Even though he was a strong payer, Morton had dismal performances in the two US Championships in which he participated. In the first modern 1936 championship which marked Frank Marshall’s retirement Morton finished last with a +1 -10 =4 score. His result in the 1938 championship was a bit better; he scored +3 -9 =4 and finished next to last.
I. A. Horowitz and Morton frequently traveled together giving tandem simultaneous exhibitions in which they would alternate making moves. On February 17, 1940 while enroute to Minneapolis, Minnesota after touring in the south and west, they were involved in a car accident on highway 30 about seven miles west of Carroll, Iowa when the car apparently skidded on a curve and collided with a van driven by Frank S. Robbins of Denver, Colorado.
Robbins was uninjured. Morton, who was driving, was thrown from the car and killed outright. He had the dubious distinction of being the county’s first traffic fatality of the year.
Horowitz was taken to St. Anthony's Hospital in Carroll where he was able to give his name. He had, among other injuries, a skull fracture and he was initially not expected to recover.. He was hospitalized for some time and during his stay in the hospital his brother, Irving, went to Iowa to be with him. The US Championship was held in April in 1940, but Horowitz still had not recovered sufficiently to play in it.
Morton’s opponent in the following game was Augustus N, Towsen (1905-1991, 85 years old). He was champion of Central Pennsylvania in 1930. He was a medical technician in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), almost forty thousand men and women from fifty-two countries, including 2,800 Americans, volunteered to travel to Spain and join the International Brigades to help fight fascism. The US volunteers served in various units and came to be known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Towsen was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and attended Albright College and possibly Millerville University in the summer of 1927. He received passport on May 17, 1937 which listed his address as 264 North Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On May 19, 1937 he sailed aboard the Normandie and arrived in Spain on May 29, 1937 and began serving with Medical Services. He returned to the US on August 14, 1938.
After WWII he served as an urban renewal activist. Urban renewal was a nationwide program in which the Federal government cities in the 1950s and '60s. The federal government gave cities billions of dollars to tear down blighted areas and replace them with affordable housing. At least, that's what was supposed to happen. Towsen died in Spalding, Georgia.
[Event "ACF Congress. Prelim A, Milwaukee"]
[Site "Milwaukee, WI USA"]
[Date "1935.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Augustus Towsen"]
[Black "Harold Morton"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D95"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1935.??.??"]
{Gruenfeld Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Qb3 c6
7. Bd3 b6 {Both 7...e6 and 7...dxc4 can be considered the main lines.} 8. cxd5
(8. O-O Be6 9. Bd2 h6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Rfc1 {White stands well. Cvek,R (2517)
-Walek,M (2350) Czechia 2010}) 8... cxd5 9. Bd2 Bb7 10. Rc1 Ne4 11. Rc2 {
Castling was to be preferred. Oddly enough white never doubles Rs on the
c-file. And, eventually this R on c2 will be a problem for white.} e6 (11... e5
{Grabs the initiative. After} 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 {This is perfectly safe because
white's K-side attacking prospects are zero.} 13. Bxe4 (13. dxe5 Nc5 {Black
wins heavy plastic.}) 13... dxe4 14. dxe5 Nd7 15. O-O Nxe5 {Black can claim a
slight advantage.}) 12. Ke2 {[%mdl 8192] This strange move leaves his K
vulnerable even though it is not yet apparent exactly how.} (12. O-O Nc6 13.
Rfc1 {with a perfectly even position.}) 12... Nc6 13. a3 e5 {[%mdl 32]} 14.
Nxe4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 Na5 16. Qd3 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 f5 18. Qh4 e4 19. Ng5 {This loses
the N!} (19. Qxd8 {is the only way for white to try and stay in the game.}
exf3+ 20. Kxf3 Raxd8 21. Bxa5 bxa5 22. Rhc1 f4 {Black is clearly better.})
19... h6 20. f4 hxg5 21. fxg5 Rc8 22. Bc3 (22. Rhc1 {would have hels out
longer, but he would still be lost.} Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Qd7 24. Bxa5 bxa5 25. Qf4
Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Qxc8 27. Kd2 Qa6 28. Qb8+ Bf8 29. Qb3+ Kg7 30. d5 a4 31. Qc3+ Kh7
32. Qd4 Bg7 33. Qc5 Qd3+) 22... Qd5 {Notice how vulnerable the R on c2 is.} 23.
Qf2 (23. Qf4 {prevents black's next move, but after} Qa2 24. Rd2 (24. Rhc1 Nb3
25. Rd1 Rxc3 {wins easily.}) 24... Nb3 25. Rhd1 Nxd2 {with an easy win.}) 23...
f4 24. exf4 Bxd4 (24... Nb3 {was also good...} 25. Rd1 e3 26. Qf3 Qf5) 25. Qg3
(25. Qxd4 Qxd4 26. Bxd4 Rxc2+ {That vulnerable R again.}) 25... Qb5+ {[%emt 0:
00:33] White resigned.} (25... Qb5+ 26. Kd2 Bxc3+ 27. bxc3 Nb3+ 28. Ke1 Nc5 29.
Qe3 (29. Rd2 e3 30. Rd1 Nd3+) 29... Nd3+ 30. Kd2 Rxf4 {and black's pieces are
swarming all over white.}) 0-1
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