Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-10
CAPABLANCA LEADS
IN CHESS TOURNEY
Cuban Expert Has Good Mar
gin on Opponents in St.
Petersburg Matches.
LASKER MAY CANCEL HIS
GAMES WITH RUBINSTEIN
Poor Showing Of Latter Likely to
Cost Him Chance to Contest
for the Title.

With the remarkable score OF six wins
and four draws. Capablanca has finished
the first half of the international grand
masters tournament at St. Petersburg,
with the splendid lead of a point and a
half over his nearest competitors. Not
since Paul Morphy slaughtered the 'oid
masters have the chess kings Of Eu-
rope been roughly handled. Follow
ing the Cuban champion. at a respectful
distance, come IIasker. the world s
champion. and Dr. Tarrasch. with four
wins five draws and one loss each Up
until the very day Of the final round
there was possibility that Lasker might
not qualify for the double round tour
ney. in which only the five leaders,
Capablanea. Lasker. Tarrasch. Marshall
and Alechine will compete. However, the
worlds champion rose to the occasion
by not only defeating Gunsberg IN the
final round. but also by scoring against
Janowski in their adjourned game from
the tenth round
Only half a point behind Lasker and
Tarrascb come the American champion.
Marshall. and the young Russian master.
Alechine. with scores OF six to four.
Bernstein, who not only defeated Iasker
in the tournament, but also took one out
of two games from the champion at Mos
kow few days before this event start
ed. suffered. in the final round, probably
the bitterest defeat in his long and bril-
liant career at the hands of Tarrasch.
Had this game gone to Bernstein he
would have entered the second half of
the tournament by tying with Alechine
and Marshall for fifth place.
Rubnstein. the much advertised Rus
sian champion, who is to play 1-asker
for the worlds championship in the fall.
was either badly out of form or has been
tying Bernstein for sixth and seventh
places, with a score of ) to g. Niemzo-
witsch. with score of to g. finished
eighth. a bitter disappointment to his
many admirers. Blackburne. the Eng
lish "old MASTER playing wonderful
chess considering his advanced age,
shared ninth and tenth places with ia
nowski, the French champion. with Ia
score of 3la to 6la. and Gunsberg. as
was expected. proved the easy mark.
with only drawn games to his credit.
Unless he shows complete reversal
of form. capablanca should win this
tournament with the greatest ease. as.
with a point and a half TO work on, he
can afford to play safe. And what play
er will risk a real attack against che
Cuban champion? Should Capablanca be
able to maintain or increase his present
lead in the second half of the tournament
and he almost certainly will-the impor-
lance of the coming Lasker-Rubinstein
match will be diminished to the vanishing
point, and. indeed. after Rubinstein's poor
showing it would not be at all surpris-
ing If Lasker should cancel his engage
ment and, Yielding to the pressure of
public opinion, take on Capablanca.
While the New York chess columns pro-
fess polite surprise at the iopsded result
of the recent match between the triangu-
lar league chess team pennsylvania, Cor
nell and Brown and the Columbia-Har
ward Yale Princeton. or Quadrangular
league, representatives. on the compare
tive form displayed at their last annual
tournaments. no other outcome was to be
expected The only wonder is that r.
Beach. Yale and B. Winkleman. Har-
ward. were able to draw against the
PENNSYLVANIA stars. Rudolph SEE and NJ.
J. Teitlebaum. SIX games We're played.
the triangular team winning four and
awning two.
The following is the score of the game
Won by Bernstein from Lasker at Mos