St. Petersburg 1914

Lasker's greatest comeback. The tournament where Tsar Nicholas II named the first five Grandmasters. Capablanca led the entire tournament before Lasker overtook him in the final rounds.

The Tsar's Grandmasters

The 1914 St. Petersburg tournament was organized to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Chess Society. Virtually every strong player in the world participated, including Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Marshall, Rubinstein, and Nimzowitsch.

The format was unusual: a preliminary round followed by a finals round among the top five finishers. Capablanca dominated the preliminary, scoring 8/10 while Lasker scored only 6.5/10. But in the finals, Lasker found his best form, winning his individual game against Capablanca and finishing with 7/8. Capablanca stumbled to 5/8. Lasker won the tournament by a single point.

According to legend, Tsar Nicholas II was so impressed that he named the top five finishers (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall) as "Grandmasters of Chess," the first use of the term. Whether or not this story is strictly true, the tournament is forever associated with the birth of the Grandmaster title.