American Grandmaster Reuben Fine said in his 1945 book Chess Marches On (p.173), "In appearance and personal habits Spielmann was the mildest-mannered individual alive.

Despite the strong opposition at that time, with players like Alexander Alekhine, José Raúl Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, Siegbert Tarrasch, Akiba Rubinstein, Aron Nimzowitsch, and Savielly Tartakower, Spielmann managed to score well in numerous tournaments.

He won 33 of the roughly 120 in which he played, including Abbazia 1912 (an event devoted to the King's Gambit), Stockholm 1919; Bad Pistyan 1922; and Semmering 1926.

Like many of his contemporaries, including Lasker, Tarrasch, Rubinstein, and Alekhine, Spielmann suffered greatly thanks to the turmoil that afflicted Europe starting in 1914.

His post-WWI tournament performances were more inconsistent than in the prewar period; although he continued to win brilliant victories, he also lost many games in disastrous fashion.

However, WWII was raging and some members of the Swedish Chess Federation held Nazi sympathies and disliked the Jewish Spielmann.

He was buried in Stockholm, his tombstone reading "Rastlös flykting, hårt slagen av ödet" ("A fugitive without rest, struck hard by fate").