It has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive when the explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cibola, a myth about seven cities of gold.
Later came fur trappers, including the legendary Jim Bridger, a trapper, Army scout and wilderness guide who explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century.
Following the Mexican–American War in 1848, the region was annexed by the US, becoming part of the Utah Territory. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the Federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896.
Much less well documented is Utah's chess history which seems to be practically non-existent except for recent years. The following game was played in the 1938 Utah State Championship which was held in Salt Lake City.
The game was annotated in a 1939 issue of Chess Review by the strong Master Sidney N. Bernstein (1911-1992) who was a participant in eight US Championships (1936, 1938, 1940, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1959 and 1961).
Bernstein described the game as, "One of the most remarkable games ever played by American amateurs!" True enough, it was remarkable and a real fist fight. White's sacrifice was unsound, but it resulted in complications galore and only a chess engine could successfully navigate through them.
A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
[Event "Utah Champ, Salt Lake City"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1938.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dale L. Morgan"]
[Black "Irvin W. Taylor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D53"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "1938.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.04.18"]
{Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 {This used to pop up occasionally
in Frank Marshall's games, but it's not particularly effective.} 3. Nc3 {
White is intent on playing a regular QGD otherwise he would seize the chance
to obtain a free hand in the center.} (3. cxd5 {as logical as this is it's
seldom played. Statistically it highly favors white.} Nxd5 4. Nf3 {It turns
out that this is even better than 4.e4} Bf5 5. Nbd2 {Obviously the threat is 6.
e4 so a black piece has to retreat.} Nb6 6. e4 Bg6 7. h4 {with the initiative.}
) (3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {Black almost always replies with the
inferior 5...e6} 6. Nge2 exd4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Be3 {White has no more than his
usual opening advantage.}) 3... e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 b6 {The solid Tartakower
Variation except black has omitted ...h6} 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bxe7 Nxe7 {Safer was
7...Qe7 preventing white's subsequent Ng5} (7... Qxe7 8. Nxd5 (8. e4 Nxc3 9.
bxc3 Bb7 10. Qa4+ Bc6 11. Qc2 {equals. Valle Maytin,L (2285)-Garcia Martinez,J
(2119) Girona ESP 2010}) 8... exd5 9. e3 Qb4+ 10. Qd2 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 {equals.
Vokac,M (2476)-Bores,M (2214) Prague 2005}) 8. e4 O-O 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. e5 {
This cramps black and opens up the Bs diagonal. Clearly white is going for a
K-side attack.} Nbc6 11. Bxh7+ {[%mdl 8192] When NM Sidney Bernstein annotated
this game for Chess Review he based his annotations strictly on the game's
outcome, a not an uncommon practice in those days. This sacrifice is, in fact,
totally unsound. It's dangerous to black, but IF he finds the right reply he
is left with won game...a big if! Either 11.O-O or 11.Be4 would have been
correct. In either case the position would be completely equal.} Kxh7 12. Ng5+
{Black is now confronted with a choice of 4 moves, but there is only one that
leaves him with a won position.} Kh6 {The best of the worst!} (12... Kh8 13.
Qh5+ Kg8 14. Qh7#) (12... Kg8 13. Qh5 Re8 14. Qxf7+ Kh8 15. Qh5+ Kg8 16. Nce4 {
[%emt 0:00:14] Mate in} Nf5 17. Nf6+ Qxf6 18. exf6 Nh6 19. Qg6 Re7 20. O-O-O
Ba6 21. Rhe1 Be2 22. fxe7 Nxe7 23. Qxe6+ Kh8 24. Qe4 Nef5 25. Qxa8+ Ng8 26.
