Introduction

I have tried to include all matches and tournaments played at classical time controls where at least three games were played between players in the top ten. A typical entry looks like this:

1895 Aug.-Sep. Hastings (Cat.10) 1.Pillsbury USA 16.5/21, 2.Chigorin RUS 16, 3.Lasker GER 15.5, 4.Tarrasch GER 14, 5.Steinitz USA 13

The first part is the date, and then the event name and/or site. (Cat.10) refers to the category of the event which is an estimate of the average strength of the players competing. Since 1970, the International Chess Federation(FIDE) has assigned categories to events, and uses them to help decide who receives the international grandmaster and master titles for example. Categories are assigned by averaging the current elo ratings of the players competing and then consulting a chart. Category 21 is the highest that has been seen so far (e.g. Las Palmas 1996) and indicates a tournament with an average elo rating between 2751 and 2775. Category 20 indicates a rating between 2726 and 2750 and so on down in 25 point ranges. Historical categories are taken from articles by Ken Whyld in British Chess Magazine in January 1978, and Romelio Milian Gonzalez in BCM Nov. 1987.

The number before each player's name indicates the order they placed in. In the event of a tie between two players this number is preceded by an equals sign. Where I am unsure I have sometimes put in a number followed by a question mark or just left the player's name with no number before it. The three letter code indicates the country where the player lived with, for example, "RUS" meaning Russia and "GER" meaning Germany. These abbrevations are generally the same as those used in the Olympics (although I have added a couple such as PRU for Prussia and A-H for Austria-Hungary). "16.5/21" is the number of points that the player scored over the number of games played. Where all players played the same number of games, I have only included the total for the first player. Occasionally I have converted this fraction to a percentage where this is notable or easier to understand.

Matches follow a slightly different format:

2000 Oct.-Nov. Braingames ch. London, Kramnik-Kasparov +2 =8

The date, event and site part is basically the same. "ch." here is just an abbreviation for "championship." The two players are then named and the scores are then given from the first player's perspective. Thus here Kramnik won two games and drew eight. Again a percentage score may follow.

For team events like the olympiads, I have generally only given scores for those playing on first board rather than for the teams.

For some events, I have included links to pages with crosstables or games to download. To read the game files, you will need a program like Winzip to decompress the zip files. Also, a computer program that reads the Portable Game Notation (pgn) format might come in handy if you want to play through the games on your computer. Chessbase Light is one free program that can display games written in pgn, but most other chess programs can read pgn as well.

Major Chess Matches and Tournaments of the 19th century

1834 Jun.-Oct. London ENG, Bourdonnais FRA-McDonnell ENG +45 =13 -27

1842 Paris, Calvi ITA-Kieseritzky FRA, +7=1-7

1843 London, Buckle ENG-Staunton ENG, +6 =1. Staunton gave odds of pawn and move.

1843 London, Cochrane ENG-St.Amant FRA +6=1-4

1843 London, Cochrane-Staunton(giving odds of pawn and move) +3-3 (even) +3=2-1

1843 London, St.Amant-Staunton +3=1-2

1843 Nov.-Dec. Paris FRA, Staunton ENG-Saint Amant FRA, +11 =4 -6

1846 Feb.-Jun. London. Staunton ENG-Horwitz PRU +14 =3 -7

1846 London, Kieseritzky FRA-Horwitz PRU +7=1-4

1846 Vienna, Lasa PRU-Loewenthal A-H, +5-2

1846 Oct. London, Staunton ENG-Harrwitz PRU, +7

1848 Jan. Breslau (PRU, now Wroclaw POL), Harrwitz PRU-Anderssen PRU +5-5

1848 July, Paris, Buckle-Kieseritsky FRA +3 =3 -2

1849 Feb. Brighton, Harrwitz PRU-Horwitz PRU +7=2-6

1849 London, 1.Buckle 2.Medley 3.Williams(knockout)

1851 May-July, London International knockout matches 1.Anderssen PRU 15/21 (beat Kieseritzky, Szen, Staunton and Wyvill) 2.Wyvill ENG 13 (beat Lowe, H.Kennedy and Williams), 3.Williams ENG 13.5 (beat Loewenthal, Mucklow and then Staunton in the playoff for 3rd), 4.Staunton ENG 11 (beat Brodie and Horwitz), 5.Szen A-H 12.5 (beat Newham, Horwitz and H.Kennedy), 6.Capt. Hugh Kennedy ENG 10 (beat Mayet and Mucklow), 7.Horwitz PRU 5 (beat Bird and Mucklow), 8.Mucklow 2 (beat E.Kennedy)

