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.
[Event "Prague"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1943.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ruzena Sucha"]
[Black "Jaromir Florian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1943.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.04.05"]
{Elephant Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 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... Bd6 4. d4 e4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Nc3
O-O 7. Bc4 {According to GM Nicj de Firmian, white enjoys a distinct
superiority, but no immediate attack.}) (3... Qxd5 {This regains the P, but
leaves white with a lead in development. However, it seems to be black's best
reply.} 4. Nc3 Qa5 {An alternative is 4...Qe6} 5. d4 {Another good move is 5.
Bc4} exd4 6. Nxd4 Nf6 {and white's advantage is minimal.}) 4. Ne5 {After this
the position is equal.} (4. Qe2 {appears to be more precise.} Nf6 5. d3 Qxd5 6.
Nbd2 Nc6 7. dxe4 Qe6 8. Qc4 {White is slightly better.}) 4... Qxd5 5. d4 exd3
$1 6. Nxd3 Nc6 (6... Nf6 7. Nc3 Qf5 8. Bf4 c6 9. Qd2 Be6 10. Ne5 Nh5 11. Nd3
Nxf4 12. Nxf4 Be7 13. h4 O-O {A draw was agreed in Aydincelebi,K (2263)
-Gadimbayli,A (2447) Lvov 2019}) 7. Nc3 Qf5 (7... Qe6+ 8. Be2 Bd7 9. Nb5 O-O-O
10. Bf4 Nb4 11. Nxa7+ Kb8 12. Nxb4 Bxb4+ 13. c3 Be7 14. Be3 c5 15. Qb3 Kxa7 16.
Qa3+ Kb8 17. O-O-O Qe5 18. Rxd7 Rxd7 19. Qa4 Qc7 {0-1 (19) Chen,F (2385)-Lin,W
(2469) Suzhou, Jiangsu CHN 2001}) 8. a3 {Better would have been 8.Bf4} Bd7 {
Black has comne out of the opening with an active position and so has every
reason to be satisfied.} 9. Be2 Nf6 10. O-O O-O-O 11. Be3 h5 12. f3 Bd6 13. b4
Ne5 14. f4 (14. Bxa7 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Be5 16. Rad1 {would have been somewhat
better.}) 14... Neg4 15. Bd2 Rde8 (15... Nd5 {threatening ...Nge3 was an
alternative.} 16. Nxd5 Qxd5 17. Nf2 Qe6 18. Bd3 (18. Bxg4 {turns out badly
after} hxg4 19. c4 Qf5 20. c5 Be7 21. Rc1 Qh7 22. Nxg4 f5 23. Ne3 Qxh2+ 24. Kf2
Bh4+ {[%emt 0:00:04] mates in}) 18... Ne3 19. Bxe3 Qxe3 {with the better game.}
) 16. Rf3 Bc6 17. Rg3 g5 {White's hopes of defending her position are slim.}
18. h3 Rxe2 {[%mdl 8192] 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 Qg5 (19... hxg4 20. Bxg4 Nxg4 21. Qxg4 {White has
equalized.}) 20. Qf1 hxg4 21. Re1 Rxe2 22. Qxe2 Qh4 23. Bxf4 Bxf4 24. Nxf4 Qxg3
25. Qd2 Qh2+ 26. Kf1 Rd8 27. Qe3 Re8 28. Qd2 Qh1+ 29. Kf2 g3+) 19. hxg4 {
[%mdl 8192] Two question marks for this move also!} (19. Qxe2 {is the narrow
road to the win.} gxf4 (19... a5 {this is the engine line.} 20. Rf1 Re8 21. Qd1
Qh7 22. b5 Bd7 {and white is better.}) 20. Bxf4 Bxf4 21. Rf1 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Qxd5
23. Rxf4 {with a decisive advantage.}) 19... hxg4 {At least one question mark
for this which allows white to equalize.} (19... Rxg2+ {forces the win.} 20.
Rxg2 hxg4 21. Qf1 Qh7 22. Nf2 g3 {Black is clearly winning.}) 20. Nxe2 {
[%mdl 8192] And, a question mark, perhaps two, for this move which fails to
equalize and leaves black with a clear advantage.} (20. Qxe2 Qh7 21. Kf2 {
and it's a whole new game...both sides have chances.}) 20... Qh7 {Things are
back on track now. Black has a decisive advantage.} 21. Nf2 {She could have
held out a bit longer with, say, 21.Nc3. The text hems in the K.} Qh2+ (21...
gxf4 {also works.} 22. Bxf4 Bxf4 23. Nxf4 Qh2+ 24. Kf1 Bb5+ 25. Ne2 Qxg3) 22.
Kf1 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Bxf4 24. Qd3 Bxg3 25. Qxg3 Bb5 (25... Qh1+ {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. Nxh1 Rxh1+ 27. Ng1
Bb5+ 28. Qd3 (28. Ke1 Rxg1+ 29. Kd2 Ne4+ 30. Ke3 Nxg3 31. Rxg1) 28... Bxd3+ 29.
cxd3 Nd5 {with a won ending.}) 26. Qxh2 Rxh2 27. Re1 (27. Kg1 {was the only
chance.} Rh5 28. Nc3 {and white cam play on; black has no forced win.}) 27...
g3 28. Nd3 Bc6 {More precise was 28...Rh1+ because after the text white has
some practical chances of defending herself.} 29. Nef4 Ne4 30. Kg1 f5 {After
this white could get back in the game with 31.Re3} (30... Rh8 31. Re3 Re8 32.
Nh5 Nd6 33. Rxe8+ Bxe8 34. Nxg3) 31. Re2 {Even after this the game is hardly
lost.} Rh4 32. Re1 {[%mdl 8192] A final and fatal blunder...it's a shame!} (32.
Re3 {makes things tough for black! The best line now is} Rg4 33. Ne2 Ba4 34. c4
Bd1 35. Nef4 {Black is better, but could he win? Most likely; in 5 Shootouts
Stockfish had one draw and 4 wins for black.}) 32... Nf2 {After this white was
forced to resign.} (32... Nf2 33. Kf1 (33. Nxf2 gxf2+ 34. Kxf2 Rxf4+) 33...
Nxd3 34. Nxd3 Rh1+ 35. Ke2 Bxg2 {wins easily}) 0-1
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