It has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive when the explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cibola, a myth about seven cities of gold.
Later came fur trappers, including the legendary Jim Bridger, a trapper, Army scout and wilderness guide who explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century.
Following the Mexican–American War in 1848, the region was annexed by the US, becoming part of the Utah Territory. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the Federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896.
Much less well documented is Utah's chess history which seems to be practically non-existent except for recent years. The following game was played in the 1938 Utah State Championship which was held in Salt Lake City.
The game was annotated in a 1939 issue of Chess Review by the strong Master Sidney N. Bernstein (1911-1992) who was a participant in eight US Championships (1936, 1938, 1940, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1959 and 1961).
Bernstein described the game as, "One of the most remarkable games ever played by American amateurs!" True enough, it was remarkable and a real fist fight. White's sacrifice was unsound, but it resulted in complications galore and only a chess engine could successfully navigate through them.
A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
Dale L. Morgan–Irvin W. Taylor½–½D53Utah Champ, Salt Lake City1938Stockfish 15.1
Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 f6 This used to pop up occasionally
in Frank Marshall's games, but it's not particularly effective. 3.c3
White is intent on playing a regular QGD otherwise he would seize the chance
to obtain a free hand in the center. 3.cxd5 as logical as this is it's
seldom played. Statistically it highly favors white. xd5 4.f3 It turns
out that this is even better than 4.e4 f5 5.bd2 Obviously the threat is 6.
e4 so a black piece has to retreat. b6 6.e4 g6 7.h4 with the initiative. 3.cxd5 xd5 4.e4 f6 5.c3 e5 Black almost always replies with the
inferior 5...e6 6.ge2 exd4 7.xd4 c5 8.e3 White has no more than his
usual opening advantage. 3...e6 4.g5 e7 5.f3 b6 The solid Tartakower
Variation except black has omitted ...h6 6.cxd5 xd5 7.xe7 xe7 Safer was
7...Qe7 preventing white's subsequent Ng5 7...xe7 8.xd5 8.e4 xc3 9.bxc3 b7 10.a4+ c6 11.c2 equals. Valle Maytin,L (2285)-Garcia Martinez,J
(2119) Girona ESP 2010 8...exd5 9.e3 b4+ 10.d2 xd2+ 11.xd2 equals.
Vokac,M (2476)-Bores,M (2214) Prague 2005 8.e4 0-0 9.d3 b7 10.e5
This cramps black and opens up the Bs diagonal. Clearly white is going for a
K-side attack. bc6 11.xh7+ When NM Sidney Bernstein annotated
this game for Chess Review he based his annotations strictly on the game's
outcome, a not an uncommon practice in those days. This sacrifice is, in fact,
totally unsound. It's dangerous to black, but IF he finds the right reply he
is left with won game...a big if! Either 11.O-O or 11.Be4 would have been
correct. In either case the position would be completely equal. xh7 12.g5+ Black is now confronted with a choice of 4 moves, but there is only one that
leaves him with a won position. h6 The best of the worst! 12...h8 13.h5+ g8 14.h7# 12...g8 13.h5 e8 14.xf7+ h8 15.h5+ g8 16.ce4
Mate in f5 17.f6+ xf6 18.exf6 h6 19.g6 e7 20.0-0-0 a6 21.he1 e2 22.fxe7 xe7 23.xe6+ h8 24.e4 ef5 25.xa8+ g8 26.xe2 g6 27.f8 d6 28.e7 f7 29.xf7 xe7 30.h7# 12...g6 ...and
wins! This is looks like a scary place for the K, but it leaves white at a
loss for a way to continue the attack. 13.g4 xd4 14.ge4+ 14.f4 xe5 14.g3 f5 15.xe6+ xg3 16.xd4 xh1 14...h7 15.h5+ g8 16.g5 xe5+ 17.ce4 a5+ 18.f1 f5 and h7 is covered. 13.d2
Threatening a discovered check, but it's a phantom threat. 13.g4 This
would win. xd4 14.0-0-0 g6 15.h3+ xg5 16.e3+ h5 17.g4+ h4 18.f4
with a decisive advantage. 13...xd4 After this any discovered check is