1851 Aug. London, Staunton ENG-Jaenisch RUS +7 =1 -2

1851 London, Staunton ENG-Williams ENG +6 =1 -4

1851 London, Buckle ENG-Loewenthal HUN/USA/ENG +4 =3 -1

1851 Breslau, Lasa-Anderssen +10 -5

1852 London, Williams-Horwitz PRU +5=9-3

1852 London, Harrwitz PRU-Williams +7=3

1853 Brussels BEL, Lasa-Staunton +5 =3 -4

1853 London, Harrwitz-Loewenthal +11=12-10

1857 Oct.-Nov. 1st American Chess Congress, New York USA, knockout matches, 1.Morphy 15.5/18 (beat Thompson, Meek, Lichtenhein and Paulsen) 2.L.Paulsen 11.5/18 (beat Calthrop, Montgomery and Raphael)3.Lichtenhein (beat Stanley and Perrin) 4.Raphael (beat Kennicot and Marache)

1857 Aug. Manchester ENG, One game knockout, =1.Loewenthal 2.5/3 (beat Horwitz, Anderssen and drew with Boden) =1.Boden 2.5 (beat Soul and Pindar) 3.Anderssen 1/2 (beat Harrwitz) 4.Pindar 1/2(beat Brien)

1858 Jul.-Aug. London, Morphy USA-Loewenthal ENG, +9 =2 -3(Morphy was 21 years old).

1858 Aug. Birmingham ENG, knockout 1.Loewenthal (beat Staunton, Owen and Falkbeer) 2.Falkbeer (beat Saint-Amant and Brien), 3.Owen (beat Salmon) 4.Brien (beat Smith); Morphy was originally scheduled to play

1858 Sep.-Oct. Paris, Morphy-Harrwitz FRA +5 =1 -2

1858 Dec. Paris, Morphy-Anderssen PRU +7 =2 -2

1860 April, Paris, Anderssen-Kolisch +5 =1 -5

1861 Aug. London, Anderssen-Kolisch +4 =2 -3

1862 June-Aug. London International 1.Anderssen 11/12, 2.L.Paulsen 9, =3.Owen 7, =3.MacDonnell 7, =5.Steinitz 6, =5.Dubois ITA 6, =5.Barnes 8.Hannah =9.Blackburne =9.Loewenthal. The first all-play-all tournament. Drawn games had to be replayed.

1862 July-Aug., London, Anderssen-L.Paulsen +3 =2 -3

1862-3 Dec.-Jan. London, Steinitz-Blackburne +7 =2 -1

1863 London, Steinitz-Deacon +5=1-1

1866 July-Aug. London, Steinitz-Anderssen +8 -6

1866 Sep.-Nov. London, Steinitz-Bird +7 =5 -5

1867 June-July, Paris, 1.Kolisch A-H 21/24, =2.Winawer RUS 19.5, =2.Steinitz ENG 19.5, 4.Neumann GER, 5.De Vere ENG, 6.Riviere FRA, =7.Czarnowski =7.Golmayo Zupide 9.Rosenthal FRA, =10.Loyd USA =10.D'Andre =12.From =12.Rouseau

1867 Sep. Dundee ENG, 1.Neumann PRU 7.5/9, 2.Steinitz ENG 7, =3.MacDonnell IRL 6.5, =3.De Vere ENG 6.5, 5.Blackburne ENG 5, 6.Robertson ENG 3, =7.J.Fraser SCO/G.Fraser SCO 2.5 9.Hamel ENG 2, 10.Spens SCO 0.5

1869 Hamburg BAV, 1.Anderssen 2.L.Paulsen

1870, July-Aug. Baden-Baden GER, 1.Anderssen GER 13/18, 2.Steinitz ENG 12.5, =3.Neumann GER 12, =3.Blackburne ENG 12, 5.L.Paulsen USA 9.5, =6.De Vere ENG 8.5, =6.Winawer RUS 8.5, =8.Minckwitz GER 7, =8.Rosenthal FRA 7, 10.Stern FRA 1.5. (Jan van Reek has a web page on this tournament.)

