The year 1922 was a big one for radio. In February, President Warren G. Harding installed the first radio in the White House and in June he was the first president to be heard live on radio when he dedicated the Francis Scott Key Memorial over the Baltimore radio station WEAR. Also in February the world's first symphony concert broadcast was made by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on station WWJ and New York University played a radio chess match with Princeton. It was the first intercollegiate radio chess match of its kind.
In March, Variety magazine’s front-page headline was: Radio Sweeping Country - 1,000,000 Sets in Use. Come May of 1922 Illustrated World ran an article called “Playing Games by Radio” that mentioned how you could test your skill with an opponent miles away using the radiophone or the spark transmitter with dots and dashes.
A spark transmitter was a type of radio transmitter that generated radio waves by means of an electric spark. They were the first type of radio transmitters and were the main type used during the wireless telegraphy or the "spark" era, the first three decades of radio, from 1887 to the end of World War One.
A woman in New York, Rosalind Kendall, playing chess with a friend in Chicago using a two way radio link provided by a Jersey City radio station, published in a 1922 radio magazine. Miss Kendall spoke into the cone-shaped horn attached to the transmitter's carbon microphone and listened to her friend's reply in the earphones.
The photo's caption read, "Beth Weber, Chicago, discovered a radio way to play chess with her chum, Miss Rosalind Kendall (above) of New York. Rosalind uses a Jersey City transmitting station to talk back to her friend"
On June 7, 1922, E. T. Gundlaen, a passenger on the steamship President Taft in the Atlantic Ocean played a game by radio against Edward Lasker at the Chicago Chess Club. It was billed as the world’s first radio chess match between land and sea and was won by Lasker in 24 moves.
In March 1922 a candidate match was supposed to take place between Alexander Alekhine and Akiba Rubinstein with winner to be recognized by Capablanca as the official challenger to a world championship match, but the match never took place.
Two well known players were lost in 1922. Theodor von Scheve (1851- April 19, 1922), the German master and writer died in Germany at the age of 70. On May 1, 1922, Fernando Saavedra (1847-1922) died in Dublin, Ireland. He was author of a famous endgame study. Saavedra Position
In 1922 Emanuel Lasker, in a 28-page booklet titled Mein Wettkampf mit Capablanca (My Match with Capablanca), stated that he believed chess would soon be exhausted and that draws would kill chess.
In August the 15th British Chess Federation Congress (known as the London victory tournament) was won by Capablanca. This was the first event after World War I that Alekhine and Capablanca played against each other.
The participants signed the London Agreement which were the regulations for world championship matches, first proposed by Capablanca. The signers included Alekhine, Capablanca, Bogoljubow, Maroczy, Reti, Rubinstenin, Tartakower and Vidmar. Clause one stated that the match was to be six games up with draws not counting.
Emanuel Lasker wasn’t invited to London due to his politics during World War I.
Not many know that Lasker was a huge supporter of Germany’s entry into World War I as were many German intellectuals and the educated elite of the day.
Immediately after Germany started the war Lasker wrote a series of distinctly pro-war articles in the Fall of 1914. In one he stated “the goal of occupation and administration of France by Germans is as sure as mate by rook and king against king.”
In England, Henry W. Butler (1858-1935), a leading official of the Brighton Chess Club and a friend of Lasker’s until the article appeared, was so angered that he destroyed a large portrait of Lasker by jumping through it with both feet. It was Butler who had organized Lasker’s King’s Gambit match against Chigorin in 1903.
In October, ten-year old Samuel Reshevsky played in the New York Master tournament and finished in a tie for 3rd-6th (1 win, 2 draws, 2 losses). He defeated Janowski and won the brilliancy prize for the game.
It was also in October that Reshevsky, who did not attend school, got into trouble with child welfare officials during a late night simultaneous exhibition for charity when police raided the place. His parents were charged with improper guardianship and Reshevsky himself complained to a judge that America wasn’t a free country as advertised in Poland if they were going to interfere with his chess.
In November, the case was dismissed when it was demonstrated that he was receiving religious education at a rabbinical school, but the court designated a sponsor outside the Reshevsky family to report to the court periodically on his behalf.
In September of 1922, the organizers of the Hastings chess congress decided to hold a masters tournament which would pit two English masters against four of the best from Europe.
Alekhine edged Rubinstein in the final round when he won the following famous game against Bogoljubow. Rubinstein fail to keep pace even though he struggled for over a hundred moves, but could only draw against Sir George Thomas.
1) Alekhine 7.5-2.5
2) Rubinstein 7.0-3.0
3-4) Thomas and Bogoljubow 4.5-5.5
5) Tarrasch 4.0-6.0
6) Yates 2.5-7.5
In this game Alekhine gave up three queens to beat Bogoljubow. As Kasparov pointed out, Alekhine’s amazing combinations didn’t appear out of thin air; they were the fruit of very deep strategic preparation.
