Beginning in December of 1944 and running through February of 1945 the Mexican Championship was held in Mexico City. It attracted an entry list of 22 players. They were divided into two groups in the preliminaries with four from each group qualifying for the finals. The eight finalists then played a double round robin
for the title.
After a tough battle Army Major Jose Joaquin Araiza emerged victorious. According to a Chess Review article he was born March 23, 1897, but Wikipedia gives his birth year as 1900. He passed away September 27, 1971.
Araiza's most dangerous contender was the second place finisher Joaquin Camarena who was one of the best local players. 
At that time he had never competed outside of Mexico. He did, however, play in the 1945 Pan Am Championship that was played in Hollywood in 1945. He was not at all successful, finishing 13th (lat) with ten losses and only two draws (with Herman Steiner and Jose Broderman.
Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2378 on the July 1947 rating list. His best performance was at the 1964 Olympiad in Tel Aviv where his performance rating was 2428.
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| Joaquin Camarena |
Camarena learned to play from his father as did all eight of his brothers and sisters. Since 1937, he had been finishing at or near the top of local events. Physically he was described as being built like a heavyweight wrestler, but having a “light and sensitive touch at the chessboard.” It was claimed that Camarena never read a chess book. Unfortunately, I could fimd no other information on Camerena.
In the following game Camarena’s Rook sacrifice at the end is the game’s redeeming quality.
Joaquin Camarena–Enrico Kupfer1–0A071944/45 Mexican Chp, Mexico City1945Stockfish/Komodo
A07: Reti Opening 1.f3 d5 2.g3 f6 3.g2 c6 4.0-0 bd7 5.d3 e5
White's setup is an odd one. Here, with either 6.e4 or 6.Nbd2 the opening
would be a K-Indian Attack, but his next move is a rare sideline. 6.c3
Black has a wide choice here. 6...d4, 6...Bb4, 6...h6 and 6...Be7 have all
been played. d6 7.g5 7.e4 is more typical in these types of positions. d4 8.e2 c5 9.h4 0-0 10.f4 with a completely equal position. 7...h6 8.xf6 xf6 White did not have much choice in making the exchange because
otherwise he would simply have lost time with the retreat 8.Bd2. Here black's
position is slightly preferable. 9.d2 It would have been preferable to
play 9.e4. e6 9...d4 10.ce4 xe4 11.xe4 e7 White's N looks oddly
placed, but white can get some play in the center with Re1 and e3, or he can
reposition the N by playing Nd2-c4. In either case black still has a slight
advantage. 10.e4 b4 Black cannot afford this loss of time. Either 10...d4
or 10...O-O were preferable. 11.exd5 xd5 Better was 11...cxd5 with good
control of the center. 12.xd5 cxd5 13.c3 d6 14.c4 As a result of his
11th move black has lost time and this thrust at his center has allowed white
to equalize. e7 Another loss of time that black cannot afford. 14...d4 15.xb7 is obviously not good for black. 14...dxc4 was his best chance.
After 15.xb7 b8 16.c6+ d7 17.xd7+ xd7 18.xc4 White is better. 15.cxd5 xd5 16.a4+ A nasty surprise for black who is now forced to move
his K. f8 16...c6 17.xc6+ bxc6 18.xc6+ is even worse for black...he
has lost a P. 17.f3 Attacking the B and b-Pawn with 17.Qb5 would have put
more pressure on black. xf3 This is not bad by any means, but it allows
white's B consideranle scope so opposing it with 17...Bc6 would have been
slightly better. 18.xf3 b6 As a result of white's small slip on move 17
black has succeeded in getting sufficient counterplay. 19.ac1 Baiting a
trap. g6 Which black avoids and with this move he makes a place for his K
and also activate his R. 19...xb2 20.b1 c3 21.xb7 and white also
picks up the a-Pawn. d8 21...xd3 would be fatal. 22.b3 attacks the Q
and Q and so wins material. 22.xa7 White's control of the 7th rank spells
the end for black. xd3 23.h5 23.xe7 xf3 is less strong for white. 23...f5 24.e2 e6 25.c1 Black is in serious trouble after white plays
Rcc7 20.c3 xb2 Black has captured this P under more favorable
circumstances, but he probably should have played 20...Rd8 with some
counterplay. 20...g7 21.b3 e6 22.xb7 favors white. 21.fc1
White fails to take advantage of black's last move. 21.b3 c2 22.e4 xa2 leads to a loss after 23.xe5 h7 23...g8 24.d5 also leaves black in
a losing situation. 24.xb7 21...d8 Somewhat better was 21...Kg7. Even
here though white cannot claim any significant advantage. 22.1c2 b1+ 23.g2 b6 It's easy to understand black's wish to get the b-Pawn out
of harm's way, but this move immediately results in a completely lost position.
23...h5 This surprising move which ignores white's threats was an
absolute must. 24.c7 h4 Do you see black's threat? It's 25...h3#, so... 25.h3 hxg3 26.fxg3 b6 27.xb7 This looks crushing, but that's not at all
the case! e6 Threatening ...Qxh3+ 28.g4 f5 29.f3 xd3 30.b8+ 30.xa7 turns out poorly after e4 31.e2 f4 32.xd3 xh3+ 33.f2 xg3+ 34.e2 h2+ mates in 3 30...g7 31.xh8 xh8 32.e8+ h7 33.c7 xa2+ 34.g1 b1+ 35.h2 d2+ 36.g2 and black draws with xg2+ 37.xg2 b2+ 24.c7 Effectively ending the game. d6 25.xa7 h7 26.h4 xc2 This allows
a mate in 7, but his position was hopeless in any case. 26...e8 27.f6 xc2 28.xd6+ g8 29.d5 f8 30.xf7+ hxf7 31.xg6+ h8 32.xh6+ g8 33.g6+ h8 34.xf7 27.xd8+ g7 28.xf7+ Of course, 28,Qxd6 wins,
but to borrow a phrase from I.A. Horowitz, withg this move Canarena "lands a
sockdolager!" xf7 29.d5+ g7 30.g8+ f6 31.e6+ Black resigned; it's
mate in 2 1–0
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