Romantic Rumble: Max Weiss vs. Johannes Zukertort

We're moving on to the second match of our March Madness-esque tournament today. Check out the first match here, an explanation of what the heck we're even doing here, and most importantly, my tribute to our first eliminated competitor here (I spent about 3 weeks writing that and would love to get more eyes on it).

Romantic Rumble: Max Weiss vs. Johannes Zukertort

Today's matchup is one for which it makes a great deal of sense to focus only on the 80s. In the previous match, things were different: Fritz Riemann did a lot of developing in the 70s, while Burn only played for a four-year span but showed up in the 70s, 90s and 1900s. But the gentlemen we'll be discussing today were primarily relevant in the 80s specifically; Zukertort was fully entrenched in the chess world earlier but had his biggest successes (a match win over Blackburne and his legendary London 1883 triumph (see here and here)) in the 80s, and Weiss did practically all of his serious play in the 80s with only sparse appearances later.

Seeing as both players were active through more or less the full decade, I figured we could look at things year-by-year, including (and focusing on) their mutual encounters. 

1880-1882

Weiss began the decade with a strong statement, sharing first place at Graz 1880 and only suffering defeat in the tiebreaks (check out Adolf Schwarz's perspective here). 1881 saw him finish second in the championship of the Vienna Chess Society (14/17, 1.5 points behind Alexander Wittek), while 1882 gave him his first bad result at a tournament of the Vienna Chess Club, as he finished just under 50%.

Zukertort initially focused on doing journalist work for The Chess-Monthly, appearing at tournaments across Germany as a reporter. He did play some very strong matches, notably against Samuel Rosenthal in 1880 (+7-1=11) and Joseph Blackburne in 1881 (+7-2=5). He returned to tournament play near the end of that Summer, finishing three points behind Blackburne in Berlin (see here) but holding on to sole 2nd (11/16, half a point ahead of Winawer and Chigorin).

Vienna 1882

Both players competed at the legendary Vienna international tournament of that year, so it deserves a much deeper dive. Check out the full tournament here and here.

Their first encounter was in round 14, a time at which neither player was doing well; Weiss had lost four of his last five games and was on 4.5/13, while Zukertort was faring better but probably wasn't pleased with his 7.5/13. Their game was a Four Knights Spanish—very much the opening of the time—and Zukertort's novelty on move 8 resulted in him getting a massive pawn center that Weiss could not properly handle. Things looked very one-sided for the first 20 or so moves, but mistakes began to appear in Zukertort's play. He dropped a pawn just before the time control, but his Kingside majority and Bishop pair offered him ample chances in the ensuing struggle.

The players ultimately traded down into a Knight vs. Bishop ending, but neither player properly evaluated it because Weiss wasn't actually winning if Zukertort had played 49... Bxh2. However, Zukertort didn't play it (and analysis in CM believed the move to be losing anyway), and Weiss spent the next 30 moves methodically maneuvering until he could force simplification into a winning King and pawn endgame. Why Zukertort played it on for as long as he did is beyond me.

Their next encounter wouldn't be until the 34th and final round. Weiss was far away from winning any prizes and was playing only for pride, while Zukertort was only a half point behind the leaders, Steinitz and Winawer. He opted for Steinitz's attack against the French, initially following Weiss's own game against James Mason from a couple days before. His (completely correct) piece sacrifice on move 12 guaranteed spice, as he was able to push four(!) passed pawns up the Queenside.

The crux of this game seemed to entirely revolve around the c6 square: if Zukertort had pushed his pawn there, he would have been winning; when Weiss cemented his Bishop there, he was holding; if Zukertort had found a sequence containing an exchange sac on that square, he very well could have won; and on and on we go. He did ultimately sac the exchange, on move 48, but it was a losing sacrifice on d8 based around some cheeky pawn checkmate. Weiss had no trouble evading this trap, and once more was able to transition into a completely winning King and pawn endgame—one that Zukertort thankfully didn't play out for quite as long.

So peculiarly, despite Zukertort doubtlessly being considered the better player, Weiss won both games. That throws the head-to-head matchup into disarray, but let's continue.

