In the US, following a number of years of success a recession hit which caused unemployment to rise back to 19 percent. The US minimum hourly wage was 40 cents per hour for a 44 hour working week.
On October 30th Orson Wells dramatization of War of The Worlds radio program caused panic in the eastern United States when it was broadcast more like a news breaking story than a play. The program began with an announcement that let listeners know that it was not a real news broadcast, however many listeners missed the disclaimer. The program was broadcast without commercials and was done in a style that emulated real breaking news reports, creating a realistic feeling to the drama. The reports chronicled an alien invasion of the Eastern United States.
After the play had ended, newspapers reported that the broadcast had incited a mass panic in the country, stating that many believed it to be real. While it is true that some listeners were disturbed by the fake reports, there was no evidence of a mass panic taking place. In reality, not very many people had actually listened to the program and it is thought that many of the reports were made up by newspapers who had been angry that the booming business of radio was increasingly taking a large portion of their ad revenue. Fake news!
The second USCF-sponsored tournament for the US championship, held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center, New York in April, 1938. Samuel Reshevsky went undefeated and edged Reuben Fine by a half point. Fine lost two games: to Anthony Santasiere and Milton Hanauer, both of whom finished in the middle of the pack.
One of the major tournaments was held in Montevideo, the capital and largest city of Uruguay. The city has been described as a vibrant, eclectic place with a rich cultural life and a thriving tech center and entrepreneurial culture and ranked eighth in Latin America on the 2013 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index. And, if you're into such things, it was also regarded as the fifth most gay-friendly metropolis in the world, first in Latin America. It is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay as well as its chief port.
Down through the years the city has hosted a lot of tournaments, but one of the greatest was the eighth South American Chess Championship that was held from the 7th to the 25th of March in 1938. The event was held in an elegant seaside resort Carrasco, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Montevideo.
Alekhine won convincingly ahead of a list of Who's Who of South American players. According to an article in Chess Review, Alekhine had made a comeback as evidenced by his regaining the World Championship in the previous year.
His play at Montevideo, Margate and Brighton revealed a dominance that was his during the San Remo period of his chess career. Chess Review put it like this: His opening play is certain, his middle game superb, and his end game a model of excellence, adding that Alekhine had mastered his nerves and in so doing had improved his mastery at chess.
Alekhine continued to show that, at 46 years of age, he was still a force to be reckoned with, but his 4th through 6th at AVRO in 1938 was an indication that the younger generation was hot on his heels.
 |
| Pet parent - Grace Alekhine |
After the war Alekhine was vilified and was banned from playing in tournaments outside of Spain and Portugal due to his alleged Nazi affiliation. He was stuck in Spain and Portugal while his much older wife (age 67 and in poor health) decided to remain in Paris where she died in 1957.
While in Spain and Portugal he played in several weak events and gave exhibitions to support himself as best he could. The strain of his circumstances lead to his dragged him down psychologically and he drank heavily. The result was his play deteriorated more and more.
He was invited to the London “Victory” tournament in 1946, but several of the players protested, including the US representative Arnold Denker who later wrote that he regretted his decision because Alekhine had been good to him.
The Soviets had offered him a sizable sum to play a match for the World Championship against Botvinnik, but he was found dead in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal on March 24, 1946. To this day the exact cause of his death remains a mystery.
Alekhine’s Death – Edward Winter
Alekhine's death – an unresolved mystery? - Chessbase
Most of the players are probably unfamiliar, but the third place finisher, Virgilio Fenoglio is almost unknown. He lost to Alekhine, Guimard and Silva Rocha. Fenoglio (February 20, 1902 – March 15, 1990) was an Argentine master and winner of 37 tournaments. He made 13 appearances in Argentine Championship between 1928–1959.
In international play he shared 1st with Carlos Guimard and Julio Bolbochan at Rio de Janeiro in 1938, tied for 14–15th at Mar del Plata in 1942 and finished 12th at Mar del Plata in 1943.
The fourth place finisher, Adhemar da Silva de Oliveira Rocha (July 2, 1908 - November 14, 1975), was a Brazilian master who won the Brazilian championship in 1941. He also played for Brazil in the 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad at Munich 1936 and in the 8th Chess Olympiad at Buenos Aires 1939.
He won the Rio de Janeiro State championship in the 1934, 1935 and 1937. He died on of a heart attack on November 14, 1975 while walking around downtown Rio de Janeiro.
Alekhine's opponent in the following game was Julio Balparda (born about 1900 – July 2, 1942) won the Uruguayan Championship three times (1929, 1934, and 1936). He played several times in the South American Chess Championship; tied for 10-12th in 1928, tied for 3rd-6th in 1934, 17th at Buenos Aires 1934/35, 15th at Mar del Plata 1936, 14th at São Paulo 1937 and 11th in this tournament. In his last international tournaments, he took 5th at Montevideo in 1941 and 10th at Aguas de Sao Pedro/São Paulo in 1941.
1) Alekhine 13.0-2.0
2) Guimard 11.5-3.5
3) Fenoglio 10.5-4.5
4) Silva Rocha 9.5-5.5
5-6) Maderna and Grau 9.0-6.0
7) Cruz 8.0-7.0
8) Flores 7.5-7.5
9) Trompowsky 7.0-8.0
10) Alfredo Olivera 6.5-8.5
11) Balparda 5.5-9.5
12-14) Armando Salles Olivera, Canepa and Letelier 5.0-10.0
15) Rotunno 4.5-10.5
16) Bensadon 3.5-11.5
No comments:
Post a Comment