José Raúl Capablanca
The St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament was the first in which Capablanca played World Champion Emanuel Lasker under normal tournament conditions. The St. Petersburg event was arranged in an unusual way: after a preliminary single-round all-play-all tournament of eleven players, the top five were to play a second stage in a double round format, with scores from the preliminary tournament carried forward to the second contest. Capablanca placed first in the preliminary tournament, 1½ points ahead of Lasker, who was out of practice and made a shaky start. Despite a determined effort by Lasker, Capablanca still seemed on course for ultimate victory. However, in their second game of the final, Lasker reduced Capablanca to a helpless position and Capablanca was so shaken by this that he blundered away his next game to Tarrasch. Lasker thus finished half a point ahead of Capablanca and 3½ ahead of Alekhine.