Belgian championship, Ghent

29-04-1923 > 05-05-1923

Major 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tot
1 Koltanowski, George BEL ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 5
2 Sapira, Emanuel ROM ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 4
3 Colle, Edgard BEL 0 0 1 1 1 1 4
4 Soultanbeieff, Victor Ivanovich RUS 0 1 0 ½ 1 1
5 Lancel, Edmond BEL 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 3
6 Verschueren, Edouard BEL ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1
7 Horowitz, Jankel BEL 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½

 

Minor 1 2 3 4 Tot
1 De Vries, Paul BEL ½1 11 5
2 Censer, Isidore BEL ½0 11 11
3 Van Beneden, A F BEL 00 00 11 2
4 Van Cuyck BEL 00 00 ½

[1] gives the crosstables for both sections. However, in the minor section, it gives De Vries-Van Cuyck as ½1-0½. From the day-by-day results also given in [1], it seems most likely that De Vries won in the first round.

Before the last round, Koltanowski played Soultanbeieff, who was half a point behind him. It was a tense fight with chances for both sides, but Koltanowski won in the end, thereby clinching his first title of Belgian champion. The game has become somewhat famous, although it is often published in an abbreviated version. I’m grateful to Mr. Philip Jurgens for sending me a game from [4] and pointing me towards some primary sources I had missed.

Wanted

  • Most games.
  • First names for Van Beneden and Van Cuyck.

Sources

  1. De Schelde 02-13/05/1923
  2. La Nation Belge 10/05-14/06/1923
  3. Le Matin 03 & 10/05/1923
  4. G. Koltanowski, With the chess masters
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