Closer to home, the Pentagon, considered to be the world’s largest office building, was completed. On August 13, 1943, that paranoid weirdo J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, received a letter alleging that the popularity of Frank Sinatra was being used to prepare the masses to accept a new Hitler. The FBI kept surveillance over Sinatra for the next 40 years.
I read articles claiming that the FBI had banned postal chess in the belief that the move notation could contain some kind of coded message, but I don't believe it because Al Horowitz' Chess Review was still publishing results of its postal tournaments and advertising entries for postal events that year. For example, you could enter a class tournament (4 players, 2 games with each opponent) for only $1.00 per section.
The US had formally entered the European Theater of World War II on December 11, 1941, only days after the events of Pearl Harbor, when Germany declared war on the United States. So, in 1943 the United States rationing of gasoline, canned food, meat, shoes, cheese, butter and cooking oils went into effect.
Beatrice Arthur (May 13, 1922 - April 25, 2009, 86 years old) was a actress and comedian who was born and raised in Brooklyn; she began her career on stage in 1947. During WW2 Arthur served in the US Marine Corps from 1943-1945 and was honorably discharged rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6).
The big hit record in 1943 was by the Mills Brothers, an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies. They were the first African-American artists to have their own show on national network radio (on CBS in 1930). You cam listen to their 1943 hit , Paper Doll, HERE.
At the Philadelphia Naval Yard a Navy ship, the USS Eldridge, was docked when it reportedly disappeared for a few minutes in a transporter experiment, after which members of the crew reportedly suffered from sporadic invisibility, madness and spontaneous combustion. Read more...
You can read the Navy's explanation of the event HERE.
In chess, in the US, Ariel Mengarini won the Amateur championship and Herman Steiner won the California Open State Championship with the score of 17-0! Al Horowitz won the 44th US Open, held in Syracuse, New York.
A large number of players died that year:
Polish master Henryk Pogoriely was murdered by the Nazis in Pawiak prison, Warsaw. Abram Rabinovich starved to death in Moscow. Lithuanian-Russian master Alexander Romanovsky died in Russia.
Romanian-born Belgian master Emmanuel Sapira died. Hungarian-Serbian master Mirko Broeder died at the hands of the Nazis. Vasily O. Smyslov, father of the future World Champion, died.
Mikhail Barulin, executive secretary of the Central Composition Committee and the first Soviet Master of Sport of Chess Composition, was arrested, refused to sign a confession or denounce other chess problemists and, as a result, he died in a Russian prison.
Australian master Gunnar Gundersen died in Melbourne, Australia. Polish master Abram Szprio died at Auschwitz. He was a Polish chess master. Belarusian-French master Leon Monosson, the 1935 champion of Paris, also died at Auschwitz.
Latvian master and study composer Karlis Betins died in Riga.
Walter Frere, a top New York City amateur player died in the city at the age of 69. His father had helped organize the First American Chess Congress of 1857 that was won by Paul Morphy. Mexican-British master Adrian Garcia Conde died in London.
US master Stasch Mlotkowski died in Gloucester City, New Jersey at the age of 62. Swedish master Karl Berndtsson died in Gothenburg.
Czech master, chess publisher and problem composer Jan Kotrc died in Vlachovo Brezi, Czechoslovakia. Austrian master Heinrich Wolf died at the age of 68.
Polish master Eduard Gerstenfeld was shot to death by the Nazis in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
And, Vladimir Petrov died at Kotlas, Russia at the age of 34. He was sentenced to 10 years for treason, but died of pneumonia shortly after arriving at a labor camp. AT least that's the official version. When somebody asked Edmar Mednis, who was born in Lativa, whatever happened to Petrov, Mednis replied simply, "The Russians shot him."
On the other side of the coin, on March 3, 1943, Robert James Fischer (1943-2008) was born in Chicago.