Rxe2 g6 27. Qf8 Nd6 28. Re7 Nf7 29. Qxf7 Nxe7 30. Qh7#) (12... Kg6 {...and
wins! This is looks like a scary place for the K, but it leaves white at a
loss for a way to continue the attack.} 13. Qg4 Qxd4 14. Nge4+ (14. f4 Nxe5) (
14. Qg3 Nf5 15. Nxe6+ Nxg3 16. Nxd4 Nxh1) 14... Kh7 15. Qh5+ Kg8 16. Ng5 Qxe5+
17. Nce4 Qa5+ 18. Kf1 Qf5 {and h7 is covered.}) 13. Qd2 {[%mdl 8192]
Threatening a discovered check, but it's a phantom threat.} (13. Qg4 {This
would win.} Nxd4 14. O-O-O Ng6 15. Qh3+ Kxg5 16. Qe3+ Kh5 17. g4+ Kh4 18. f4 {
with a decisive advantage.}) 13... Qxd4 {After this any discovered check is
harmless.} 14. Qc1 Qxe5+ 15. Nce4 Kg6 (15... Qa5+ {is even better.} 16. Kf1 Nd4
17. Nxe6+ Kh7 18. Nxf8+ Kg8 19. Ng6 Ba6+ {wins} 20. Kg1 Ne2+ 21. Kf1 Nxc1+ 22.
Kg1 Qe1#) 16. h4 Rh8 17. g4 {Black's K is safe and there is no effective way
that white can continue the attack.} Rxh4 {Well played.} (17... Rad8 18. h5+
Rxh5 19. gxh5+ Kf5 20. Qe3 {and white is winning.}) 18. Rxh4 Nd4 {This move
looks good because it centralizes the N, but it also lets any advantage black
had slip away. The chances are back to being equal.} (18... Nb4 {Threatening a
nasty fork on d3 was even more powerful.} 19. Kf1 Bxe4 20. Nh3 f6 21. Qd2 Qd6 {
White's attack is over and so is the game...black has a winning advantage.})
19. f4 Qa5+ 20. Kf2 Qb5 (20... f6 {was somewhat better as it would practically
assure black of a draw. That said, calculating the correct sequence OTB would
be nearly impossible.} 21. Qxc7 Qb5 22. Qxb7 fxg5 23. Qxa8 Qxb2+ 24. Kg3 gxh4+
25. Kh3 Qa3+ 26. Kh2 Qb2+ {draws}) (20... Rd8 {was also playable.} 21. Qh1 Bxe4
22. Qxe4+ f5 23. gxf5+ Qxf5 {with equal chances.}) 21. Nc3 Qd3 (21... Qc5 {
was a bit better.} 22. Qe3 Nd5 23. f5+ exf5 24. Nxd5 Qxd5 25. Rg1 f6 26. Ne6
Qf3+ 27. Qxf3 Nxf3 28. gxf5+ Kxf5 29. Nxg7+ Ke5 30. Rh5+ Ng5 {with
complications, but engines evaluate the position as dead equal and Shootouts
indicate that a draw would be a likely outcome.}) 22. Rh3 {[%mdl 1024] White
has compensation.} Qc4 23. Qb1+ f5 24. Qg1 {[%mdl 2048] Black has has survived
the attack and even lost his advantage, but he is still under a lot of
pressure.} Qc5 (24... Nc2 {was more precise.} 25. gxf5+ Kxf5 26. Nge4 Qd4+ 27.
Ke2 Qxg1 28. Rxg1 Kxf4 {The position is quite unclear. Shootouts indicate that
a draw is likely.}) 25. b4 {An excellent move that drives the Q off the
diagonal and so avoids the discovered check.} Qxb4 26. gxf5+ {Whits is now
conducting a vigorous attack.} Nexf5 {A logical move because it gets the N
into play, but white still has a very strong attack.} (26... Kf6 {is not much
better.} 27. Rb1 Qc4 {White is better, but there is no way to get at black's K.
} 28. Qc1 Bd5 (28... Ba6 29. fxe6 Nxe6 30. Qe3 Nxg5 31. fxg5+ Kg6 32. Qxe7) 29.
Qe1 Ndxf5 30. Rb4 {Black can get in a couple of meaningless checks, but after}
Qc5+ 31. Kf1 Bc4+ 32. Kg2 Bd5+ 33. Kh2 Kg6 34. Nxd5 Qxd5 35. Qe2 {Threatening
Qh5+} Ng3 (35... c5 36. Qh5+ Kf6 37. Qf7#) 36. Kxg3 Nf5+ 37. Kf2 {and wins})
27. Nxe6+ {Missing a golden opportunity,} (27. Rb1 Qe7 (27... Ne2 28. Kxe2 Qc4+
29. Ke1 {and white is winning.}) 28. Qg4 Kf6 29. Nce4+ Bxe4 30. Nxe4+ Kf7 31.
Qh5+ g6 (31... Kg8 32. Qh8+ {wins}) 32. Qh7+ Ke8 33. Qh8+ Qf8 34. Qxf8+ Kxf8
35. Rh8+ {Even though it's going to take some time and effort white has a won
ending.}) 27... Kf7 {White must now prevent ...Qb2+.} 28. Rb1 Qd6 29. Ng5+ {
Once again black is confronted with a decision of where to place his K and
again he makes the wrong choice.} Kg8 (29... Kf8 {gives the K room to flee and
black has nothing to worry about.} 30. Qc1 c5 {This position is completely
equal.}) 30. Rh8+ {[%mdl 512]} Kxh8 31. Nf7+ Kg8 32. Nxd6 Nxd6 33. Qg6 Rf8 $16
34. Rg1 Rxf4+ 35. Ke3 Rf3+ {Nicely played!} (35... Rf7 36. Kxd4 {Black simply
does not have enough compensation for his material deficit.}) 36. Kxd4 c5+ 37.
Ke5 Nf7+ 38. Ke6 Re3+ 39. Ne4 {[%mdl 512] Very clever! White sacrifices a
piece to avoid the checks.} (39. Kf5 Rf3+ 40. Ke6 (40. Kg4 Ne5+) 40... Re3+ {
etc.}) 39... Rxe4+ 40. Kf5 Re5+ 41. Kf4 {[%csl Gg1][%cal Rg6g7]} Re4+ 42. Kg3 {
Black is out of checks and Shootouts indicate that white has good winning
chances (=2 -0 =3), but scoring the point won't be easy.} Nh6 {After this
black should have lost.} (42... Re2 {makes life difficult for white.} 43. Kh3
Bc8+ 44. Kh4 Rh2+ 45. Kg3 Rh6) 43. Kf2 {With the obvious threat of Qxh6} Rf4+
44. Ke3 Rf3+ 45. Ke2 Nf5 46. Rg5 {White falls into a perpetual check or elso
allows black to establish material equality. Either way it's a draw.} (46. Kd2
{wins as black has no adequate defensive resources. But...that's not so easy
to see.} Bd5 47. Qe8+ Kh7 48. Rg5 Rf2+ 49. Ke1 Rf4 50. Rh5+ Nh6 51. Rxd5 {
White is winning, but it's not going to be as easy as thje engine evaluation
of a 6 Pawn advantage suggests.}) 46... Ba6+ {Draw. A terrific game!} (46...
Ba6+ 47. Kxf3 (47. Kd2 Rf2+ 48. Ke1 Re2+ 49. Kd1 Ne3+ 50. Kc1 Re1+ 51. Kb2 Nc4+
52. Kb3 Re3+ 53. Kc2 (53. Ka4 b5#) 53... Re2+) 47... Nh4+ 48. Ke3 Nxg6 49. Rxg6
{This position is drawn.}) 1/2-1/2
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