In April an international tournament was held in Margate, England; there it was the legendary Paul Keres who finished ahead of Jose Capablanca and Salo Flohr.
The USSR Chess Championship, held in Leningrad, was won by Mikhail Botvinnik. The US Open, held in New York, was won by another legend, Reuben Fine ahead of Samuel Reshevsky and I. A. Horowitz.
The Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Argentina was held between August 21 and September 19. The finals commenced on September 1st, the same day the war broke out. The English team was the only team to return home immediately. The US was not playing.
Germany (Eliskases, Michel, Engels, Becker, Reinhardt) won the gold medal, Poland silver, and Estonia bronze. Vera Menchik-Stevenson won the Women’s World Championship. At the conclusion of the Olympiad many participants decided to stay in Argentina or moved elsewhere in South America.
On December 27, 1939, the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation formed the United States Chess Federation.
In a far away land called California, a couple of neglected and long forgotten masters played a match that ended up tied. They were Adolph J. Fink (1890-1956) and Charles Bagby (1903-1975), both of San Francisco.
Both were largely neglected "minor" masters, but Fink was an internationally known problem composer and both were prominent figures in California chess for many years.
During World War One Fink served as a Corporal in the Army in France and upon his return was Vice-President of the Good Companion Chess Problem Club. Like many problemists Fink excelled in the ending and for many years he performed adjudications for California events.
He won the California State Championship in 1922, 1928, and 1929, tied for first in 1945 and finished in second place in 1923, 1925, 1926 and tied in 1948.
In 1932, in the Pasadena international tournament Fink finished last, scoring 3-8, but that was a creditable score against players like Alekhine, Kashdan, Dake, Reshevsky and Fine.
In1906, there was a great earthquake and fire in San Francisco in which the death toll was estimated at over 3,000 and about 200,000 people were left homeless.
After the earthquake Fink and his family, along with thousands of others, sought refuge and camped out in the hills surrounding the city. It was during that time that he began studying chess.
Upon return to normalcy Fink improved his play by joining the Mechanics' Institute. He was strong enough to have drawn Capablanca, Marshall and Kostic in simultaneous games.
Charles L. Bagby was a San Francisco lawyer. His victories included the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club championship in 1923, the Northern California Championship in 1949 and 1950, and the California championship in 1958. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Mechanics’ Institute starting in 1940 and served until his death, longer than any Trustee in the history of the Institute.
“Mr. Bagby” as he was always known in his later years was a native of Charleston, South Carolina, a graduate of the University of Washington and he practiced law in San Francisco for nearly 40 years. Besides chess, Bagby had interest in mathematics, classical languages and the American Civil War.
As mentioned, Bagny was an underappreciated player. In 1971, while he was still alive, the then USCF Executive Director Ed Edmonson was approached and asked about honoring Bagby with the title Master Emeritus. Edmonson’s haughty reply was, "Not a chance! Don't waste your time applying for it."
[Event "Match, San Francisco"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1939.04.26"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Charles L Bagby"]
[Black "Adolf J. Fink"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D57"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "1939.??.??"]
{D57: Queen's Gambit Declined: Lasker Defense} 1. d4 {This game is pretty
boring for a while, but there is some excitement coming.} Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4
Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Nc3 d5 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 h6 8. Bh4 Ne4 {This is Lasker's
Defense; it's a solid variation that often leading to the exchange of two sets
of minor pieces.} 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. cxd5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 exd5 12. Qb3 c6 13. Bd3
Nd7 (13... b6 14. O-O Nd7 15. c4 dxc4 16. Bxc4 c5 17. a4 cxd4 18. Nxd4 Nc5 {
and the players shook hands. Unzicker,W (2510)-Spassky,B (2615) Bad Kissingen
1980}) 14. O-O (14. a4 Nf6 15. Qa3 Qxa3 16. Rxa3 Ne8 17. O-O {is equal. Supi,L
(2546)-Matsuura,F (2248) Florianopolis BRA 2019}) 14... Re8 {Equally playable
was 14...Nf6} 15. c4 dxc4 16. Bxc4 Nb6 17. Bd3 Be6 18. Qb2 Bd5 19. a4 Nc4 20.
Qc2 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Nd6 22. Kh1 {White has plans involving the g-file.} Qf6 23.
Be2 Nf5 24. Rab1 Re7 25. Rg1 Rae8 {A microscopic slip. The Rs have no future
on the e-file, so the more active. 25...c5 would have been better.} 26. Rg4 {
The strong threat is Rf4} Nh4 {Not a good move at all.} (26... Nxe3 {Thus
little tactical shot is probably better than a passive defense with 26...g6}
27. fxe3 Rxe3 28. Rg2 Qxd4 29. Rxb7 Rxf3 {and after 30.Rb1 or 30.Qb2 black can
fight on. White must avoi playing} 30. Bxf3 Re1+ 31. Rg1 Rxg1#) 27. Rbg1 g6 {
Suddenly black has landed in serious difficulties.} 28. f4 {This dissipates
all of white's advantage.} (28. Bc4 {keeps up the pressure.} Kh8 29. Rf4 Nf5
30. Bd3 (30. e4 {runs into} Nxd4) 30... Rg8 31. Rgg4 Ree8 32. h4 {with a
dnferous attack brewing.}) 28... Qf5 (28... Kh8 29. Bd3 Nf3 30. R1g3 Ne1 31.
Qb1 Nxd3 32. Qxd3 {and black has survived.}) 29. Qxf5 Nxf5 30. Bd3 Kh7 (30...
Nd6 31. Bxg6 fxg6 32. Rxg6+) (30... Ng7 31. f5 Rd7 32. fxg6 f6 33. Rh4 {
is decisive.}) 31. h4 {Even with the Qs off white still has an attack, but
black still may be able to survive.} (31. Bxf5 {would be a terrible mistake.
After} gxf5 32. Rg7+ Kh8 33. R7g3 Rc7 {Black’s Q-side P-majority assures him
of at least equal chances.}) 31... Ng7 (31... h5 {was a better defense.} 32.
Rg5 Nxe3 33. fxe3 Rxe3 34. Bb1 Kg7 35. f5 Rh3+ 36. Kg2 Rxh4 37. fxg6 fxg6 38.
Rxg6+ Kf7 39. Rf1+ Ke7 40. Rg7+ Kd6 41. Rf6+ Kd5 42. Rxb7 Rg8+ 43. Kf1 Rh1+ 44.
Ke2 Rh2+ 45. Rf2 Re8+ 46. Kf1 Rxf2+ 47. Kxf2 Kxd4 48. Rxa7 c5 {and black might
survive after all.}) 32. h5 Nxh5 33. f5 gxf5 34. Bxf5+ Kh8 35. Rh4 Ng7 36.
Rxh6+ Kg8 37. Bd3 Rd7 38. Rh7 f6 39. Rh6 {Black resigned.} (39. Rh6 Rf8 40.
Bc4+ Rff7 41. Rxf6 {etc.}) 1-0
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