Alekhine was invited to a tournament in Madrid, but he arrived too late to take part. A Nazi broadcast claimed that Alekhine was confined to a sanitarium shortly after his arrival and there were reports that he had been showing signs of a mental disorder. He did, however, playAlekhine did play in the International Speed Game Tournament that was held in Madrid on October 22.
There was also a report in the English magazine CHESS Alekhine had taken part in two tournaments at Prague in 1943. In one of the events he tied with Karl Junge for first. In the other tournament Alekhine made a much better showing, out pointing Paul Keres and the others by a wide margin.
CHESS also reported that Alekhine was supposed to have taken part in the tournament at Madrid and his absence may have been explained by a recent Axis broadcast which reported that shortly after arriving in Madrid, Alekhine had been showing signs of mental a disorder.
The article also added that in 1942, Alekhine had been taken to a hospital in Prague in a dying condition, but no further news was ever received, nor was the incident ever again referred to.
The following game is one by lesser known players.
Ruzena Sucha (October 19, 1907 - October 7, 1989), also known as Ruzena Sucha–Dobiasova, was a Czech female player. She received WIM title in 1954.
From the end of the 1930s to the early 1960s, Sucha was one of the leading Czechoslovakian women's players. She was the 1938, 1951 and 1954 Czech Women's Champion. Besides her three victories, she finished second in 1949, 1952, 1953 and third in 1940, 1943, 1944, 1955, 1956, 1960 and 1961.
In 1943, she was the only woman who participated in Prague tournament where she finished last with 3 draws out of 19 games.
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| Ruzena Sucha |
In 1954, she shared 1st-2nd place in Women's World Championship Zonal Tournament in Leipzig. In 1955, she participated at Women's World Championship Candidates Tournament in Moscow when ranked 19th place.
Sucha was also known as chess organizer and in 1974, she was one of the founders of the chess club in Smichov. After her death memorial tournaments were regularly held at this club.
The winner of the following dog fight was Jaromir Florian (August 13, 1911 - September 9, 1984) who was from Brno in the Czech Republic. He was one of the most famous and most charismatic players in Czechoslovakia even though he never possessed an international title.
Originally from Bilovec, Czechoslovakia, in 1919 his family moved to Brno where in 1935 he completed his law studies.
Beginning in 1948 Florian was a judge of the state court in Brno and in March 1949, he investigated atrocities committed during the war. His enemies devised a case in which he was alleged to have taken bribes. As a result, he went on trial and was found guilty and was sentenced to a four-year imprisonment (1950-1954) where he worked in a quarry. After serving his sentence he owned a chess shop in Brno.
Ruzena Sucha–Jaromir Florian0–1C40Prague1943Stockfish 15.1
Elephant Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 d5 Considered unsound, the Elephant Gamnit
allows white to capture either P. With one of his center Ps missing black is
left with a passive position. 3.exd5 e4 3...d6 4.d4 e4 5.e5 f6 6.c3 0-0 7.c4 According to GM Nicj de Firmian, white enjoys a distinct
superiority, but no immediate attack. 3...xd5 This regains the P, but
leaves white with a lead in development. However, it seems to be black's best
reply. 4.c3 a5 An alternative is 4...Qe6 5.d4 Another good move is 5.
