On the brink | 5 June 2014

The last great tournament to have been completed before the outbreak of war in 1914 was St Petersburg, which saw a sensational triumph by the world champion Emanuel Lasker, ahead of Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch and Marshall. It is a testament to the political naivety of both players and organisers that an event was set for Mannheim in Germany in August 1914, organised by the German Chess Federation and open to many foreign luminaries. When war broke out the tournament had to be abandoned, and various foreign dignitaries were interned in Germany. After 11 rounds of the 17 envisaged, Alekhine was in the lead, ahead of Vidmar, Spielmann, Breyer, Marshall, Reti, Janowski, Bogolyubov and Tarrasch among others.
  There is something quite charming about the willingness of the Deutscher Schachbund to invite a host of players from countries with which they would soon be at open war, and the readiness of those players to accept.