The 1902 International Chess Tournament of Monte Carlo       

Monte Carlo

The Players

The Tournament
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Monte Carlo 1900

Monte Carlo 1903

Monte Carlo Casino 1900

Monte Carlo Casino 1900

Monte Carlo Casino 1900

The  Belle Epoch chess tournaments played at Monte Carlo were a marriage of chess' need for financial sponsorship and Monte Carlo's need for a more prestigious reputation. Each of the four tournaments held at resort between 1901 and 1904 had it's own unique personality. The 1902 tournament, the strongest of the four, was made noteworthy by the participation of three Brooklyn Chess Club members - Pillsbury, Marshall and Napier; by that of the winner of the previous year's  tournament, Janowski; by the presence of such luminaries as Tarrasch, Tschigorin, Teichmann, Schlechter Gunsberg, Mason and Maróczy. It was also Napier's and Eisenberg's international debuts. Despite the absence of the World Champion, Emanuel Lasker who was on hiatus at Erlangen University earning his doctorate degree in Mathematics, the tournament fielded an incredible strong line-up. While the tournament has been criticized for it's lack of innovations, it did produce many entertaining games, played against an opulent and intriguing background.

The following chessgames.com members helped make this page possible:
(The names are linked to each individual's profile page at chessgames.com
where he can reveal as much or as little about himself as he chooses.)

Calli 
- for photos, newspaper articles, the "Field" article, and his research on Eisenberg and Von Popiel
vonKrolock
- for the translation of the Portuguese manuscript on Schlechter and for his eye for beauty.
Pawn and Two
- for an incredible amount of invaluable and accurate information and for the inspiration to attempt making this page by exhibiting so much enthusiasm for the topic.
WilhelmThe2nd
- for his usual impeccable research on Eisenberg
Resignation Trap
- for the text to Tall Tales of Teetotalers
sneaky pete
- for information on Von Scheve.
chancho
- for helpful links and for taking an interest
 

Sites that provided useful information:

chessgames.com
La grande storia degli scacchi
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online
Tim Harding's "Chess in 1902"