KECSKEMET 1927

Twenty experts, divided into two sections of ten, participated in the International Masters Tournament held in Kecskemet, Hungary from June 25 to July 12 1927.  After the preliminary tournaments in each section, (A and B) which were won by Alexander Alekhine and Lajos Steiner respectively, the four leaders in each section A of the finals engaged in an additional Round Robin tournament.  The next four in each preliminary section contested in a similar final in section B.  The outcome was that Alexander Alekhine achieved another important victory and won the tournament without any defeats, but with only half a point to spare over Lajos Steiner and Aron Nimzowitsch who shared the second and the third prizes in section A. Alekhine’s total of 12 points was made up of eight wins and eight draws. Neither he nor Nimzowitsch lost a game in the preliminarily, but in the final Steiner lost to Lajos Asztalos and Nimzowitsch to Leonid Stein.  Hans Kmoch and Svetozar Glig also survived in the preliminary without a loss but in the final Asztalos lost once and Kmoch lost twice.  In the finals of Section B, Savielly Tartakower won the first prize.  The tournament director was Geza Maroczy.