On the insistence of Marshall, Capablanca played at one of the strongest tournaments in the world at that time. This was Capablanca’s first major tournament. He astounded everyone by taking first place with a score of 6 wins, 7 draws and 1 loss. Rubinstein and Vidmar shared 2nd place, followed by Marshall, Tarrasch, Schlechter, Nimzowitsch, Bernstein, Spielmann, Teichmann, Maroczy, Janowsky, Burn, Duras and Leonhardt. All important players participated with the exception of Lasker. Bernstein initially objected to the inclusion of Capablanca complaining that such a weak player should not have been included.
Jose Capablanca not only slaughtered Ossip Bernstein in the first round, but won the Tournament and the brilliancy prize of 500 francs for this game! |