1883-1887

Weiss once more took part in the Vienna Chess Society's tournament (December 1882 - February 1883), where he shared first with Moritz Porges and Wittek. That Summer saw him enter his first German Chess Association tournament in Nuremberg (see Winawer's run here), and his 9/18 score was at least an improvement over Vienna (where he couldn't manage 50%). Two years later, he was part of that unprecedented five-way tie for 2nd at Hamburg (Gunsberg's half-point victory was chronicled here), finally cementing him as a serious tournament player.

1883 was, of course, Zukertort's year. His massacre of the London 1883 tournament was—perhaps not by Sonneborn's metric but certainly qualitatively—the most impressive result of the entire decade. Winning the tournament with almost a week to spare and still having a three-point cushion after losing the last three rounds is nothing short of a legendary achievement. This prompted Zukertort to travel to America and begin a tour there, with a plentiful collection of simuls and handicap exhibitions leading up to the 1886 match with Steinitz. Unfortunately, his loss in that match was only the first poor result. His 6/12 at London (Blackburne's perspective can be explored here) was wholly disappointing, and his 6/9 at Nottingham (Burn's is here) also left a little to be desired. He did win the British Chess Club handicap in the Spring of 1887 with 13.5/15, so there was still hope that the Zukertort of old would return.

Frankfurt 1887

July's congress in Frankfurt was the second and final tournament these two would compete in together. This tournament was really all about George Mackenzie (see here), but Weiss and Zukertort both played important roles. They were paired in the 12th round of 20, Weiss sitting on 6.5/10 (1 bye) and Zukertort 4.5/11. This Giuoco Piano was pleasantly unbalanced, with Zukertort forcing Weiss to castle into an attack while his own King had to play an active role in the defence of the center. It was Weiss's initiative that stopped first, and shortly after the first time control, Zukertort had collected a pawn and forced Weiss's King to go running.

The next 50 or so moves were, in a word, messy. Zukertort never found a way to cement his advantage, Weiss never found a way to consolidate, and both players had to keep up the energy through the second and third time controls. I actually like Weiss's play more in this period, as even down a pawn, he found a beautiful exchange sacrifice on move 51 to exploit his control over the long diagonal. But when he placed his Queen on the wrong square all the way on move 70, Zukertort immediately traded it off and converted his only win against the Austrian Ace.

Just like in Vienna, the game result is the opposite of the tournament result: Weiss ultimately shared second with Blackburne, while Zukertort shared 14th with Gunsberg and Metger.

The Rest

Later in December, Zukertort competed in his second BCA tournament (see here and here), and his excellent win over co-champion Amos Burn was very impressive, even if his 6/9 score was a little less so. 1888 saw only handicaps, with March through May dedicated to that of "Simpson's Divan." Zukertort managed barely over 50% (Gunsberg won with 14.5/15). At the British Chess Club's handicap later that Summer, Zukertort said it would be a test as to whether or not he was well enough to compete at Bradford. The answer was delivered in rather plain terms: he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in the middle of his 9th game (he was apparently leading the tournament with 7/8 at the time) and died later in the hospital.

Weiss did make it to Bradford (Gunsberg handily won, see here), and shared sixth place with Blackburne on 10/16. The following year was clearly his best, as he shared 1st at the gargantuan New York 1889 tournament with Chigorin, after their playoff match produced four draws. Check out his perspective here, Chigorin's here, and the tiebreak match here. He declined to set up any match for the World Championship title—against Steinitz or otherwise—and in fact never participated in another tournament outside of Austria for the rest of his life.

Conclusion

Which player you think to be stronger primarily boils down to which half of the decade you value more. Zukertort was clearly the better player looking at 1880-1884, while arguments for Weiss could be made as early as 1885 and would be de facto correct by 1889. If you go by head-to-head, you pick Weiss; if you go by Sonneborn score, you pick Zukertort; if you go by who played a World Championship match, you also pick Zukertort (although Weiss did qualify to play one, so maybe this is a wash). This matchup is, on paper, the closest, so it's understandable that the decision isn't obvious.

I'll leave the poll up for about a week, and then hopefully I'll be able to write the tribute to the runner-up within two weeks of that. Work is very busy for me at the moment so I make no promises, but we'll see.