In the United States Gary Cooper was offered a part in the movie Gone with the Wind, but rejected it saying, "Gone With the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I'm glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling flat on his nose, not me.”
He was wrong. The movie sold an estimated 200 million tickets and the US Population in 1939 was only 131 Million. Adjusted for inflation Gone with the Wind is the highest-grossing movie of all time, at about $3.5 billion.
In another wrong prediction that year, the New York Times predicted that the television would fail because the average American family would not have enough time to sit around watching it.
The year was also the debut of Betty White (1922-1921, 99 years old), who in 2014 was awarded the Guiness World Record for the Longest TV Career for a Female Entertainer.
Speaking of movies, asbestos was used as fake snow in early Hollywood in films such as, The Wizard of Oz.
During the Summer of 1939, the American Chess Federation championship (US Open) was held in New York. Reuben Fine finished ahead of Samuel Reshevsky and I.A. Horowitz.
The Chess Olympiad (known at the time as the Hamilton-Russell Cup) took place in August and September in Buenos Aires and after Germany invaded Poland on September 1st starting the outbreak of WW2, Great Britain dropped out and its players returned to England. Also, many players remained in Argentina and the demographics of the chess world were drastically changed.
In December the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation formed the United States Chess Federation.
In a long forgotten domestic event the annual tournament for the 1939 Marshall Chess Club championship ended in a tie between Sidney Bernstein and Milton Hanauer, both of whom at the time were recognized as being among the country's leading players. They intended to play a match to determine the champion, but it never came off.
Frank J. Marshall, the club titleholder in 1937 and 1938, was troubled with ill-health during the tournament and could not do better than share in a five way tie for fourth place.
One of those sharing fourth with Marshall was a college student whom it was felt was a player of great promise, Herbert Seidman. He was the sensation of the tournament, defeating Anthony Santasiere and Marshall in well played games.
Herbert Seidman (October 17, 1920 – August 30, 1995) was a Senior Master born in New York City and he played in several US Championships and was a frequent competitor in open tournaments in the New York City area He was known for his swashbuckling-style, risky sacrificial attacks and offbeat openings. Other than that it seems not much is known of him.
His opponent in this game, Anthony Santasiere (1904-1977) was better known. A middle school mathematics teacher by profession, he was chess writer and also wrote extensively on non-chess topics. Santasiere won the 1945 US Open Champion, won four New York State championships and six Marshall Chess Club championships. He also competed in four US Championships.
[Event "Marshall CC Championship, New York"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1939.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Herbert Seidman"]
[Black "Anthony Santasiere"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B29"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1939.??.??"]
{Sicilian, Nimzovich Variation} 1. e4 {[%mdl 32]} c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Black's
strategy here is somewhat similar to Alekhine's Defense im which white is
encouraged to chase the N and build up a center which black can then attack.}
3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 Nxc3 5. dxc3 b6 {This was Nimzovich's original idea, but it
loses!} (5... e6 {meets the threat, ut whute gains the advantage after} 6. Bf4
b6 7. Bd3 h6 8. Qe2 Bb7 9. O-O-O {Gonzalez,Y (2482)-Fernandez Romero,E (2449)
Havana 2005}) 6. Bc4 (6. e6 {refutes black's last move.} dxe6 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.
Ne5 Ke8 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Bf4 {The threat is the very strong O-O-O.
} a6 (11... e5 12. O-O-O {wins}) 12. Bc6 Rc8 13. Bb7 {wins the exchange.}) (6.
Bd3 {is not quite as good as 6.e6.} Bb7 7. Bf4 Qc7 8. Bg3 e6 9. O-O {Michell,
R-Nimzovich,A Marienbad 1925}) 6... e6 7. Bf4 Qc7 8. O-O Bb7 9. Qe2 a6 {
This is a waste of time becasuse white's next move prevents ...b5 and, more
importantly, black's a-Pawn becomes a target.} (9... Nc6 {keeps white's
advantahe at a minimum. Play might run...} 10. Rad1 h6 11. Bg3 O-O-O {and all
white can claim is a spatial advantage.}) 10. a4 Nc6 11. Rad1 Be7 {Naturally
black is in a hurry to castle, but note that white's P on e5 is cutting off
black's pieces from reaching the aid of the K.} (11... Na5 12. Bd3 f5 13. Nh4
g6 {is an unattractive setup for black, but at least his defense is holding.})
12. Rd2 O-O {He still needed to try 12...Na5. Now his lightly defended K is in
danger.} 13. Rfd1 {[%mdl 2048]} Rfd8 {This defends the d-Pawn, but deprives f7
of a defender. Black's position is already approaching the critical stage.} (
13... Rad8 {doesn't work because of} 14. Bxa6 Bxa6 15. Qxa6) 14. Ng5 h6 {
All this does is force white to play what he already intended plus is further
weakens the Ks position...and it loses the game.} (14... Bxg5 {Eliminating the
threatening N was a must play. Even so, after} 15. Bxg5 {Black's R and d-Pawn
are both attacked so his best try is} Nxe5 16. Bxd8 Rxd8 17. Bxa6 Bxa6 18. Qxa6
d5 {and try to hold on and make white work for the point.}) 15. Nxf7 {[%mdl
512] Obvious and winning.} Kxf7 {There was no choice.} (15... Rf8 16. Nxh6+
gxh6 17. Rxd7 {Black has no move that offers any hope of defending himself.})
16. Rxd7 {[%mdl 512] Perhaps this, an absolute crusher, came as a surprise to
Santasiere.} (16. Qg4 {allows black some play after} Nxe5 17. Qf5+ Bf6 18. Bxe5
Qxe5 19. Rxd7+ Rxd7 20. Rxd7+ Ke8 21. Qxe5 Bxe5 22. Rxb7 Rb8 23. Rxb8+ Bxb8 {
and although white should win, Bs of opposite color do give black some hope.})
16... Qxd7 (16... Rxd7 {is no better.} 17. Bxe6+ Kxe6 18. Qc4+ Kf5 19. Qf7+ Bf6
20. Rxd7 {and white is winning here, too.}) 17. Rxd7 Rxd7 18. Qh5+ g6 {It
looks like Santasiere has defended well because after the Q retreats, say wiht
19.Qg4, black can still put up a stout defense. But, Seidman is not done with
the sacrifices.} 19. Bxe6+ {[%mdl 512]} Kxe6 {Count up the material. White has
a Q+3Ps vs 2Rs+N+B which should favor black, but black's K is fatally exposed.}
20. Qxg6+ Bf6 (20... Kd5 21. Qf7+ Ke4 22. f3#) 21. Qxf6+ Kd5 22. Qf5 {White
threatens e6+ and mate.} Re7 23. e6+ Kc4 (23... Ne5 24. Qxe5+ {mates next move.
}) 24. Qd3# 1-0
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