During August and September the Olympiad (known at the time as the Hamilton-Russell Cup) was held in Buenos Aires. Germany won, Poland was second and Estonia third. After the event many European played elected to stay in South America. The Women's World Championship was held in conjunction with the Olympiad. Vera Menchik-Stevenson retained her title finishing ahead of Sonja Graf.
On December 27, 1939 the American Chess Federation and National Chess Federation form the United States Chess Federation. Prior to that happening, the annual congress of the American Chess Federation opened at New York City in the George Washington Hotel. It’s now the Freehand New York Hotel and it has an interesting history.
The tournament started wiyj a field of twenty-eight players and it was for the North American Chess Championship. In the preliminaries the top three scorers in each group qualified for the finals. The US champion Samuel Reshevsly entered hoping to become the holder of both titles, but a draw with Albert Pinkis, whom Fine defeated, cost him at least a tie for the title.
At move 27 in the following game against Ulvestad, Reshevsky made what should have been a losing move. A few move later a mistake by Ulvestad let Reshevsky off the hook and things were back to equal. Then at move 35 Ulvestad blundered again and Reshevksy was winning. But, the game wasn’t over! Reshevsky ,issed the strongest continuation at move 37, but on his turn Ulvestad erred and then the ga,me was over.
Olaf Ulvestad (1912-2000) was from Washington state, but in the 1960s hemoved to Italy, where he performed as an opera singer. He later moved to Spain, and played first board for Andorra at the 1970 Siegen Olympiad. He died on August 24, 2000 at the Washington Old Soldiers Home in Retsil, Washington.
[Event "ACF, N. American Chp, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1939.07.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Olaf Ulvestad"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A49"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "1939.07.21"] {A49: Anti-King's Indian System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. c3 {Ulvestad plays an unambitious system where he avoids c4.} Nc6 { Rather passive.} (6... c5 7. e3 Nc6 8. O-O Qc7 9. Re1 b6 10. e4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Nb4 12. Re3 Qc2 {Zahariou,N (2009)-Sigalas,F (2153) Nikea 2002 diesn;t offer much either.}) 7. Nc4 e6 8. Bf4 {If Ulvestad’s goal was to reach a simple, uncomplicated position then he gas been successful. The only drawback is that he has almost no attacking chances whereas at least black can operate on the Q-side.} b5 9. Na3 {[%mdl 32]} Rb8 10. Nc2 Qe7 11. Nb4 Bb7 12. O-O a5 13. Nd3 h6 14. a4 bxa4 15. Qxa4 Nd5 16. e4 Nb6 17. Qc2 a4 18. Rfe1 Na5 19. Re2 Qd7 20. Rae1 Qb5 21. e5 {We finally see some action on white's part, but this is the wrong center P to advance.} (21. d5 e5 (21... exd5 22. e5 dxe5 23. Ndxe5 Bxe5 24. Nxe5 {The threat of Nxg6 is to strong to meet}) 22. Be3 {with only a nomila advantage for black.}) 21... Nbc4 22. h4 {This is no more than a gesture.} Nb3 23. Nh2 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 a3 25. bxa3 $1 $11 Nxa3 26. Qd1 Qc6+ 27. Nf3 {This position is equal and Reshevsky could keep it that way by withdrawing the N on a3. Instead he makes a tactical blunder.} Rfd8 {[%mdl 8192]} 28. Ra2 Qa8 (28... Nb5 29. Qxb3 Nxd4 30. Qd1 Qxc3 31. Nxd4 Qxd4 { White's extra piece is worth more than black's two Ps. In Shootouts white scored +5 -0 =0}) 29. Nb4 Nxd4 30. cxd4 Rxb4 31. Qd3 {After this his advantage is gone and Reshevsky is back on equal terms. Ulvestad can be excused for this slip though because after the correct 31.exd6 rhings gwt super-complicated to calculate.} (31. exd6 cxd6 32. d5 e5 33. Bc1 Rd4 34. Rxa3 Qxd5 35. Qb3 Qxb3 36. Rxb3 {Theoretically at least white has a decisive advantage, but these kinds of positions are not so simple to play.}) 31... Ra4 32. Rea1 {Another small slip, but it's not too serious.} (32. exd6 {is better. After} cxd6 33. Bxh6 { A move that's hard to spot when calculating this variation!} Bxh6 34. Rea1 { regains the piece.} Bg7 35. Rxa3 Rxa3 36. Rxa3 {with equality.}) 32... dxe5 33. Rxa3 Rxa3 34. Rxa3 Qd5 35. Qc3 (35. Qe3 exf4 36. Qxf4 {offers equal chances.}) 35... exf4 36. Qxc7 fxg3 {And now we see why white's 35.Qc3 was wrong.} 37. Ra5 (37. fxg3 Bxd4 {and black is two Ps uo.}) 37... Qd6 {White has better drawing chances with Qs off the boad so he should have played 38.Qxd6 which would have allowed him time to play fxg3} 38. Qc4 {[%mdl 8192] The final error.} (38. Qxd6 {was the crucial defense.} Rxd6 39. Ra8+ Bf8 40. fxg3 {Black has two Ps and a B vs. N, but the ending could prove arduous.}) 38... gxf2 39. Ra6 f1=Q+ 40. Qxf1 Qd5 {White resigned. Two Ps down us a hopeless fight.} (40... Qd5 41. Ra4 Rb8 42. Qc1 Qe4 43. Qc3 Qg4+ 44. Kf2 Bf6 45. Rb4 Bxh4+ {etc.}) 0-1
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