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| Boondoggles |
In the New Deal, Roosevelt called for a new tax program called the Revenue Act of 1935, which imposed an income tax of 79% on incomes over $5 million. This tax rate affected literally one person: John D. Rockefeller.
The Nye Committee, a Senatorial Committee, concluded the U.S. entered World War 1 for financial gain! And, speaking of a boondoggle, when Social Security set the retirement age at 65 in 1935, the average male only lived 59.9 years, women, 63.9! Just like today, the government and businesses have ingenious ways of getting their hands on our money.
The biggest news event was probably the great dust storm that hit eastern New Mexico and Colorado and western Oklahoma. Other newsworthy events included the first brief underwear were introduced in Wisconsin by the Cooper Underwear Company of Kenosha, the world’s first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City and Porky Pig made his debut in I Haven’t Got a Hat. Finally, boxed wine and beer in a can were introduced and Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in New York City.
The 36th annual meeting of the American Chess Federation (formerly known as the Western Chess Association), took place in July of 1935 at the Hotel Schroeder in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In the absence of a rating system, the players perceived to be the best were seeded into three preliminary sections of 10 players each.
In Section A, Reuben Fine and William Ruth dominated the play. Samuel Factor and Harold Morten tied for third place, but the tournament committee decided no play-offs would be held in the event of ties, so both qualified for the finals.
In Section B were Isaac Kashdan was undefeated and edged out the 1934 Canadian Champion John Belson by a half point. The other qualifier was Anthony Santasiere who only managed to qualify after a hard 80-move game in which he defeated Barnie Winkelman in a difficult ending.
In Section C, Arthur Dake was undefeated and finished 8.5-0.5, drawing with 6th place finisher George Eastman. Far behind with 6 points were Frederick Chevalier, Arpad Elo and Albrt Simonson, all three also qualifying for the finals.
In the Final Masters tournament, for the most part Fine played excellent chess but was aided by a few lucky breaks. This was especially the case against the Milwaukee expert Arpad Elo. Fine had a lost position, but Elo was unable to win the Q+P ending in which he had a two P advantage.
Arthur Dake was satisfied to draw against the leaders and, as Chess Review pointed out, unlike matches, tournaments cannot be won by drawing. The same could be said of Isaac Kashdan.
Somewhat surprising was the solid play of the virtually unknown Frederick R. Chevalier (August 14, 1907 - May 19, 1988, 80 years old) who wrote a chess column for the Christian Science Monitor for many years.
Anthony Santasiere actually played better than he had in the preliminaries, but even so, he was out of form. Canadian champ Belson was overcautious and won no games.
A big surprise was the poor showing of William Ruth (September 18, 1886 - February 3, 1975, 88 years old). It was speculated that it may have been due to the fact that two games a day put a strain on the aging 48 year old Ruth. Remember, men were only expected to live to about 60 in those days. Although Ruth continued to be active for many years to come, even in 1935 it was noted that he had lost some of his aggressiveness.
The following game between the inventor of out modern rating system, Arpad Elo, and the colorful Albert "Buddy" Simonson was an entertaining see-saw affair.
Arpad Elo–Albert Simonson0–1C11Am Chess Fed Final, MilwaukeeMilwaukee, WI USA26.07.1935Stockfish 15
French Defense 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.e5 fd7 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5 xc5 7.g4 f8 Black has played a similar move in the Winawer and
there it's better than it looks. Here he would do better with either 7...O-O
or 7...g6 8.f3 c6 9.a3 a6 9...h5 was played in Narmontas,M (2367)
-Bokiej,P (2063) Warsaw 2007 10.h3 e7 11.b4 g5 12.xg5 xg5 13.fxg5 dxe5 White is better. 10.d3 e7 11.h4 c5 12.0-0 12.h5 was worth
considering. b6 13.h6 xd3+ 14.cxd3 g8 15.h3 but here, too, white has
no great advantage. 12...b5 Better was 12...Nxd3 and 13...h5. Now white
gets the initiative. 13.d2 b4 14.d1 Elo's passive play fritters away the
initiative he could have had with 14.axb4 followed by 15.f5 xd3 15.cxd3 b8 16.a4 White is wrongly concerning himself with the Q-side when his attention
should have been directed at the K-side. So, 16.h5 was his best try. a5 17.e1 b3 18.b1 a5 18...b6+ 19.h1 c6 White's position is very passive. 19.h5 Finally. This coupled with black's last move has allowed white to
equalize. h6 19...f5 was correct. Then after 20.exf6 gxf6 21.h6 g8 22.h5 g6 23.d4 the chances would be even. 20.d4 b6 Capturing on a4 would
leave his Q misplaced. 21.h4 xh4 21...xd4 leads to no more than equal
chances for black after 22.xe7+ xe7 23.xd4 xd4+ 24.h2 22.xh4 a5
This is too slow; it would have been better to play 22...Nxd4. White now gets
a slight plus, but a few less than precise moves allow black to keep the
balance. 23.e3 a6 24.fd1 The immediate 24.f5 would have been very good. e2 25.f5 xd1 26.xd1 c8 27.fxe6 This allows black to get his Q to the
defense of the K-side. Keeping his options open with 27.Qf2 would have been
better. 27.f2 c7 27...e7 With the idea of connecting his Rs 28.f6+ gxf6 29.exf6+ e8 30.e2 c7 31.d3 c1 32.b5+ and white, with play on
both sides of the board, has gained a decisive advantage. 28.fxe6 xe6 29.h4 Threatening Ng6+. White is near winning. g8 30.e2 c6 There isn't
much constructive action black can undertake. 31.ef5 h7 32.e3 The N on
b3 is gone. 27...xe6 28.h2 g8 29.d3 c1 30.d1 g5 31.hxg6 xg6 32.g4 This looks inviting, but it seriously weakens his K. 32.Rd2 defends the
g-Pawn and keeps the position equal. e4 32...d3 Gets real tactical! 33.xd3 33.f1 h5 34.gxh5 h6 35.xd5 c2+ with a strong attack. 36.h1 c1 Obviously the R cannot be taken because of ...Qxc1+ with mate to follow. 37.d8+ g7 38.f6+ xf6 39.exf6+ f8 40.xc1 xc1 Black's advantage should
prove decisive. 33...xd3 34.xh6+ e8 35.e6 e4 36.exf7+ xf7 37.e5+ xe5+ 38.dxe5 h8 39.e6+ g8 40.xh8+ xh8 41.xd5 The smoke still hasn't
cleared, but a draw seems likely. In Shootouts white scored +0 -1 =4 33.f5 This hasty move is a game losing blunder! 33.xh6+ is an
entirely different story! e8 and white can play either 34.Nh4 or 34.Nxd5 34.xd5 34.h4 xg4 35.xg4 xg4 36.xc1 xc1 37.xc1 xh4+ draws 34...xd5 35.xc1 xf3 36.xc8+ d7 and there is no way for white to avoid
the perpetual check. 33...f4+ Game over. 34.g3 xg4 35.xf4 xf4 36.d6 c2+ 37.g3 e2+ White resigned. 37...e2+ 38.g2 38.f2 c3+ 39.e3 xf3+ 40.xf3 xd1 38...xd4+ 39.d2 xb2 0–1
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