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In the 1920s and 1930s, a number of first-class chess events were held "on the Semmering" In collective memory, it is above all the tournaments of 1926 and 1937 that have remained. In addition, a series of interesting matches also took place at the popular tourist getaway.
The name Semmering refers both to the mountain pass, situated at an altitude of 984 metres and linking Styria with Lower Austria, and to the nearby village.
The word "Semmering" may be of Slavic origin. In the 6th century, Slavic tribes migrated here after the Germanic population previously living in the area had moved away during the Migration Period in the 4th and 5th centuries. According to another interpretation, however, the suffix "-ing" may refer to the "Thing", a historical assembly or meeting of free men in early Germanic societies (like the Icelandic Althing).
In the 19th century, the Semmering region developed into a popular excursion destination for Vienna's upper society. To facilitate travel from the capital, about 90 km away, the "Imperial Royal Privileged Southern Railway Company" built a railway connection from Vienna to the Semmering Pass. The line was inaugurated and opened to traffic in 1854. On the core section of just over 40 kilometres between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag, the railway has to overcome an elevation difference of 457 metres at an average gradient of 20 per mille. Fifteen tunnels were excavated for the route. Across 16 viaducts and more than 100 bridges, the railway crosses gorges, streams and rivers, winding its way up the mountains in wide curves.
The designer of this masterpiece was Carl Ghega (1802–1860), born in Venice. A workforce of 10,000 men and women took part in its construction. The Semmering Railway was the first high-mountain railway built to standard gauge. Ghega also designed locomotives capable of climbing such gradients. In 1998, UNESCO declared the railway a World Heritage Site.
With the railway later extended towards Ljubljana, Zagreb and Trieste on the Adriatic, Semmering experienced another major boom as a spa resort and winter sports destination. Several magnificent grand hotels were built to accommodate distinguished guests, including the Südbahnhotel, the Kurhaus and the Hotel Panhans.
The Semmering region became a meeting place for Austrian and European high society. During the high season, all accommodation at Semmering was fully booked. Prominent guests included, among others, Emperor Franz Joseph I himself, Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi"), theatre director Max Reinhardt, writers Arthur Schnitzler and Gerhart Hauptmann, Heinz Rühmann, Josephine Baker and racing drivers Rudolf Caracciola and Hans Stuck, to name just a few.
Stefan Zweig (The Royal Game) set his short story "Burning Secret", published in 1911, on the Semmering. Baron von Haller, a racing driver, befriends a 12-year-old boy and then falls in love with the boy's mother. The boy subsequently becomes tormented by jealousy and fears for his parents' marriage. After the racing driver's departure, mother and son keep the secret together from the father and husband. The story was adapted for the screen in 1932. The censors initially approved it, but after the Berlin premiere, the Nazi newspaper Der Angriff condemned the film for its "morbid sultriness and dull confusion". The censors then revoked their approval, and the film was no longer shown in Germany.
The musician and muse to various artists, Alma Mahler, had a holiday house built in Breitenstein near Semmering in 1913. After her marriage to Gustav Mahler, she lived there for a time with Oskar Kokoschka and later met alternately with Franz Werfel and Walter Gropius. Her numerous love affairs were a constant topic of conversation in Vienna.
To provide additional entertainment for holiday guests, motor races were organised in the surrounding mountains. The first of these "hill climbs" was won in 1899 by Emil Jellinek, a wealthy financier with a particular fondness for the new automobiles.
A quieter and more intellectual pastime was offered by the chess tournaments held here.
The first major tournament at Semmering took place from 7 to 29 March 1926 at the Hotel Panhans - exactly one hundred years ago. The connection between the hotel management and the chess players was established through the chess master Ossip Bernstein, who at the time was acting as the hotel's legal adviser.
The tournament was an absolute top-level event – what would today be called a super-tournament – featuring several of the best players of the era. Among the leading players of the time, only Emanuel Lasker, Raúl Capablanca and Efim Bogoljubow were absent. Lasker and Capablanca had demanded high appearance fees that the organisers were unable to meet. Bogoljubow, after spending time in Germany, had temporarily returned to Russia but was not granted permission to participate by the All-Russian Chess Federation.
