Dawid Janowski

Dawid Janowski
	Janowski, c. 1910
Personal information
Born	Dawid Markelowicz Janowski; 25 May 1868; Wołkowysk, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire; (modern Vawkavysk, Belarus)
Died	15 January 1927 (aged 58); Hyères, Var, France
Chess career
Country	France/Poland

Dawid Markelowicz Janowski [ˈd̪avʲit̪ ˈmaʁkəlɔvit͡ʂ ˈjanɔfski] (25 May 1868 – 15 January 1927; often spelled David) was a Polish chess player. Several opening variations are named after Janowski.

Biography

Born into a Jewish-Polish family^[1] in Wołkowysk, Russian Empire (now Belarus), 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.

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). He had minus scores, however, against newer players such as Siegbert Tarrasch (+5−9=3), Frank Marshall (+28−34=18), Akiba Rubinstein (+3−5), Géza Maróczy (+5−10=5) and Carl Schlechter (+13−20=13). He was outclassed by world champions Emanuel Lasker (+4−25=7) and José Raúl Capablanca (+1−9=1), but scored respectably against Alexander Alekhine (+2−4=2). In particular, he was able to beat at least once each of the first four world champions, a feat shared with Siegbert Tarrasch alone.

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

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 (seventh place), when World War I broke out.^[4] 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.^[5] In 1915, he left Europe for the United States and spent the next nine years there before returning to Paris. At New York 1916, in the final, he shared second place with Oscar Chajes, after José Raúl Capablanca. He won at Atlantic City 1921 (the eighth American Chess Congress) and took third place at Lake Hopatcong 1923 (the ninth ACC).^[6]

He died in France on 15 January 1927 of tuberculosis.

Playing style

Janowski played very quickly and was known as a sharp tactician who 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". Capablanca noted that Janowski's greatest weakness as a player was in the endgame, and Janowski reportedly told him, "I detest the endgame." American champion Frank Marshall remembered Janowski's talent and his stubbornness. In Marshall's Best Games of Chess he wrote that Janowski "could follow the wrong path with greater determination than any man I ever met!" Reuben Fine remembered Janowski as a player of considerable talent, but a "master of the alibi" with respect to his defeats. Fine said that his losses invariably occurred because it was too hot, or too cold, or the windows were open too far, or not far enough. He also noted that Janowski was sometimes unpopular with his colleagues because of his predilection for doggedly playing on even in an obviously lost position, hoping his opponent might blunder.^{[citation needed]} Edward Lasker in his book Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters recalled that Janowski was an inveterate but undisciplined gambler who would often lose all of his chess winnings at the roulette wheel.

Legacy

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Several opening variations carry Janowski's name.

Janowski Variation
in the Old Indian Defence

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Bf5^[7]

Janowski Variation
in the Queen's Gambit Declined

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6^[8]
Showalter vs. Janowski, London 1899^[9]

Janowski Variation^[a]
in the Queen's Gambit Declined

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bd3^[10]
Janowski vs. Goetz, Paris 1896^[11]

Janowski Variation^[b]
in the Queen's Gambit Declined

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.h4^[10]
Janowski vs. Capablanca, New York 1924^[12]

Janowski–Larsen Variation^[c]
in the Queen's Gambit Accepted

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4^[13]
Marshall vs. Janowski, St. Petersburg 1914^[14]
Szabó vs. Larsen, Portoroz 1958^[15]

Janowski Variation
in the Albin Countergambit

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 f6^[10]
Bernstein vs. Janowski, Barmen 1905^[16]

Janowski Variation
in the French Defence

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Be3^[10]
Janowski vs. Burn, Ostend 1907^[17]

Janowski Variation^[d]
in the French Defence

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3^[10]

Janowski Variation
in the Four Knights Game

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6 8.Re1^[10]
Janowski vs. Pillsbury, Paris 1900^[18]

Notes

^ Primarily called the Botvinnik Variation.
^ Sometimes called the New York Variation.
^ Sometimes called the Modern Variation.
^ Primarily called the Alapin Variation.

