Frank Marshall
Frank James Marshall was born on August 10, 1877 In New York City. He lived in Montreal, Canada from the time he was 8 until he turned 19. When he was 10, he began playing chess and by 1890, he was one of the leading players in Montreal.
In 1904, Marshall won the U.S. chess championship, but he did not accept the title because Harry Nelson Pillsburry, the current U.S. champion, did not compete. When Pillsbury died in 1906, he again refused the title until he won it in competition in 1909.
In 1907, he played a title match against World Chess Champion Emanual Lasker. Marshall lost 8 games, won 0, and drew 7. The match was played in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, and Memphis from January 26 to April 8, 1907. In 1909, played a match with a young Cuban by the name of Jos Ra l Capablanca. To the suprise of most people, Capablanca won 8 games, drew 14, and only lost 1. After this beating, the honorable Marshall became one of Capablanca's biggest supporters, insisiting the Cuban be invited to play in the international tournament at San Sebastian in 1911. This was an exclusive tournament designed to be one of the strongest ever held, and only masters who had proven themselves by winning lesser tournaments were invited. Capablanca was allowed to play, largely because of Marshall's insistence, and Capablanca repaid Marshall's endorsement by winning the tournament.
In St. Petersburg of 1914, Marshall became one of the 5 original Grandmasters of chess. Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, and Tarrasch were the other 4. In 1915, he opened the Marshall Chess Club in New York. After holding the U.S. championship title for 29 years, he relinquished it to the winner of a championship tournament in 1936. This was the first tournament of its kind and was sponsored by the National Chess Federation and held in New York. The Marshall Chess Club donated the trophy and the winner was Samuel Reshevsky.
Marshall captained the U.S. teamp at the Chess Olympiads in the 1930s. He inspired them to 4 gold medals from 4 Olympiads. After one of the rounds, he returned to the board and found that his teammates had agreed to 3 draws. After he finished his own game, he gave each of them a stern talk on how draws didnt win games or matches. They got the message. The U.S. team has never again repeated the great successes of Marshall's teams.
Marshall has a variety of chess opening variations named after him. One is the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5). Black gets good attacking chances and scores close to 50% with the Marshall, an excellent result. The Marshall Attack is so well-respected that many top players, including Garry Kasparov, choose to avoid it with "Anti-Marshall" variations such as 8.a4. An important gambit in the Semi-Slav Defense is also named after Marshall. That "Marshall Gambit" begins 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4!? Now the main line runs 4...dex4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 (6.Nc3 saves the pawn but is not considered dangerous) Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 with sharp and unclear play.
Marshall was best known for his great tactical skill. One aspect of this was the "Marshall swindle", where a trick would turn a lost game around. Not so well known now, but appreciated in his day, was his endgame skill. On November 9, 1944, he was walking to a friend's house when he collapsed from a heart attack and died in the street.
Download 341 chess games by Frank Marshall
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