Chess Train 2014

Cafes in Vienna

[07.07.2014 00:00:00] - At the turn of 19th and 20th century, Austrian capital was a chess mecca. All of the worlds best chess players of that time took part in 1892 chess tournament in Vienna. It was also in Vienna where all of the talents of Czech-born first world chess master Wilhelm Steinitz were developed and so the world championship match of Emanuel Lasker and Carl Schlechter took place there. According to Austrian chess historian Stefan Löffler, a hundred years ago there was over one hundred cafeterias, where chess were played. It was Stefan Löffler who showed the places of Vienna´s chess history to participants of the Chess Train 2012. The fourth game of the championship mentioned before took place in Café Marienbrücke and the rest of them - as well as the whole great tournament of 1892 - took place in Vienna´s chess club, where you can today find restaurant Leupold. But more important coffee businesses were Cafe Griensteidl and Central Cafe. Both of them are just a few meters apart and you can still visit them (do not be afraid of the que outside, it is really quick). But let´s get a century back in time.

During the second part of 19th century Cafe Griensteidl was the most important social and cultural institution on the country. All of the writers, artists, philosophers, journalists and also chess players were meeting there and when was the cafe destroyed in 1897 during the demolition of Dietrichstein Palace, all of them moved to not so distant Cafe Central. Richard Réti, Arthur Kaufmann, Rudolf Spielmann, Savielly Tartakower or Milan Vidmar were regular customers and players in Cafe Central. Even Vladimir Iljic Lenin or Lev Trockij showed there from time to time to play. Among the Viennas residents Cafe Central was called Schachhochschule (Chess college).

Famous chess player Andor Lilienthal, who died four years ago at the age of 99, liked to remember how he met the world champion José Raul Capablanca in Cafe Central in 1929. The world champion played a simultaneous game and young Lilienthal was one of the few who had the honor to play with Capablanca. "I was the last one still playing. In the middle game I managed to get some advantage, but when the famous grandmaster looked me straight in the eyes, I lost all of my courage. With my voice trembling I offered him a draw and he took it so fast that before he left with a beautiful lady I did not even manage to ask him to sing my scoresheet," Said Lilienthal about his close encounter with the world champion in his biography. I know this story straight from Lilienthal and so I know the another one about him playing blitz chess with the next world champion Alexander Aljechin. I was thinking about all of this when, during the preparations of Chess Train 2014, I went to grab excellent afternoon coffee and an awesome cake in Cafe Central.

If you want to see Vienna from the chess perspective, you can visit the capital of former monarchy in October with Chess Train. But do not hesitate with registration, the train is getting full. For more information about the Chess Train click here.

| Pavel Matocha | visits(7554x)