Quick trivia question: Who Were The First Five ...

Chess Grandmasters ?Hint: Czar Nicholas conferred the title on them. One was an American, and it came as a shock to me. (NO, it wasn't Pillsbury)

I know that Marshall would be that American. I heard him being bestowed that title. Others would be Chigorin? The rest I'm not sure.
Steinitz must be in the list! He was a world champion!

Capablanca was an American, wasn't he?

It was awarded to the five finalists of a tournament in St. Petersburg in 1914 by Tsar Nicholas II. They were Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch and Marshall.

FIDE first awarded the title in 1950 when it gave it to 27 players.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Capablanca was an American, wasn't he?

Cuban

That St. Pete tournament (1914) was perhaps the strongest tournament up to that time.

The players were Lasker, Capa, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Marshall, Bernstein, Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, Blackburn, Janowski and Gunsberg. In the first round, each played the other players once, with the five highest scores advancing into the final round.

Capa led after the first part, 8 to 6.5 (Lasker and Tarrasch). Alekhine and Marshall each scored 6.

In the final round, Lasker scored 7 of 8, drawing with Capa and Tarrasch, while winning all his other games. Capa, meanwhile, lost to both Lasker and Tarrasch in the finals, in addition to drawing one game with Alekhine.

Final standings were:

Lasker 13.5
Capa 13.0
Alekhine 10.0
Tarrasch 8.5
Marshall 8.0

Lasker, of course, was the World Champion at that time.

There is a photo of the participants at:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1651

The participants are labeled in the photo, with the exception of Bernstein....maybe he's the only one who remembered to bring a camera, so he ended up taking the picture...

Originally posted by Nordlys
Cuban

And Cuba is in America, right?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
And Cuba is in America, right?

Yes, that's why I didn't write "No, Cuban". However, very often "American" is used to mean "from the US".

Originally posted by FabianFnas
And Cuba is in America, right?

Ahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
It was awarded to the five finalists of a tournament in St. Petersburg in 1914 by Tsar Nicholas II. They were Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch and Marshall.

FIDE first awarded the title in 1950 when it gave it to 27 players.

Oh hell I was asleep on that one

Originally posted by General Putzer
I don't think the St Petersburg tournament was in 1914....Pillsbury died in 1906, and his ability seriously declined after that.

Maybe that's why he didn't play in that tournament?

http://www.endgame.nl/stpeter.htm

The 1895/96 and 1909 St. Petersburg tournaments were also won by Lakser (he finished equal first with Rubinstein in the 1909 tourney):

1895-96
1. Lasker 11.5
2. Steinitz 9.5
3. Pillsbury 8.0
4. Chigorin 7.0

(Each played six games against the other)


1909:

1. Lasker 14.5
1. Rubinstein 14.5
3. Duras 11.0
3. Spielmann 11.0
5. Bernstein 10.5
6. Teichmann 10.0

Schlechter finished in a three-way T8 with 9.0

This tournament began with 20 competitors, one player (Nenarokow) withdrew after four rounds, and his score was cancelled.

So Pillsbury did in fact, compete at St. Petersburg, but only in 1896... They refused to even invite him after he passed away... I'm sure the fact that he was dead may have contributed, but there also could have been anti-American bias at work here... not that I'm paranoid or anything....

Originally posted by Nordlys
Yes, that's why I didn't write "No, Cuban". However, very often "American" is used to mean "from the US".

I thought that America starts at Tierra del Fuego in Chile and stops at the high north in Canada? Cuba is somewhere in between, isn't it?

If America is the same thing as US - then South Americans lives in Texas...?