Dawid Janowski

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Dawid Janowski

Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (in English usually called David Janowski) (born 25 May 1868, Wołkowysk, - died 15 January 1927, Hyères) was a leading Polish chess master.

Born in Wołkowysk, Belarus (then Russian Empire), he settled in Paris around 1890 and began his professional chess career in 1894. He won tournaments in Monte Carlo 1901, Hanover 1902 and tied for first at Vienna 1902 and Barmen 1905, so he was in the world's top half dozen.

Janowski was devastating against the older masters such as Wilhelm Steinitz (+5−2), Mikhail Chigorin (+17−4=4) and Joseph Henry Blackburne (+6−2=2). However, he made minus scores against newer players such as Siegbert Tarrasch (+5−9=3), Frank Marshall (+28−34=18), Akiba Rubinstein (+3−5), Geza Maroczy (+5−10=5) and Carl Schlechter (+13−20=13). He was outclassed by world chess champions Emmanuel Lasker (+4−25=7) and José Raúl Capablanca (+1−9=1), but scored respectably against Alexander Alekhine (+2−4=2).

Janowski played very quickly and was a sharp tactician, and was devastating with the bishop pair. Capablanca annotated some Janowski games with great admiration, and said, "when in form [he] is one of the most feared opponents who can exist." However, Capablanca noted that Janowski was weak in the endgame, but Janowski told him, "I detest the endgame." Marshall said, "he could be tremendously stubborn. Janowski could follow the wrong path with more determination than any man I met!" Edward Lasker in his book Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters recalled how Janowski was a tremendous gambler, and would take the prize money he had won at chess and lose it all at the roulette wheel.

He played three matches against Emanuel Lasker: two friendly matches in 1909 (+2 -2 and +1 =2 -7) and one match for the world chess championship in 1910 (=3 -8). The longer 1909 match has sometimes been called a world championship match,^[1] but research by Edward Winter indicates that the title was not at stake.^[2]

In July–August 1914, he was playing an international chess tournament, the 19th DSB Congress (German Chess Federation Congress) in Mannheim, Germany, with four wins, four draws and three losses (7th place), when World War I broke out.^[3] Players at Mannheim representing countries now at war with Germany were interned. He, as well as Alexander Alekhine, was interned but released to Switzerland after a short internment.^[4] Then he moved to the United States, where he shared 1st with Oscar Chajes, ahead of José Raúl Capablanca, at New York 1916, won at Atlantic City 1921 (the 8th American Chess Congress and took 3rd at Lake Hopatcong 1923 (the 9th ACC).^[5]