On the US chess scene, Milton Hanauer won the Marshall Chess Club championship, Arnold Denker won the Manhattan Chess Club championship, Samuel Reshevsky won the Wertheim Memorial, Larry Evans won the US Championship and US Open. Mary Bain won the US Women's Championship.
The top 10 US players were Samuel Reshevsky, Arthur Dake, Arnold Denker, Larry Evans, Reuben Fine, I.A. Horowitz, Max Pavey, Arthur Bisguer, Donald Byrne and Robert Byrne.
California player Carroll Capps (November 27, 1917 – January 15, 1971) was a science fiction author who wrote under the
pseudonym of C. C. MacApp. He was also a USCF Expert (Elo 2000-2199) and a long time benefactor of San Francisco chess.
Capps was raised in Oakland, California. He was 16 years old when he started playing chess while in high school. Before World War II chess in Northern California had no weekend tournaments, there were no ratings and very few opening books.
Most chess was played at local clubs where competition was friendly. There were inter-club round robins, league matches between clubs and an occasional simultaneous by a visiting master.
After graduating from high school Capps attended UC Berkeley and earned a degree in chemistry. While at Berkeley he joined Oakland's Castle Chess Club and began to play in the Northern California Chess League. His first mention in California chess was in 1933 when he played on board 18 for his college team in a club match. While there he once defeated Arthur Dake in a simul.
Among the hundreds of local events played around the country in 1951 was the 1st Pacific Invitational held in San Francisco.
The USCF was critical of organizer and director George Koltanowski because of the “incredibly poor publicity” he gave the event except aboard; the USCF found out about the event through the pages of the British Chess Magazine. 
In the tournament, Capps tied for 4th-5th with Henry Gross, but he defeated Vladimir Pafnutieff, a strong California player known for his sharp attacking play and his good eye for a combination that gained him the scalps of a number of GM’s. He authored one book, How to Create Combinations, published in the 1990’s. His mother was said to be a concert pianist, but I could find nothing on her. Pafnutieff himself was supposedly a gifted singer. Unfortunately, there seems to be little information on him.
At the time of this tournament both players were rated as Experts, Capps at 2160) and Pafnutieff at 2079.
Carroll Capps–Vladimir Pafnutieff1–0C08Pacific Invitational, San Francisco1951Stockfish 16
C08: French Defense, Tarrasch Variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.d2 The
Tarrasch Variation became popular during the 1970s and early 1980s when
Anatoly Karpov used it. It's not as aggressive as 3.Nc3 but is is a safe
alternative. The Tarrasch differs from 3.Nc3 in that it does not block the
c-Pawn so at some point white can play c3 to support the d-Pawn. It also
avoids the Winawer (...Bb4). On the other hand, 3.Nd2 develops the knight to a
less active square which means that white will have to spend an extra tempo
moving the N so he can develop the B. c5 4.gf3 f6 5.b5+ A rare sideline.
White usually plays 5.exd5 or 5.e5 c6 6.exd5 exd5 7.0-0 d6 8.dxc5 xc5 9.b3 b6 More solid is 9.Be7 9...b6 was played in Alekhine,A-Cortlever,N
Munich 1941m but it is not so good for black after 10.e2+ e4 11.c4 e6 12.cxd5 xd5 13.d3 f5 14.g5 White stands well. 10.e1+ e6 11.fd4 11.g5 0-0 12.xc6 bxc6 13.e5 c7 14.xf6 gxf6 15.f3 is equal and Sek,K
(2469)-Golubov,S (2478) St Petersburg RUS 2019 agreed to a draw in a few more
moved. 11...0-0 12.g5 12.xc6 bxc6 13.xc6 is disastrous for white. g4 14.xa8 h4 and black is winning. One example... 15.e3 xh2+ 16.f1 d4 17.xd4 c4+ and white has to surrender the Q to put off being mated. 12...h6 13.h4 g5 A typical attacking move by Pafnutieff. 14.g3 g4 14...xd4 is an interesting try. 15.xd4 e4 16.c3 f6 17.h5 xd4 18.cxd4 ac8 with equal chances. 15.f3 A very strong defensive move.
h5 16.f2 e4 17.e3 d6 A mistake that quickly lands black in serious
trouble. 17...xd4 This assures black of equality. 18.xd4 d6 19.a4 g6 20.d3 xd3 21.xd3 e8 equals 18.xc6 bxc6 18...xd4 19.xd4 bxc6 20.xc6 d7 21.b4 followed by Nxd4 and white is winning. 19.xc6
This N is going to do a lot of damage which is why it should have been taken
on move 17. xe3+ 19...f5 was called for. 20.xd8 xe3 21.xe3 xe3+ 22.f1 axd8 20.xe3 b6 20...f6 was no salvation either. 21.e7+ h7 22.xd5 21.e7+ h7 22.xd5 White has a won ending. c6 23.c3 a6 24.c5 b5 25.f6+ Black resigned. It's surprising how quickly his game
collapsed after 17...Nd6 25.f6+ h8 26.xd6 xb2 27.xh5 xa1+ 28.f2 xc3 29.xh6+ g8 30.f6+ xf6 31.xf6 fd8 32.xg5+ f8 33.e4 Black's
position is hopeless. 1–0
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