Utah became a state in 1896 and in the summer of 1940 the US was finally beginning to pull itself out of the Great Depression. Only four years earlier the Farm Security Administration had sent photographers across the country to take pictures that had become representative of the ravages of poverty and economic depression.
When one of them returned in 1940, he found the economy in Utah much improved.
The isn't much history available about Utah chess in those days. Visiting the state's chess site shows a history of their state champions dating back only to 1991.
The 1940 state championship was held in Salt Lake City, but you won't find much on it. It was just the fourth annual Congress of the Utah Chess Federation and it was unusual in that it was won by Reuben Fine who toted a gun way too big for the Utah players to handle.
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| Family dinner - Utah 1940 |
According to a report in Chess Review, Fine added the title of Utah champion to his long string of laurels, but that report was incorrect. An article in the September 5th edition of the Salt Lake City Tribune stated that Fine, who was on tour and had given several exhibitions in town, had been invited to play in the tournament as a guest.
The outstanding Utah players who participated were Richard Durham, champion in 1938 and 1939, L. N. Page, the 1937 titleholder, and Dale L Morgan, champion of Salt Lake City.
Besides Fine, other non-residents who participated were Douglas Graham of Bozeman, Montana and George F. Girard of Pocatello, Idaho. 
As the top Utah finishers, Dale Morgan and Richard Durham, also from Salt Lake City, decided the championship in a playoff that was won by Morgan.
The Major tournament was won by 14 year old Philip Neff of Salt Lake City who was playing in his first important tournament. He went on to become a well known figure in western chess circles.
In the following game, Morgan indulges in positional maneuvering and when he finds his pieces offside on the Q-side, Fine unleashes a deadly attack against Morgan's King.
Dale L. Morgan–Reuben Fine0–1A30Utah State Champ, Salt Lake City1940Massie,Jasmes
English Opening 1.c4 c5 2.f3 f6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 xd5 5.g2 c6 6.0-0 e5 7.d3 Once upon a time when I was under the influence of Botvinnik this
was ny favorite setup with white. Unlike Botvinnik, I was never very
successful with it and like Morgan here, became victim of a K-side attack more
than once. I eventually gave it up as too passive. e7 8.bd2 0-0 8...e6 9.e1 0-0 10.a3 d7 11.b3 f6 12.b2 fd8 13.c1 ac8 Karlsson,L (2405)
-Tal,M (2705) Skara 1980. While black's advantage is not huge, white
eventually got crushed. 9.c4 f6 10.b3 GM Alex Yermolinsky (I think it
was) wrote unfavorably of the double fianchetto. 10.e3 e6 11.a4 d7 12.d2 b6 13.fc1 ac8 14.d1 h8 15.d2 fd8 16.b3 Black is better.
Lisitsin,G-Botvinnik,M Leningrad 1932 10.b3 h8 11.d2 b8 12.fc1 e6 13.d1 d7 14.a3 fc8 15.ab1 d4 16.a1 c6 Black is a little better,
but the players agreed to a draw. Coenen,M (2433)-Niedermeier,T (2262)
Deizisau 2015 10.a3 e6 11.cd2 f5 12.h3 c7 13.c2 Black's position
is the more promising. Salas Rasillas,C-Saez Gabikagogeaskoa,O Fuengirola 2005 10...e6 11.b2 d7 12.d2 ac8 13.ac1 d4 14.e3 14.e3 driving the
N back seems plausible, but white ultimately ends up with a backward d-Pawn
which is bound to be a problem in the long run. c6 15.fd1 g4 16.e4 db4 17.a3 a6 18.e3 h5 19.d5 c7 20.xe7+ xe7 Black is better. 14.xd4 Eliminates one well placed N, but the remaining N is also well placed and
black ahs a spatial advantage after cxd4 15.a3 b5 16.a5 b4 14...b4 15.c3 bc6 16.c4 fd8 17.b2 d5 18.xd4 exd4 White's best hope for
prolonging the game is now to play 19.Bxd4+ although in that case also his K
is dangerously denuded of defenders. 19.d2 After this move engines are
already informing us that white's position has deteriorated to the point of no
return against a GM e8 20.c2 It was still worth a try to play 20.Bxd5+ xg2 21.xg2 b5 22.a3 a6 23.f4 f8 24.e1 b4 25.cc1 d5 Fine wants
to drive the B back so he can use the e5 square. 26.d2 Not 26.Qd2 g4
trapping the B e5 27.c2 White is quite helpless. 27.c2 h5 28.h1 h3+ 29.g1 f5 results in a slaughter...white cannot allow ...f4, so 30.f4 e8 31.e1 h6 32.e3 dxe3 33.xe3 he6 34.c1 c4 35.bxc4 xe3 36.xe3 c5 27...ce8 28.c1 h5 White is about to go down in flames, but there is
nothing he can do. 29.h4 xh4 Morgan realized he was dead lost
here, but decided to let Fine have some fun. 30.gxh4 30.h1 results in
mate. xh1 31.xh1 h3+ 32.g1 e5 33.xd4 cxd4 34.g4 xg4+ 35.f1 h5 36.f4 g3 37.e4 h1+ 38.e2 g2# 30...g4+ Black mates here, too. 31.f1 h3+ 32.g1 e3 Sacrificing another R. It wasn't the only way
to win, but it was actually the quickest. 33.xe3 33.fxe3 g3+ 34.f1 dxe3 mates on f2 33...xe3 34.fxe3 g3+ White resigned. 34...g3+ 35.f1 dxe3 mates on f2. 0–1
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