At his peak, Dawid Janowski (25 May 1868 - 15 January 1927) was one of the best players in the world. In 1910 he played a World Championship match against Dr Emanuel Lasker, but suffered a devastating 1.5-9.5 defeat. He also lost two other matches against Lasker which were not World Championship matches.
Janowski won at least one game against all the first four World Champions. He was known as a fast player with a good eye for tactics and a fondness for the bishop pair. He was also known to play on for a long time in lost positions, which did not make him popular with his colleagues.
He was born in Wołkowysk, which was then part of the Russian Empire and is now in Belarus. Around 1890 he moved to Paris, but in 1915 he went to the USA where he lived for nine years before returning to France where he died.
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