Bc4 exd4 6.xd4 f6 and white's advantage is minimal. 4.e5 After this
the position is equal. 4.e2 appears to be more precise. f6 5.d3 xd5 6.bd2 c6 7.dxe4 e6 8.c4 White is slightly better. 4...xd5 5.d4 exd3! 6.xd3 c6 6...f6 7.c3 f5 8.f4 c6 9.d2 e6 10.e5 h5 11.d3 xf4 12.xf4 e7 13.h4 0-0 A draw was agreed in Aydincelebi,K (2263)
-Gadimbayli,A (2447) Lvov 2019 7.c3 f5 7...e6+ 8.e2 d7 9.b5 0-0-0 10.f4 b4 11.xa7+ b8 12.xb4 xb4+ 13.c3 e7 14.e3 c5 15.b3 xa7 16.a3+ b8 17.0-0-0 e5 18.xd7 xd7 19.a4 c7 0-1 (19) Chen,F (2385)-Lin,W
(2469) Suzhou, Jiangsu CHN 2001 8.a3 Better would have been 8.Bf4 d7
Black has comne out of the opening with an active position and so has every
reason to be satisfied. 9.e2 f6 10.0-0 0-0-0 11.e3 h5 12.f3 d6 13.b4 e5 14.f4 14.xa7 xd3 15.xd3 e5 16.ad1 would have been somewhat
better. 14...eg4 15.d2 de8 15...d5 threatening ...Nge3 was an
alternative. 16.xd5 xd5 17.f2 e6 18.d3 18.xg4 turns out badly
after hxg4 19.c4 f5 20.c5 e7 21.c1 h7 22.xg4 f5 23.e3 xh2+ 24.f2 h4+ mates in 18...e3 19.xe3 xe3 with the better game. 16.f3 c6 17.g3 g5 White's hopes of defending her position are slim. 18.h3 xe2 But this slip warrants a couple of question marks
because now white could have grabbed the advantage with 19.Qe2! 18...gxf4
gives black an irresistible attack. That said, the ensuing complications would
be very difficult to calculate OTB, so it's hard to be critical of either
player here! 19.hxg4 g5 19...hxg4 20.xg4 xg4 21.xg4 White has
equalized. 20.f1 hxg4 21.e1 xe2 22.xe2 h4 23.xf4 xf4 24.xf4 xg3 25.d2 h2+ 26.f1 d8 27.e3 e8 28.d2 h1+ 29.f2 g3+ 19.hxg4
Two question marks for this move also! 19.xe2 is the narrow
road to the win. gxf4 19...a5 this is the engine line. 20.f1 e8 21.d1 h7 22.b5 d7 and white is better. 20.xf4 xf4 21.f1 d5 22.xd5 xd5 23.xf4 with a decisive advantage. 19...hxg4 At least one question mark
for this which allows white to equalize. 19...xg2+ forces the win. 20.xg2 hxg4 21.f1 h7 22.f2 g3 Black is clearly winning. 20.xe2
And, a question mark, perhaps two, for this move which fails to
equalize and leaves black with a clear advantage. 20.xe2 h7 21.f2
and it's a whole new game...both sides have chances. 20...h7 Things are
back on track now. Black has a decisive advantage. 21.f2 She could have
held out a bit longer with, say, 21.Nc3. The text hems in the K. h2+ 21...gxf4 also works. 22.xf4 xf4 23.xf4 h2+ 24.f1 b5+ 25.e2 xg3 22.f1 gxf4 23.xf4 xf4 24.d3 xg3 25.xg3 b5 25...h1+ This is a move
that only an engine would choose. It also works, but it involves temporarily
giving up the Q and so would be unappealing to humans! 26.xh1 xh1+ 27.g1 b5+ 28.d3 28.e1 xg1+ 29.d2 e4+ 30.e3 xg3 31.xg1 28...xd3+ 29.cxd3 d5 with a won ending. 26.xh2 xh2 27.e1 27.g1 was the only
chance. h5 28.c3 and white cam play on; black has no forced win. 27...g3 28.d3 c6 More precise was 28...Rh1+ because after the text white has
some practical chances of defending herself. 29.ef4 e4 30.g1 f5 After
this white could get back in the game with 31.Re3 30...h8 31.e3 e8 32.h5 d6 33.xe8+ xe8 34.xg3 31.e2 Even after this the game is hardly
lost. h4 32.e1 A final and fatal blunder...it's a shame! 32.e3 makes things tough for black! The best line now is g4 33.e2 a4 34.c4 d1 35.ef4 Black is better, but could he win? Most likely; in 5 Shootouts
Stockfish had one draw and 4 wins for black. 32...f2 After this white was
forced to resign. 32...f2 33.f1 33.xf2 gxf2+ 34.xf2 xf4+ 33...xd3 34.xd3 h1+ 35.e2 xg2 wins easily 0–1
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