1872 June-July, London, 1.Steinitz 7.5/8, 2.Blackburne 5, 3.Zukertort 4, 4.MacDonnell 4, 5.De Vere 4

1872 Aug.-Sep. London, Steinitz-Zukertort +7 =4 -1

1873 July, Vienna A-H, =1.Steinitz 22.5/25, =1.Blackburne 21.5/30, 3.Anderssen 19/30, 4.Rosenthal 17/28, =5.L.Paulsen 14/27, =5.Bird 14.5/24, 7.Fleissig 11.5/29, 8.Heral, 9.Meitner, 10.Gelbfuss, 11.A.Schwarz, 12.Pitschel, Playoff Steinitz-Blackburne 2-0. Players played best-of-three matches. Steinitz won his last 14 games and the playoff. #24 on my list of strongest tournaments.

1876 Feb.-Mar. London, Steinitz-Blackburne +7. Steinitz's winning streak continued.

1876 Mar.-Apr. London, 1.Blackburne 10/11, 2.Zukertort 9/12, 3.Potter 8/12, 4.G.MacDonnell 6.5/11, 5.Janssens 2.5/10, 6.Minchin 2.5/12, 7.Wisker 0.5/6, 8.Martin 0/8

1877 July, Leipzig GER, 1.L.Paulsen USA 9/11, =2.Anderssen GER 8.5, =2.Zukertort ENG 8.5, 4.Winawer RUS 7.5, 5.Goering GER, =6.Englisch A-H/Schallopp GER/Leffmann GER 9.Metger GER, 10.Flechig GER, 11.Franke GER, 12.W.Paulsen GER

1878 July, Paris, =1.Winawer RUS 16.5/22 =1.Zukertort ENG 16.5, 3.Blackburne ENG 14.5, =4.Mackenzie USA 13, =4.Bird ENG 13, 6.Anderssen GER 12.5, =7.Englisch A-H 11.5, =7.Rosenthal FRA 11.5, =9.Clerc 8.5, =9.Mason ENG 8.5, 11.Gifford 3.5, 12.Pitschel 2.5

1879 London, Mason-Potter +5=11-5

1879 Leipzig, L.Paulsen-A.Schwarz +5-2

1880 Weisbaden GER, 1.Blackburne ENG 11/15, =1.Englisch A-H 11, =1.A.Schwarz A-H 11, 4.Schallopp GER 10.5, 5.Mason ENG 9.5, =6.Winawer RUS/Bird ENG 9, 8.Minckwitz GER, =9.L.Paulsen USA/Schottlaender GER, 11.W.Paulsen GER, 12.Wemmers GER, 13.Fritz GER, 14.Schwede GER, =15.Knorre GER/Schmid GER

1881 Aug.-Sep. 2nd German ch. Berlin GER, 1.Blackburne ENG, 2.Zukertort ENG, =3.Chigorin RUS, =3.Winawer RUS, Mason ENG, Wittek, J.Schwarz, Schallop GER, L.Paulsen USA

1881 June-July, London, Zukertort-Blackburne +7 =5 -2

1882 May-Jun. Vienna =1.Steinitz ENG 24, =1.Winawer RUS 24, 3.Mason ENG 23, =4.Zukertort ENG 22.5, =4.Mackenzie USA 22.5, 6.Blackburne ENG 21.5, 7.Englisch A-H 19.5, 8.L.Paulsen USA 18.5 9.Wittek A-H 18, 10.M.Weiss A-H 16.5, 11.Hruby A-H 16, =12.A.Schwarz A-H 14, =12.Chigorin RUS 14, 14.Meitner A-H 13, 15.Bird ENG 12, 16.Ware jr. USA 11, 17.Noa A-H 9, 18.Fleissig A-H 7. This event is the third strongest on my list. Steinitz's winning streak finished at 25 games when he drew his third game here against Mackenzie. This record still stands. See my records page. The tournament also saw Mason become the first player ever to lose a game on time.

