Tartakower - Nimzowitsch, Ljubljana 1931... I just found a rapid game

Ljubljana , 2. oktobra.

Včeraj smo poročali o brzopoteznem šahovskem turnirju v našem radiu, kjer so nastopili predsnočnjim velemojstri dr. Aljehin, Niemcović, dr. Tartakower in dr. Vidmar. Pred začetkom brzoturnirja je imel dr. Vidmar daljše predavanje o pomenu blejskega turnirja, za njim se je pa oglasil k besedi svetovni prvak dr. Aljehin, ki je govoril v ruščini o mladi šahovski generaciji in tudi o blejskem turnirju. Svoj govor nam je dal na razpolago in priobčujemo ga, kolikor smo ga mogli razbrati iz naglo pisanega koncepta.

»Za šahovski svet je pridobil turnir na Bledu po svoji sestavi udeležencev takoj čisto poseben pomen in sicer: na Bledu se je prvič v zgodovini povojnih turnirjev srečalo tako zvano »mlado pokolenje« s tako zvanimi »veterani«, - je dejal dr. Aljehin. Res, poučenim se je zdela ta razvrstitev dveh pokolenj nekoliko umetna, »starcem« od 38 do 43 let, »mladim« od 24-27. Zato se je zdelo težko postaviti pomen razmeroma tako neznatne razlike v starosti na čelo osti najserijoznejše športne tekme.

Vendar se je pa javno šahovsko mnenje najbolj interesiralo za rezultate in možne uspehe štirih mladih igralcev, ki so opozorili v zadnjih dveh letih svet nase, in sicer Kashdana, Flohra, Stoltza in Pirca. In rezultat turnirja je bil po mojem mnenju poučen: pokazal je, da splošno zanimanje za ustvarjanje teh štirih mojstrov ni bilo nezasluženo. Saj so se povzpeli trije izmed njih med nagrajene, a četrti, Pirc - in v tem pogledu se popolnoma strinjam s prof. dr. Vidmarjem - sicer ni dobil nagrade, vendar bo pa v bližnji bodočnosti dosegel znatno večji uspeh.

Kar se tiče stila teh treh mladih igračev, je po mojem mnenju najglobji med njimi Flohr; nedostatki njegove igre so v znatni meri manj šahovskega, kakor osebnega značaja: on je še močno lahkomiselen in včasih nervozen; v kolikor se bo znal v tem pogledu poboljšati, bo lahko dosegel še zelo mnogo. Druga dva, znatno zrelejša - Kashdan in Stoltz - sta po stilu pravo protislovje: Kashdanova igra je suha, trezna, ameriška, njen glavni problem je po mojem mnenju delno pomanjkanje ustvarjajoče fantazije. Nasprotno ima pa Stoltz precejšen kombinacijski talent, zato je pa razmeroma malo vztrajen proti solidni in mirni igri. Vsi trije so pa pri vsem tem docela zaslužili čast stopiti v isto vrsto s takimi priznanimi svetovnimi veličinami, kakor je prof. Vidmar in takoj za zelo izkušenima velemojstroma Bogoljubovim in Niemcovičem.

Ob koncu omenim o sebi, da me je moj uspeh sicer zadovoljil, ni pa prišel nepričakovano. Težko sem si mislil, da bi se mi ne posrečilo doseči dobrega uspeha v bratski Jugoslaviji, na katero me veže po nedavnem posetu toliko lepih spominov. In ta, za druge tako dolg turnir na Bledu, se je zdel meni zaradi čudovitih lepot vašega letovišča in ljubeznjivosti prirediteljev tekme še mnogo, mnogo prekratek. Naj mi bo dovoljeno izreči pri tej priliki svojo iskreno, prisrčno zahvalo mojim jugoslovenskim tovarišem in izraziti upanje, da mi bo mogoče še večkrat posetiti bratsko jugoslovensko državo«.

Ljubljana, 2 October.

Yesterday we reported on a fast-paced chess tournament on our radio, where the grandmasters dr. Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, dr. Tartakower et al. Vidmar. Before the start of the speed tournament, dr. Vidmar gave a long lecture on the importance of the Bled tournament, followed by the world champion dr. Alekhine, who spoke in Russian about the young chess generation and also about the Bled tournament. He made his speech available to us and we communicate it as far as we could deduce it from the hastily written concept.

»According to its composition, the tournament in Bled gained a very special significance for the chess world: for the first time in the history of post-war tournaments, the so-called "young generation" met the so-called "veterans", - said dr. Alekhine. True, this classification of the two generations seemed somewhat artificial to the educated, to the "old" from 38 to 43, to the "young" from 24-27. Therefore, it seemed difficult to place the significance of such a relatively small difference in age at the forefront of the most serious sporting event.

However, public chess opinion was most interested in the results and possible successes of four young players who have drawn the world’s attention to themselves in the last two years, namely Kashdan, Flohr, Stoltz and Pirc. And the result of the tournament was instructive in my opinion: it showed that the general interest in creating these four masters was not undeserved. After all, three of them climbed among the winners, but the fourth, Pirc - and in this regard I completely agree with prof. dr. Vidmar - he did not receive the award, but he will achieve much greater success in the near future.

As for the style of these three young players, in my opinion the deepest among them is Flohr; the shortcomings of his game are considerably less of a chess than of a personal character: he is still very reckless and sometimes nervous; if he knows how to improve in this respect, he will be able to achieve a great deal. The other two, much more mature - Kashdan and Stoltz - are a real contradiction in style: Kashdan's play is dry, sober, American, its main problem, in my opinion, is a partial lack of creative fantasy. Stoltz, on the other hand, has considerable combination talent, so he is relatively reluctant to play solidly and calmly. In all of this, all three deserved the honor of joining the same ranks with such renowned world greats as prof. Vidmar and immediately after the very experienced grandmasters Bogoljub and Nimzowitsch.

At the end, I mention about myself that my success satisfied me, but it did not come unexpectedly. I had a hard time thinking that I would not be lucky enough to achieve good success in fraternal Yugoslavia, to which I am bound by so many fond memories after a recent visit. And this, for others such a long tournament in Bled, seemed to me because of the wonderful beauties of your resort and the kindness of the organizers of the match much, much too short. May I take this opportunity to express my sincere, heartfelt thanks to my Yugoslav comrades and to express the hope that it will be possible for me to visit the fraternal Yugoslav state many more times«.