Reti asserts that this game illustrated the hypermodern school's emphasis on positional play in opposition to the routine play of the classical style that was set down by Tarrasch and Steinitz.
[Event "Hastings"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.9.21"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Efim Bogoljubow"]
[Black "Alexander Alekhine"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Dutch Defense} 1. d4 f5 {Alekhine called this a risky defense, but he had to
play for a win and so was forced to run some risks.} 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4.
Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ {Starting in 1935 in his match with Euwe, Alekhine
preferred 5...Be7.} 6. Nxd2 Nc6 7. Ngf3 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Qb3 Kh8 {Kasparov
recommended 9. ..e5!, but Stocvkfish disagrees thinking white is better after
10.d5. Even after the move played 10.d5! would have made black's defense
difficult.} 10. Qc3 {Reti said that since white cannot prevent his opponent
from getting a good game in the center, he played Qc3 in order to obtain some
play by advancing his Q-side Ps. Best is probably 10.d5} 10... e5 11. e3 a5 {A
good move according to Reti because it hinders the advance of white's Q-side
Ps and keeps the tension in the center.} 12. b3 Qe8 13. a3 {Engines now want
to play 13...e4 followed by ...d5 or perhaps maneuvering the N to g6...they
have no imagination.} 13... Qh5 {Kotov called this the start of a deep
strategic plan where black creates threats on the K-side and weakens white's
Ps.} 14. h4 {According to Alekhine this is a good defensive move because it
secures new squares for the N and revives the threat of 15.dxe5. Engines
prefer either 14.d5 or 14. dxe5...again, they have no imagination.} 14... Ng4
{Did I mention engine's lacl of imagination? Stockfish likes 14...e4.} 15.
Ng5 Bd7 16. f3 {This move has generally been passed over without comment, but
it appears to be the seed that grows into defeat. Better was 16.b4.} 16...
Nf6 {Threatening 17...f4 and black already has a significant advantage.} 17.
f4 e4 {Alekhine was critical of white's next move which was intended to allow
him to defend the P on g3 against the threatened ...Qg4 and ...Nh5, but with
18.d5! he would have prevented black from playing in the center and so yielded
white better chances of a successful defense.} 18. Rfd1 h6 19. Nh3 d5 {Of this
move Alekhine wrote that it completely wrecks white's hopes in the center and
Kotov observed that with white's K-side Ps weakened, black begins carrying out
the second part of his strategy...play on the Q-side. Stockfish isn't quite
so enthusiastic about it though, preferring either 19...Qg6 or 19...a4.} 20.
Nf1 Ne7 21. a4 { Somewhat better would have been 21.Rdb1.} 21... Nc6 22. Rd2
Nb4 23. Bh1 Qe8 {Per Alekhine this very strong move give him either control of
d5 or opens a file on the Q-side, or as in the game, he wins a P.} 24. Rg2
{This loses a P in what is already a bad position, so 24.Nf2 was
preferable.} 24... dxc4 25. bxc4 Bxa4 26. Nf2 Bd7 27. Nd2 b5 {Kotov called
this an important strategic thrust in the battle for d5 which leads to a
highly interesting combination. It also results in an amazing adventure for
the b-Pawn.} 28. Nd1 Nd3 {Reti observed that now that black has a great
positional advantage he can begin tactical play. But not 28...bxc4 as white's
N gains access to e5 and the coordination of his pieces gets restored.} 29.
Rxa5 {This opens the door for some amazing play by Alekhine, but event he
better 29.cxb5 would not have saved the game....or even have offered him
better chances.} 29... b4 30. Rxa8 {Alekhine called his next move brilliant
and stated that it was better than 30...Qxa8 and admitted he wanted to create
something immortal. Was he right in stating 30...bxc3 was the best? It
depends...technically Stockfish evaluates 30...Qxa8 at about -7. 75 and
30...cxb3 at -7.33, but most humans would prefer Alekhine's way because it's
much prettier.} 30... bxc3 31. Rxe8 c2 {The first point...threatening to Q the
P.} 32. Rxf8+ Kh7 33. Nf2 c1=Q+ 34. Nf1 {White has seemingly obtained enough
material for the Q, But now follows the second point of Alekhine's
combination. } 34... Ne1 {Threatening mate in one (...Nf3).} 35. Rh2 Qxc4 36.
Rb8 Bb5 37. Rxb5 Qxb5 38. g4 Nf3+ 39. Bxf3 exf3 40. gxf5 Qe2 {The final
point...white has only P moves and they are quickly exhausted. } 41. d5 Kg8
42. h5 Kh7 43. e4 Nxe4 44. Nxe4 Qxe4 45. d6 cxd6 46. f6 gxf6 47. Rd2 Qe2 48.
Rxe2 fxe2 49. Kf2 exf1=Q+ 50. Kxf1 Kg7 51. Ke2 Kf7 52. Ke3 Ke6 53. Ke4 d5+
{Black has an easily won ending.} 0-1