1883 Apr.-June, London 1.Zukertort ENG 22/26, 2.Steinitz ENG, 19 3.Blackburne ENG 16.5, 4.Chigorin RUS 16, =5.Englisch A-H 15.5, =5.Mackenzie USA 15.5, =5.Mason ENG 15.5, 8.Rosenthal FRA 14, 9.Winawer RUS 13, 10.Bird ENG 12, 11.Noa A-H 9.5 13.Sellman 6.5, =14.Mortimer 3, =14.Skipworth 3(withdrew) This tournament came in fourth on my list or the strongest tournaments. Jan van Reek has a web page on this tournament. Book: Sid Pickard. 1997. London 1883 International Chess Tournament. Chrysalis.

1885 July, 4th German ch. Hamburg, 1.Gunsberg =2.Blackburne =2.Tarrasch =2.Mason =2.Englisch =2.Weiss 7.Mackenzie 8.Riemann 9.Schallop 10.Minckwitz 11.Berger 12.Bird

1886 Jan.-Mar. World Ch., New York, St.Louis and New Orleans, Steinitz-Zukertort +10=5-5, 62.5%

1887 Jul. 5th German ch. Frankfurt GER, 1.Mackenzie =2.Blackburne =2.Weiss 4.Bardeleben =5.Tarrasch =5.Berger Schiffers =14.Zukertort

1889 Jan.-Feb. World Ch., Havana CUB, Steinitz-Chigorin +10 =1 -6, 61.8%

1889 Jul. 6th German ch. Breslau GER, 1.Tarrasch Blackburne Schallop Mason Burn Mieses Gunsberg

1889 6th American Chess Congress, New York =1.Chigorin RUS 29/46, =1.Weiss A-H 29, 3.Gunsberg ENG 28.5, 4.Blackburne ENG 27, 5.Burn ENG 26, 6.Lipschuetz USA 25.5, 7.Mason ENG 22, 8.Taubenhaus FRA, 9.Judd USA, 10.Delmar USA, 11.D.Baird USA, 12.Pollock ENG, 13.Showalter USA, 19.J.Baird USA, 20.MacLeod CAN. Steinitz had agreed to play the winner for the world championship. He had already played Chigorin, and Weiss was not interested so Gunsberg became the challenger. Jan van Reek has a web page on this tournament.

1890 Manchester, 1.Tarrasch 2.Blackburne =3.Mackenzie =3.Bird =5.Mason

1890-1 Dec.-Jan. World ch. New York Steinitz-Gunsberg +6 -4 =9, 55.3%

1891 Havana, Blackburne-Golmayo +5=2-3

1892 Jan.-Feb. World ch. Havana, Steinitz-Chigorin +10 -8 =5, 54.3%

1893 Match, St.Petersburg RUS, Tarrasch-Chigorin +9 =4 -9

1893 8th German ch Kiel =1.Bardeleben 6/8, =1.Walbrodt 6, 3.Lipke 5, =4.Seuffert 4.5, =4.Gottschall 4.5, =4.Metger 4.5, 7.Mieses 2.5, 8.Schallopp 2, 9.Varain 1

1894, Mar.-May World ch. New York, Philadelphia and Montreal, Lasker-Steinitz +10=4-5, 63.2%

1894 Sep. 9th German ch. Leipzig GER, 1.Tarrasch 2.Lipke 3.Teichmann =4.Blackburne =4.Walbrodt =6.Janowski =6.Marco Mieses Schlechter

1895 London, Blackburne-Bardeleben +3=3-3

1895 Aug.-Sep. Hastings (Cat.10) 1.Pillsbury USA 16.5/21, 2.Chigorin RUS 16, 3.Lasker GER 15.5 4.Tarrasch GER 14, 5.Steinitz USA 13, 6.Schiffers RUS 12, =7.Bardeleben GER 11.5, =7.Teichmann GER 11.5, 9.Schlechter A-H 11, 10.Blackburne ENG 10.5 11.Walbrodt GER 10, =12.Burn ENG 9.5, =12.Janowsky FRA 9.5, =12.Mason ENG 9.5, =15.Bird ENG 9, =15.Gunsberg ENG 9, =17.Albin A-H 8.5, =17.Marco A-H 8.5 19.Pollock CAN 8, =20.Mieses GER 7.5, =20.Tinsley 7.5, 22.Vergani ITA 3. This ranks in as one of the strongest tournaments of all time on my list. Book: Sid Pickard, ed. 1995. Hastings 1895: The Centennial Edition. Pickard and Sons.

