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.
[Event "1944/45 Mexican Chp, Mexico City"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Joaquin Camarena"]
[Black "Enrico Kupfer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Stockfish/Komodo"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]
{A07: Reti Opening} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Nbd7 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. Nc3 {
Black has a wide choice here. 6...d4, 6...Bb4, 6...h6 and 6...Be7 have all
been played.} Bd6 7. Bg5 (7. e4 {is more typical in these types of positions.}
d4 8. Ne2 c5 9. Nh4 O-O 10. f4 {with a completely equal position.}) 7... h6 8.
Bxf6 Nxf6 {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. Nd2 {It would have been preferable to
play 9.e4.} Be6 (9... d4 10. Nce4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Be7 {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 Bb4 {Black cannot afford this loss of time. Either 10...d4
or 10...O-O were preferable.} 11. exd5 Nxd5 {Better was 11...cxd5 with good
control of the center.} 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. c3 Bd6 14. c4 {As a result of his
11th move black has lost time and this thrust at his center has allowed white
to equalize.} Be7 {Another loss of time that black cannot afford.} (14... d4
15. Bxb7 {is obviously not good for black.}) (14... dxc4 {was his best chance.
After} 15. Bxb7 Rb8 16. Bc6+ Bd7 17. Bxd7+ Qxd7 18. Nxc4 {White is better.})
15. cxd5 Bxd5 16. Qa4+ {A nasty surprise for black who is now forced to move
his K.} Kf8 (16... Bc6 17. Bxc6+ bxc6 18. Qxc6+ {is even worse for black...he
has lost a P.}) 17. Nf3 {Attacking the B and b-Pawn with 17.Qb5 would have put
more pressure on black.} Bxf3 {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. Bxf3 Qb6 {As a result of white's small slip on move 17
black has succeeded in getting sufficient counterplay.} 19. Rac1 {Baiting a
trap.} g6 {Which black avoids and with this move he makes a place for his K
and also activate his R.} (19... Qxb2 20. Rb1 Qc3 21. Rxb7 {and white also
picks up the a-Pawn.} Rd8 (21... Qxd3 {would be fatal.} 22. Rb3 {attacks the Q
and Q and so wins material.}) 22. Qxa7 {White's control of the 7th rank spells
the end for black.} Qxd3 23. Bh5 (23. Rxe7 Qxf3 {is less strong for white.})
23... Qf5 24. Be2 Qe6 25. Rc1 {Black is in serious trouble after white plays
Rcc7}) 20. Rc3 Qxb2 {Black has captured this P under more favorable
circumstances, but he probably should have played 20...Rd8 with some
counterplay.} (20... Kg7 21. Rb3 Qe6 22. Rxb7 {favors white.}) 21. Rfc1 {
White fails to take advantage of black's last move.} (21. Rb3 Qc2 22. Qe4 Qxa2
{leads to a loss after} 23. Qxe5 Rh7 (23... Rg8 24. Bd5 {also leaves black in
a losing situation.}) 24. Rxb7) 21... Rd8 {Somewhat better was 21...Kg7. Even
here though white cannot claim any significant advantage.} 22. R1c2 Qb1+ 23.
Kg2 b6 {[%mdl 8192] 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. Rc7 h4 {Do you see black's threat? It's 25...h3#, so...}
25. h3 hxg3 26. fxg3 Qb6 27. Rxb7 {This looks crushing, but that's not at all
the case!} Qe6 {Threatening ...Qxh3+} 28. Bg4 f5 29. Bf3 Rxd3 30. Rb8+ (30.
Qxa7 {turns out poorly after} e4 31. Be2 f4 32. Bxd3 Qxh3+ 33. Kf2 Qxg3+ 34.
Ke2 Rh2+ {mates in 3}) 30... Kg7 31. Rxh8 Kxh8 32. Qe8+ Kh7 33. Rc7 Qxa2+ 34.
Kg1 Qb1+ 35. Kh2 Rd2+ 36. Bg2 {and black draws with} Rxg2+ 37. Kxg2 Qb2+) 24.
Rc7 {Effectively ending the game.} Bd6 25. Rxa7 Rh7 26. Qh4 Qxc2 {This allows
a mate in 7, but his position was hopeless in any case.} (26... Re8 27. Qf6
Qxc2 28. Qxd6+ Kg8 29. Bd5 Rf8 30. Bxf7+ Rhxf7 31. Qxg6+ Kh8 32. Qxh6+ Kg8 33.
Qg6+ Kh8 34. Rxf7) 27. Qxd8+ Kg7 28. Rxf7+ {[%mdl 512] Of course, 28,Qxd6 wins,
but to borrow a phrase from I.A. Horowitz, withg this move Canarena "lands a
sockdolager!"} Kxf7 29. Bd5+ Kg7 30. Qg8+ Kf6 31. Qe6+ {Black resigned; it's
mate in 2} 1-0
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