harmless. 14.c1 xe5+ 15.ce4 g6 15...a5+ is even better. 16.f1 d4 17.xe6+ h7 18.xf8+ g8 19.g6 a6+ wins 20.g1 e2+ 21.f1 xc1+ 22.g1 e1# 16.h4 h8 17.g4 Black's K is safe and there is no effective way
that white can continue the attack. xh4 Well played. 17...ad8 18.h5+ xh5 19.gxh5+ f5 20.e3 and white is winning. 18.xh4 d4 This move
looks good because it centralizes the N, but it also lets any advantage black
had slip away. The chances are back to being equal. 18...b4 Threatening a
nasty fork on d3 was even more powerful. 19.f1 xe4 20.h3 f6 21.d2 d6
White's attack is over and so is the game...black has a winning advantage. 19.f4 a5+ 20.f2 b5 20...f6 was somewhat better as it would practically
assure black of a draw. That said, calculating the correct sequence OTB would
be nearly impossible. 21.xc7 b5 22.xb7 fxg5 23.xa8 xb2+ 24.g3 gxh4+ 25.h3 a3+ 26.h2 b2+ draws 20...d8 was also playable. 21.h1 xe4 22.xe4+ f5 23.gxf5+ xf5 with equal chances. 21.c3 d3 21...c5
was a bit better. 22.e3 d5 23.f5+ exf5 24.xd5 xd5 25.g1 f6 26.e6 f3+ 27.xf3 xf3 28.gxf5+ xf5 29.xg7+ e5 30.h5+ g5 with
complications, but engines evaluate the position as dead equal and Shootouts
indicate that a draw would be a likely outcome. 22.h3 White
has compensation. c4 23.b1+ f5 24.g1 Black has has survived
the attack and even lost his advantage, but he is still under a lot of
pressure. c5 24...c2 was more precise. 25.gxf5+ xf5 26.ge4 d4+ 27.e2 xg1 28.xg1 xf4 The position is quite unclear. Shootouts indicate that
a draw is likely. 25.b4 An excellent move that drives the Q off the
diagonal and so avoids the discovered check. xb4 26.gxf5+ Whits is now
conducting a vigorous attack. exf5 A logical move because it gets the N
into play, but white still has a very strong attack. 26...f6 is not much
better. 27.b1 c4 White is better, but there is no way to get at black's K.
28.c1 d5 28...a6 29.fxe6 xe6 30.e3 xg5 31.fxg5+ g6 32.xe7 29.e1 dxf5 30.b4 Black can get in a couple of meaningless checks, but after c5+ 31.f1 c4+ 32.g2 d5+ 33.h2 g6 34.xd5 xd5 35.e2 Threatening
Qh5+ g3 35...c5 36.h5+ f6 37.f7# 36.xg3 f5+ 37.f2 and wins 27.xe6+ Missing a golden opportunity, 27.b1 e7 27...e2 28.xe2 c4+ 29.e1 and white is winning. 28.g4 f6 29.ce4+ xe4 30.xe4+ f7 31.h5+ g6 31...g8 32.h8+ wins 32.h7+ e8 33.h8+ f8 34.xf8+ xf8 35.h8+ Even though it's going to take some time and effort white has a won
ending. 27...f7 White must now prevent ...Qb2+. 28.b1 d6 29.g5+
Once again black is confronted with a decision of where to place his K and
again he makes the wrong choice. g8 29...f8 gives the K room to flee and
black has nothing to worry about. 30.c1 c5 This position is completely
equal. 30.h8+ xh8 31.f7+ g8 32.xd6 xd6 33.g6 f8± 34.g1 xf4+ 35.e3 f3+ Nicely played! 35...f7 36.xd4 Black simply
does not have enough compensation for his material deficit. 36.xd4 c5+ 37.e5 f7+ 38.e6 e3+ 39.e4 Very clever! White sacrifices a
piece to avoid the checks. 39.f5 f3+ 40.e6 40.g4 e5+ 40...e3+
etc. 39...xe4+ 40.f5 e5+ 41.f4 e4+ 42.g3
Black is out of checks and Shootouts indicate that white has good winning
chances (=2 -0 =3), but scoring the point won't be easy. h6 After this
black should have lost. 42...e2 makes life difficult for white. 43.h3 c8+ 44.h4 h2+ 45.g3 h6 43.f2 With the obvious threat of Qxh6 f4+ 44.e3 f3+ 45.e2 f5 46.g5 White falls into a perpetual check or elso
allows black to establish material equality. Either way it's a draw. 46.d2 wins as black has no adequate defensive resources. But...that's not so easy
to see. d5 47.e8+ h7 48.g5 f2+ 49.e1 f4 50.h5+ h6 51.xd5
White is winning, but it's not going to be as easy as thje engine evaluation
of a 6 Pawn advantage suggests. 46...a6+ Draw. A terrific game! 46...a6+ 47.xf3 47.d2 f2+ 48.e1 e2+ 49.d1 e3+ 50.c1 e1+ 51.b2 c4+ 52.b3 e3+ 53.c2 53.a4 b5# 53...e2+ 47...h4+ 48.e3 xg6 49.xg6 This position is drawn. ½–½
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