An hors d'oeuvre from the 1942 U.S. Championship

      World War Two eliminated a lot of chess activity except in South America, Argentina in particular. It had become the home of many outstanding European masters who either could not or did not want to go back to their native countries. As a result, a number of first class tournaments were held there. 

     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as most unfortunate on the part of the USCF officials, claiming that, "in effect, the Federation announces that it has withdrawn its support of chess for the duration of the war."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.

[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1942.04.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Irving Chernev"] [Black "Herman Hahlbohm"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D05"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "1942.??.??"] {Colle System} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nf6 5. Bd3 {White the Colle can still be a dangerous system, against careful play it should prove innocuous especially, I think, if black fianchettos his f8B.} Nc6 6. Nbd2 Be7 { Having played ...c5, it's now too late to fianchetto the B.} (6... g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. dxc5 Nd7 9. Nb3 a5 10. a4 Qe7 11. e4 dxe4 12. Bxe4 Nxc5 13. Nxc5 Qxc5 14. Be3 {White stands well. Gorti,A (2258)-Astaneh Lopez,A (2442)/Budapest 2018 }) 7. O-O O-O 8. Qe2 Re8 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. e4 e5 (10... dxe4 {is not a good idea. After} 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 f5 13. Qe2 Bd7 14. Bf4 {White is better. Hormann,G (2014)-Khanukov,B (2361)/Nuernberg 2010}) 11. exd5 Nxd5 (11... e4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bxe4 Bf5 14. dxc6 Bxe4 15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. Be3 Qb6 {Black did not have enough compensation for the two Ps. Burcu,C (2007)-Arslan,E (2067)/ Antalya TUR 2013}) 12. Nb3 Qb6 {Better was 12...Bb6 after which white could play either 13. Bg5 or 13.Qc2 with equal chances.} 13. Bxh7+ {In reality this should offer no more than equal chances IF black defends correctly.} (13. Ng5 Nf6 (13... g6 14. Bc4 Be6 15. Nxc5 Qxc5 16. Ne4 Qe7 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Bg5 { followed by 19.Nf6+ is a disaster for black.}) 14. Qc2 {gives white a dangerous attack.}) 13... Kxh7 14. Qe4+ Kg8 15. Qxd5 {White's 13th move has netted him a P, but black could now keep things equal with 15...Be7 guarding aginst white's Ng5.} Bf8 16. Ng5 Be6 {The losing move. The problem with it will soon become apparent.} (16... Nd8 {A hideous defensive move, but it's the best black has.} 17. Qe4 f5 18. Qd5+ Kh8 19. Re1 Qc6 20. Qxc6 Nxc6 21. Bf4 Kg8 22. Nd4 Nxd4 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. Qe4 g6 18. Qh4 Bg7 {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. Be3 Qa6 20. Nc5 Qc4 21. Qh7+ Kf8 {This attack on e6 shows why black needed to defend it on move 16.} 22. Ncxe6+ fxe6 23. Qxg6 Nd8 24. Nh7+ {Black resigned.} (24. Nh7+ Ke7 25. Qxg7+ Kd6 26. Rfd1+ Qd5 27. c4 Re7 28. Qf6 Rxh7 29. Rxd5+ Kc7 30. Qxe5+ Kc8 31. Rad1 exd5 32. Qxd5 b5 33. Qxd8+ Kb7 34. Rd7+ Rxd7 35. Qxd7+ Ka6 36. Qxb5#) 1-0