1895-6 Dec.-Jan. St. Petersburg (Cat.15) 1.Lasker GER 11.5, 2.Steinitz USA 9.5, 3.Pillsbury USA 8, 4.Chigorin RUS 7

1896 Vienna, Pillsbury-Englisch =5

1896 Jul.-Aug. Nuremburg GER (Cat.11) 1.Lasker GER 13.5/18, 2.Maroczy A-H 12.5, =3.Pillsbury USA 12, =3.Tarrasch GER 12, 5.Janowski FRA, 6.Steinitz USA, =7.Walbrodt =7.Schlechter A-H, =9.Schiffers RUS, =9.Chigorin RUS, 11. Blackburne ENG, 12.Charousek A-H, 13.Marco 14.Albin 15.Winawer RUS, =16.Showalter USA, =16.Porges 18.Schallopp GER, 19.Teichmann GER

1896 Oct. Budapest =1.Chigorin RUS 8.5/12, =1.Charousek A-H 8.5, 3.Pillsbury USA 8, =4.Schlechter GER 7.5, =4.Janowski FRA 7.5, =6.Winawer RUS, 8.Tarrasch GER, Maroczy A-H, Marco A-H, Albin A-H, Noa A-H, Walbrodt GER, Popiel; Playoff: Chigorin-Charousek +3 -1

1896-7 Nov.-Jan. World ch. Moscow RUS, Lasker-Steinitz +10 -2 =5, 73.5%

1897 Sept.-Oct. Berlin GER, 1.Charousek, Janowski, Schlechter, Chigorin, Walbrodt, Blackburne

1898 Jul. 11th German ch. Cologne GER, 1.Burn ENG =2.Charousek A-H =2.Chigorin RUS =2.W.Cohn GER 5.Steinitz USA =6.Schlechter A-H =6.Showalter USA 8.Berger A-H, Janowski FRA, Schiffers RUS

1898, May-July, Kaiser Jubilee, Vienna =1.Tarrasch GER 27.5/36, =1.Pillsbury USA 27.5, 3.Janowski FRA 25.5, 4.Steinitz USA, 5.Schlechter A-H, =6.Chigorin RUS, =6.Burn ENG, =8.Lipke GER, =8.Maroczy A-H, 10.Alapin 11.Blackburne ENG, 11.Schiffers RUS, 13.Marco, 14.Showalter USA, 15.Walbrodt GER, 16.Halprin, 17.Caro 18.Baird, 19.Trenchard, Playoff Tarrasch-Pillsbury +2=1-1. A.Schwarz withdrew after playing 8 games.

1899 May-July, London 1.Lasker GER 22.5/27, =2.Janowsky FRA 18, =2.Maroczy A-H 18, =2.Pillsbury USA 18, 5.Schlechter GER 17, 6.Blackburne ENG 15.5, 7.Chigorin RUS 7, 8.Showalter USA 12.5, 9.Mason ENG 12, =10.W.Cohn 11.5, =10.Steinitz USA 11.5, 12.Lee USA 9.5, 13.Bird ENG 7, 14.Tinsley 6, 15.Teichmann GER 2/4(withdrew ill)

References

All India Chess Federation. Timeline web site.

Golombek, Harry. 1976. A History of Chess. Routledge & Kegan Paul

Golombek, Harry, ed. 1977. The Encyclopedia of Chess. Batsford.

Guenther, Wilfried. Schach Datenbank web site. (In English and German)

Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld. 1992. The Oxford Companion to Chess. Second edition, Oxford University Press.

Pachman, Ludek. 1975. Decisive Games in Chess History. Dover.

Sunnucks, Anne. 1970. The Encyclopedia of Chess. St.Martin's Press.

Weeks, Mark. World Chess Championship web site.

Whyld, Ken. 1984. Chess: The records. Guiness Publishing.

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