Bled 1931 chess tournament


Bled 1931 chess tournament was a major chess tournament proposed by Milan Vidmar and held in 1931 in Bled and Ljubljana, Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. His idea was well received in both Ljubljana and the nearby health resort of Bled. An organizing committee was set up, and at the end of July 1931, following the 4th Chess Olympiad in Prague, this committee commissioned Hans Kmoch to conduct the negotiations with the competitors for a double round tournament to be held at Lake Bled.
José Raúl Capablanca could not be invited due to his disputes with world champion Alexander Alekhine. Noted master and writer Al Horowitz noted that Alekhine used his position as world champion to keep Capablanca out of the event. Akiba Rubinstein was invited, but was replaced by Stoltz because Rubinstein accepted the invitation too late.
Fourteen leading chess masters accepted their invitations. The players stayed at the Hotel Toplice and it was here that most of the tournament except Round 19 took place. Round one started in the large salon on August 23. Alekhine won decisively, not losing a single game and winning the tournament 5½ points ahead of Efim Bogoljubow. His gambit style was humiliating for the other players.

Crosstable