declined, sacrificed the exchange against von Balla, obtaining good play in return, only to stray from the correct path later on. In particular, Black appears to have missed a clear draw at his 27th move.
Finally, Basasz, who had seen his only prior victory in the tourney expunged from the record as a consequence of the withdrawal of Szekely, at last recorded an official win, besting Marco in a Philidor Defense.
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