References

^ "JEWS RANKED AMONG THE 64 STRONGEST CHESS PLAYERS OF ALL TIME", JINFO.ORG.
^ For instance: "From Morphy to Fischer", Israel Horowitz, Batsford 1973, p. 64; "The Centenary Match - Kasparov-Karpov III", Raymond Keene and David Goodman, Batsford 1986
^ Chess Notes 5199, by Edward Winter
^ "Das unvollendete Turnier: Mannheim 1914". 20 December 2005.
^ ChessBase.com - Chess News - Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (28)
^ Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01 Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Old Indian Defense, Janowski Variation, old.chesstempo.com, access date 2 April 2021
^ Queen's Gambit Declined: Janowski Variation, www.chess.com, access date 2 April 2021
^ "Jackson Whipps Showalter vs. David Janowski, London 1899". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 186. Janowski Variation.
^ "David Janowski vs. Alphonse Goetz, Championship of the Cafe de la Regence, Paris 1896". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ "David Janowski vs. Jose Raul Capablanca, New York 1924". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 186. Janowski–Larsen Variation.
^ "Frank Marshall vs. David Janowski, St. Petersburg 1914". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ "Laszlo Szabo vs. Bent Larsen, Portoroz Interzonal, Portoroz 1958". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ "Ossip Bernstein vs. David Janowski, Barmen Meisterturnier A, Barmen 1905". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ "David Janowski vs. Amos Burn, Ostend Championship, Ostend 1907". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ "David Janowski vs. Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Paris 1900". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

Bibliography

Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996) [First pub. 1992]. The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.

External links

Dawid Janowski player profile and games at Chessgames.com
Edward Winter, Janowsky Jottings (1998)
“Lasker v Janowsky, Paris, 1909” by Edward Winter

[10] Primarily called the Botvinnik Variation.

[13] Sometimes called the New York Variation.

[15] Sometimes called the Modern Variation.

[21] Primarily called the Alapin Variation.

[1] "JEWS RANKED AMONG THE 64 STRONGEST CHESS PLAYERS OF ALL TIME", JINFO.ORG.

[2] For instance: "From Morphy to Fischer", Israel Horowitz, Batsford 1973, p. 64; "The Centenary Match - Kasparov-Karpov III", Raymond Keene and David Goodman, Batsford 1986

[3] Chess Notes 5199, by Edward Winter

[4] "Das unvollendete Turnier: Mannheim 1914". 20 December 2005.

[5] ChessBase.com - Chess News - Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (28)

[6] Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01 Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[7] Old Indian Defense, Janowski Variation, old.chesstempo.com, access date 2 April 2021

[8] Queen's Gambit Declined: Janowski Variation, www.chess.com, access date 2 April 2021

[9] "Jackson Whipps Showalter vs. David Janowski, London 1899". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[OCC-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 186. Janowski Variation.

[12] "David Janowski vs. Alphonse Goetz, Championship of the Cafe de la Regence, Paris 1896". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[14] "David Janowski vs. Jose Raul Capablanca, New York 1924". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[16] Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 186. Janowski–Larsen Variation.

[17] "Frank Marshall vs. David Janowski, St. Petersburg 1914". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[18] "Laszlo Szabo vs. Bent Larsen, Portoroz Interzonal, Portoroz 1958". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[19] "Ossip Bernstein vs. David Janowski, Barmen Meisterturnier A, Barmen 1905". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[20] "David Janowski vs. Amos Burn, Ostend Championship, Ostend 1907". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[22] "David Janowski vs. Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Paris 1900". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

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Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	United States France BnF data Netherlands

Personal information
Janowski, c. 1910
Born	Dawid Markelowicz Janowski 25 May 1868 Wołkowysk, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire (modern Vawkavysk, Belarus)
Died	15 January 1927(1927-01-15) (aged 58) Hyères, Var, France
Chess career

Country	France/Poland

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