In 1942 the U.S. Chess Federation called off the U.S. Championship. George Sturgis, President, and L. Walter Stephens,
Vice-president, issued a statement noting that prior to December 7, 1941 (the date Pearl Harbor was attacked) the Federation had been planning its regular biennial tournament for March of 1942, but the "momentous events of (Pearl Harbor had) completely changed plans and prospects for such a tournament."
They added, "The United States Government (had) issued a call for an all out struggle in a War which has been thrust upon us. It is obvious that our very national safety is at stake, and our institutions and our homes endangered. Our way of life is in great peril."
"In view of these facts, the U. S. Chess Federation...has decided that the present time is not propitious for holding the Championship
Tournament. Rather it is a time when we should devote our entire thoughts, efforts and resources toward bringing this war to a successful conclusion. For these reasons the tournament will not be held"
The Editors of Chess Review (mainly Al Horowitz and Kenneth Harkness) dissented and regarded the decision as most unfortunate on the part of the USCF officials, claiming that, "in effect, the Federation announces that it has withdrawn its support of chess for the duration of the war."
The Chess Review editors even went so far as to claim, "The statement even tells us that we should not play chess or think of chess during the war."
They went on to point out that the US government was actively encouraging sports and recreational activities and other countries at war were continuing to hold tournaments:Russia, England, France and even in Germany.
Others complained that the attitude of the USCF in claiming chess
as an "un-American" activity would do more harm to the cause of
chess than an indifferent or even hostile attitude on their part. As it was in England, chess was important for morale.
Fortunately, the USCF recanted and the tournament was finally held. This was the tournament of the infamous clock forfeit when tournament director L. Walter Stephens incorrectly forfeited Denker in his game against Reshevsky then refused to reverse his decision even though proven wrong. His decision cost Kashdan a clear first, and so he was co-champion with Reshevsky until he lost the playoff match some six months later.
When the preliminaries were over the final field was not as imposing as previous editions of the championship. Instead, there were a lot of younger or less experienced players participating, but even so, they caused more than one anxious moment for the better
known players. Published games by the leaders are common, but here's a fun game played by a couple of the lesser lights.
Irving Chernev–Herman Hahlbohm1–0D05US Championship, New YorkNew York, NY USA25.04.1942Stockfish 14.1
Colle System 1.d4 d5 2.f3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 f6 5.d3 White the Colle
can still be a dangerous system, against careful play it should prove
innocuous especially, I think, if black fianchettos his f8B. c6 6.bd2 e7
Having played ...c5, it's now too late to fianchetto the B. 6...g6 7.0-0 g7 8.dxc5 d7 9.b3 a5 10.a4 e7 11.e4 dxe4 12.xe4 xc5 13.xc5 xc5 14.e3 White stands well. Gorti,A (2258)-Astaneh Lopez,A (2442)/Budapest 2018
7.0-0 0-0 8.e2 e8 9.dxc5 xc5 10.e4 e5 10...dxe4 is not a good
idea. After 11.xe4 xe4 12.xe4 f5 13.e2 d7 14.f4 White is better.
Hormann,G (2014)-Khanukov,B (2361)/Nuernberg 2010 11.exd5 xd5 11...e4 12.xe4 xe4 13.xe4 f5 14.dxc6 xe4 15.cxb7 xb7 16.e3 b6 Black did not
have enough compensation for the two Ps. Burcu,C (2007)-Arslan,E (2067)/
Antalya TUR 2013 12.b3 b6 Better was 12...Bb6 after which white could
play either 13. Bg5 or 13.Qc2 with equal chances. 13.xh7+ In reality this
should offer no more than equal chances IF black defends correctly. 13.g5 f6 13...g6 14.c4 e6 15.xc5 xc5 16.e4 e7 17.xd5 xd5 18.g5
followed by 19.Nf6+ is a disaster for black. 14.c2 gives white a
dangerous attack. 13...xh7 14.e4+ g8 15.xd5 White's 13th move has
netted him a P, but black could now keep things equal with 15...Be7 guarding
aginst white's Ng5. f8 16.g5 e6 The losing move. The problem with it
will soon become apparent. 16...d8 A hideous defensive move, but it's the
best black has. 17.e4 f5 18.d5+ h8 19.e1 c6 20.xc6 xc6 21.f4 g8 22.d4 xd4 23.cxd4 e4 24.d5 White has the advantage in the ending, but at
least black has managed to get to and ending! In Shootouts white scored +4 0-
=1, but the wins were quite lengthy and therefore OTB black has reasonable
hopes of saving the game. 17.e4 g6 18.h4 g7 With the B on g7 a
superficial glance may give the impression that his K is now safe, but as
Chernev demonstrates, black is completely lost. 19.e3 a6 20.c5 c4 21.h7+ f8 This attack on e6 shows why black needed to defend it on move 16. 22.cxe6+ fxe6 23.xg6 d8 24.h7+ Black resigned. 24.h7+ e7 25.xg7+ d6 26.fd1+ d5 27.c4 e7 28.f6 xh7 29.xd5+ c7 30.xe5+ c8 31.ad1 exd5 32.xd5 b5 33.xd8+ b7 34.d7+ xd7 35.xd7+ a6 36.xb5# 1–0
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