A total of 18 players made up the field, including the future world champion Alexander Alekhine, a 64-year-old Siegbert Tarrasch, Akiba Rubinstein, Lasker's 1910 World Championship challenger David Janowsky, Aron Nimzowitsch, Milan Vidmar, Savielly Tartakower, Karel Treybal, the Austrians Rudolf Spielmann, Ernst Grünfeld and Richard Réti, as well as several other well-known names.
At the opening ceremony on 6 March 1926 at the Grand Hotel Panhans, following the welcome address to the players by the members of the board of the Semmering Hotel and Spa Company, Dr Paul Hoffmann and Milan Hauser, along with several other dignitaries, the Viennese master and tournament director Heinrich Wolf conducted the drawing of lots and informed the players about the playing conditions and time controls. The time control consisted of 30 moves in two hours, with play beginning in the morning from 10 to 12 and then continuing in the late afternoon or evening from 17 to 21.
Aron Nimzowitsch and Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine was certainly regarded as the tournament favourite. However, the future world champion began with a loss to Nimzowitsch.
In the second round, Alekhine was also unable to defeat the Hungarian international Árpad Vajda. Vajda (1897–1967) held a doctorate in law and represented Hungary at seven Chess Olympiads up to 1937, counting the unofficial Chess Olympiad held in Munich in 1936.
In round three, Alekhine suffered another defeat, this time against the Sudeten German Karl Gilg, a schoolteacher by profession and also a strong player.
Karl Gilg (born 1901) was playing his first major tournament at Semmering, and his victory over the favourite was naturally a sensation. In fact, Gilg and Alekhine had already met the previous year in Czechoslovakia during a simultaneous exhibition. Alekhine had also lost on that occasion.
Karl Gilg, on the left, here facing Rudolf Spielmann
Alekhine then had a comeback, scoring eight wins and one draw. After twelve rounds, he had worked his way to the top of the standings, as he shared the lead with Rudolf Spielmann and Savielly Tartakower (all on 9 points).
Savielly Tartakower
In round thirteen, however, Alekhine suffered another, ultimately decisive defeat, this time against Milan Vidmar, while Tartakower defeated Vajda and Spielmann at least managed a draw against Réti.
In round fourteen, Spielmann won the top clash against Tartakower, while Alekhine defeated Hans Kmoch. In the following round, both Spielmann and Alekhine scored again, and the half-point advantage remained in favour of the Austrian. The two leaders also won their games in the penultimate round. In the final round, Spielmann and Alekhine finally faced each other. Alekhine needed to win, but the game ended in a draw, allowing Spielmann to celebrate what was probably the greatest success of his career.
The tournament offered spectators a series of interesting attacking games, in which the eventual winner also played his part. Some games, though not all, were truly admirable.
Behind Spielmann and Alekhine, the Ljubljana university professor Dr Milan Vidmar finished in third place. Vidmar was an engineer, and he participated in tournaments as an amateur. Rubinstein and Tarrasch shared sixth and seventh place on equal points, ahead of Réti and Grünfeld. Rubinstein is said to have already shown certain irregularities at Semmering and was perhaps already on the path towards the deep depression of his later years.
The Italian Stefano Roselli del Turco finished last with only 1 point to his name, although this did not reflect his true playing strength.
Stefano Roselli del Turco
Born in Florence in 1877 into an old-established noble family, he had long been one of Italy’s strongest players, a multiple national champion and a participant in six Chess Olympiads for Italy. He had also taken part in the 1924 event in Paris. At the Baden-Baden tournament in 1925, Roselli del Turco even managed victories over Tarrasch, Colle and Yates.
In 1937, another major tournament was held at Semmering, partly staged in Baden, and it was won by Paul Keres. At the same time, Vera Menchik and Sonja Graf played a World Championship match. Menchik emerged victorious.
Last October, there was a small chess renaissance at Semmering when Alexander Spritzendorfer, as part of his series Chess in the Tower, once again organised a chess tournament. It was not held at the Hotel Panhans but at the Südbahnhotel. Built in 1882, the building is no longer used as a hotel and now stands empty, but it remains in the same magnificent condition and is rented out for events.
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