Dawid Janowski

Born into a Jewish-Polish family[http://www.jinfo.org/Chess_Warriors_List.html "JEWS RANKED AMONG THE 64 STRONGEST CHESS PLAYERS OF ALL TIME"], JINFO.ORG. 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,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 but research by Edward Winter indicates that the title was not at stake.[http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter38.html#5199._Lasker_v_Janowsky_Paris_1909 Chess Notes 5199], by Edward Winter

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.{{cite web

| url=http://www.chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=5003

| title=Das unvollendete Turnier: Mannheim 1914

| date=20 December 2005

}}

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.[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4588 ChessBase.com - Chess News - Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (28)]

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).[http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/CTCIndex.pdf Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704030849/http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/CTCIndex.pdf |date=July 4, 2007 }}

He died in France on 15 January 1927 of tuberculosis.

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|date=January 2016}} 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.

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Several opening variations carry Janowski's name.

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|Janowski Variation
in the Old Indian Defence

|rd|nd| |qd|kd|bd| |rd

|pd|pd|pd| |pd|pd|pd|pd

| | | |pd| |nd| |

| | | | | |bd| |

| | |pl|pl| | | |

| | |nl| | | | |

|pl|pl| | |pl|pl|pl|pl

|rl| |bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl

|1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Bf5[https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/opening/1469 Old Indian Defense, Janowski Variation], old.chesstempo.com, access date 2 April 2021

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|Janowski Variation
in the Queen's Gambit Declined

|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd

| |pd|pd| | |pd|pd|pd

|pd| | | |pd| | |

| | | |pd| | | |

| | |pl|pl| | | |

| | |nl| | | | |

|pl|pl| | |pl|pl|pl|pl

|rl| |bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl

|1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6[https://www.chess.com/openings/Queens-Gambit-Declined-Janowski-Variation Queen's Gambit Declined: Janowski Variation], www.chess.com, access date 2 April 2021
Showalter vs. Janowski, London 1899{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1481901 |title=Jackson Whipps Showalter vs. David Janowski, London 1899 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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|Janowski Variation{{efn|Primarily called the Botvinnik Variation.}}
in the Queen's Gambit Declined

|rd| |bd|qd| |rd|kd|

|pd|pd|pd|nd|bd|pd|pd|pd

| | | | |pd|nd| |

| | | |pd| | |bl|

| | |pl|pl| | | |

| | |nl|bl|pl|nl| |

|pl|pl| | | |pl|pl|pl

|rl| | |ql|kl| | |rl

|1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bd3Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 186. Janowski Variation.
Janowski vs. Goetz, Paris 1896{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1606508 |title=David Janowski vs. Alphonse Goetz, Championship of the Cafe de la Regence, Paris 1896 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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|Janowski Variation{{efn|Sometimes called the New York Variation.}}
in the Queen's Gambit Declined

|rd| |bd|qd| |rd|kd|

|pd|pd| |nd|bd|pd|pd|pd

| | |pd| |pd| | |

| | | |nd| | |bl|

| | |bl|pl| | | |pl

| | |nl| |pl|nl| |

|pl|pl| | | |pl|pl|

| | |rl|ql|kl| | |rl

|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
Janowski vs. Capablanca, New York 1924{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102094 |title=David Janowski vs. Jose Raul Capablanca, New York 1924 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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|Janowski–Larsen Variation{{efn|Sometimes called the Modern Variation.}}
in the Queen's Gambit Accepted

|rd|nd| |qd|kd|bd| |rd

|pd|pd|pd| |pd|pd|pd|pd

| | | | | |nd| |

| | | | | | | |

| | |pd|pl| | |bd|

| | | | |pl|nl| |

|pl|pl| | | |pl|pl|pl

|rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl| |rl

|1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 186. Janowski–Larsen Variation.
Marshall vs. Janowski, St. Petersburg 1914{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1064763 |title=Frank Marshall vs. David Janowski, St. Petersburg 1914 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}
Szabó vs. Larsen, Portoroz 1958{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1136991 |title=Laszlo Szabo vs. Bent Larsen, Portoroz Interzonal, Portoroz 1958 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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|Janowski Variation
in the Albin Countergambit

|rd| |bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd

|pd|pd|pd| | | |pd|pd

| | |nd| | |pd| |

| | | | |pl| | |

| | |pl|pd| | | |

| | | | | |nl| |

|pl|pl| |nl|pl|pl|pl|pl

|rl| |bl|ql|kl|bl| |rl

|1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 f6
Bernstein vs. Janowski, Barmen 1905{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1002998 |title=Ossip Bernstein vs. David Janowski, Barmen Meisterturnier A, Barmen 1905 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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|Janowski Variation
in the French Defence

|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd| | |rd

|pd|pd|pd| | |pd|pd|

| | | | |pd|nd| |pd

| | | |pd|pl| | |

| |bd| |pl| | | |

| | |nl| |bl| | |

|pl|pl|pl| | |pl|pl|pl

|rl| | |ql|kl|bl|nl|rl

|1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Be3
Janowski vs. Burn, Ostend 1907{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1036030 |title=David Janowski vs. Amos Burn, Ostend Championship, Ostend 1907 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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|Janowski Variation{{efn|Primarily called the Alapin Variation.}}
in the French Defence

|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd

|pd|pd|pd| | |pd|pd|pd

| | | | |pd| | |

| | | |pd| | | |

| | | |pl|pl| | |

| | | | |bl| | |

|pl|pl|pl| | |pl|pl|pl

|rl|nl| |ql|kl|bl|nl|rl

|1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3

}}

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|Janowski Variation
in the Four Knights Game

|rd| |bd|qd| |rd|kd|

|pd|pd|pd| | |pd|pd|pd

| | |nd|pd| |nd| |

| |bl| | |pd| | |

| | | | |pl| | |

| | |pl|pl| |nl| |

|pl| |pl| | |pl|pl|pl

|rl| |bl|ql|rl| |kl|

|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
Janowski vs. Pillsbury, Paris 1900{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1000073 |title=David Janowski vs. Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Paris 1900 |website=Chessgames.com |access-date=11 February 2023 }}

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{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• {{cite book

|last1=Hooper

|first1=David

|authorlink1=David Vincent Hooper

|last2=Whyld

|first2=Kenneth

|authorlink2=Kenneth Whyld

|title=The Oxford Companion to Chess

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|year=1996

|edition=2nd

|origyear=First pub. 1992

|isbn=0-19-280049-3 }}

• {{cite book

| author1=Cherniaev, Alexander

| author2=Meynell, Alexander

| title=David Janowski: Artist of the Chess Board

| year=2005

| publisher=Hardinge Simpole

| isbn=9781843821687}}

• {{cite book

| author=Ackermann, Daniel

| title=Vabanque Dawid Janowsky 1868–1927

| year=2005

| publisher=Schachverlag Dreier

| isbn=3-929376-65-2}}

• {{cite book

| author=Voronkov, S.B. and Plisetsky, D.G.

| title=David Yanovsky

| year=1987

| publisher= Fizkultura i Sport

}}

• {{chessgames player|id=19523}}
• Edward Winter, [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/janowsky.html Janowsky Jottings] (1998)
• [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/laskerjanowsky.html “Lasker v Janowsky, Paris, 1909” by Edward Winter]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Janowski, Dawid}}

Category:1868 births

Category:1927 deaths

Category:Jewish chess players

Category:French chess players

Category:Chess theoreticians

Category:19th-century Polish chess players

Category:20th-century Polish chess players

Category:20th-century Polish sportsmen

Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis

Category:Tuberculosis deaths in France

Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France

Category:Chess players from the Russian Empire