The November 5, 1946 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle called them "intriguing" and stated that they were in their 40s and arrived in the U.S. from Germany "several years ago."
The article also stated that Wally Henschel was the champion woman player in Germany and that the sisters, who had been taught chess by their father, had played chess since childhood. In the article Kate conceded that Wally was the better player.
Not a lot of information is available on the sisters, but it is known that they were born in Hamburg in 1893. Wally participated in two Women's World Championships. In Hamburg 1930, she placed 3rd out of 5 players, scoring +4 -3 =1, defeating Vera Menchik in one of their two their individual games. Then in Prague 1931, she placed last with a score of +2 -6 =0.
More information seems to be available on Wally than Kate. Wally Henschel attended a high school for girls in Hamburg and began studying music at t at the age of 16. From 1909 to 1914 she studied piano as her first major and singing as her second major.
As part of her exam concerts, she played Beethoven and sang Mozart. According to her diploma, her performance in piano playing was consistently rated "very good."
After her studies, Wally most likely continued her musical education and passed further qualifying exams years later. In 1927 she received state recognition as a singing teacher and in 1929 she passed the aptitude test for the stage profession in the opera genre.
She appeared in public mainly as a singer and when asked about her professional activity and her income before 1933, she stated that she had given a number of recitals in Hamburg.
Wally had a position at the Hamburger Tempel on Oberstrasse. where she sang regularly in church services, at weddings, funerals and on holidays and also conducted the children's choir. She earned her main income giving piano and singing lessons.
Meanwhile, her sister Kathe worked until 1939 in a secretarial position as a secretary at the company Axel Dahlstrom and Co., There, even though she was Jewish, the company not only did not fire her, but even paid her a higher salary.
Facing the growing restrictions of Jews in Nazi Germany, the sisters began planning their escape. In August 1938, a cousin sponsored their immigration to the United States and by the end of December they had all the necessary papers together.
They left Germany on March 25, 1939 with little or no assets. Six days later their passports were blocked because of visa and transport difficulties and it took them several months to get to New York via the Netherlands, England, the West Indies, Central America and Haiti!
After relocating to the United States the sisters still faced immense hardships. Wally found it impossible to establish herself as musician or music teacher and the sisters were reduced to being supported by their cousin for four years.
Kate eventually found secretarial work while Wally opened a boarding house. By 1944 they were somewhat established and found time to explore the New York City chess scene.
Over time Wally had become almost blind in one eye and severely visually impaired in the other and by the mid-1950s she was badly restricted in her ability to work and lived on a disability pension.
In 1986, at the age 93, the sisters moved to Miami, Florida to be close to a nephew. Wally died in 1988 and Kate lived until 1990.
I was unable to locate any of Kate's games and only two of Wally's. Here is her win over Vera Menchik in the 1930 Women's World Championship.
Wally Henschel–Vera Menchik1–0E94Women's World Champ, HamburgHamburg GER07.1930Stockfish 14.1
King's Indian Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.f3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.e2 bd7 7.0-0 e5 8.g5 h6 This game was played decades before the K-Indian
became popular and so the best book line were unknown tot he players. White's
correct move is 9.Bh4 although 8.Be3 has also been tried on occasion. 9.dxe5 This should hav lost a P with no compensation. dxe5 White's last move has
resulted in her getting a very slight advantage, but only because black missed
the correct continuation. 9...hxg5 10.exf6 xf6 Black has won a P and is
now in a position to pile up on white's e-Pawn. 11.h3 e8 12.c2 c5 13.ae1 g4 14.hxg4 xg4 and white is under considerable pressure. 10.h4 c6
White won't be placing a N on d5. 11.d2 e8 12.fd1 b6 13.f1 Much too
passive. Either 13.Rab1 or 13.Qc2 were better. h5 14.b3 f4 Better was 14..
.g5 15.a4 c7 16.ac1 Better was 16.c5 e6 17.c3 d4 18.e1 f8 19.f3 e6 20.c2 h7 After this white seizes the initiative. 20...g5 21.g3 e7 22.e2 xc2 23.xc2 g4 Black looks to have the better of it, but at the
same time, white's defensive resources look to be adequate, so the position
must be considered equal. 21.xd4 exd4 22.e2 22.d5 was also good as
after cxd5 23.cxd5 White has a good game. 22...c5 Black has a protected
passed P, but white's position is more active. 23.f4 e5 24.g3 d6 25.d3 This B looks very bad and it's hard to believe that in the future it will
play a strong role in white's game! b6 26.e2 xg3 Black had a better
defense with 26...g6 and 27...Ng3 27.xg3 a5 This is too slow. It would
have been better to tend to the defense of her Q-side with 27...f6 28.a4
White dawdles. The direct 28.f4 was better. 28.f4 e7 29.e5 f5 30.exf6 xf6 31.f5 xf5 32.xf5 gxf5 33.f1 White stands very well. 28...c8 29.f1 White dawdles. Better was 29.f4 a7 30.ce1 White dawdles. Better was
30..f4 ae7 SHe still needed to play ...f6 as a precaution against the
advance of white's e-Pawn. 31.f4 FInally! b7 Menchik was unaware of the
lurking danger. 31...f6 32.e5 Anyway! fxe5 33.f5 gxf5 34.xf5 h8 35.e4 d8 36.f6 h7 37.ef1 e6 38.d6 with a decisive attack. 31...c6 offers black new life after 32.h4 32.f5 This move can be met
successfully with d7 33.e5 xe5 34.e4 d6 35.f4 with equal chances. 32...h5 33.f5 e5 34.e2 White has the initiative, but black should be
able to defend his K-side. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4 so black can be
considered to have excellent drawing chances. 32.e5 The beginning of a
decisive onslaught. b8 33.h5 Equally good was 33,f5 d7 33...f5 34.exf6 f7 35.e7 fxe7 36.fxe7 xe7 37.f5 gxh5 38.f6+ e4 39.e1 wins. 34.f5 f8 34...xe5 loses to 35.fxg6+ fxg6 36.f4 and black is
helpless. 35.fxg6+ fxg6 36.e6 36.xg6+ is crushing. xg6 37.d3+ xh5 37...g5 38.f6 xf6 39.exf6 xe1 40.f5+ h4 41.g3+ xg3+ 42.hxg3+ xg3 43.f4+ h3 44.xe1 mates in 38.f5+ g6 39.xf8+ 36...e5 37.xf8 xf8 38.xe5 c8 39.f4 39.xg6+ g8 40.f7+ xf7 41.exf7+ xf7 42.d3 h8 43.f3+ g6 44.c6+ f7 45.c7+ f8 46.xc8+ f7 47.e6+ f8 48.e8# 39...f6 40.xg6 g7 41.h5 Menchik resigned. Nice game by
Henschel. 41.h5 xg6 42.xh6+ g8 43.xg6 xe6 44.g5 d3 45.h5+ xg5 46.xg5+ h8 47.h6+ g8 48.xe6+ h8 49.f6+ g8 50.f7+ f8 51.d5+ e8 52.c6# 1–0
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