Volume I Number 19 OfficiCll Publication of me Unltecl States (~essrecleratlon Thursday, June S, 1947

Hahlbohm Is Chicago Champion ENTRY LIST FOR JR. CHAMPIONSHIP SWELLING DAILY

A recent release by S. S. Keeney, registrar for the 2nd U. S. National Junior Championship Tournament at Cleveland, JUlie 30 to July 12, shows the out of town entl'ies pour-ing in. Local entries from Ohio aud Cleveland have not been all' nounced, as their number may be limited by the number of entries from throughout the. country.

Among t lle more recent entries (since puhlications of the original list in CHESS LIFE on May 5, are these veter ans of the firs t Junior Tournament: Ted Lewis (Chicago). Richard J . Criltenden (Milwaukee) , Henry Martin Bl~me, Jr. (Milwau-kee), and Paul Poschel (CMcago). The last is the present Illinois State Cllamplon.

Others are Morton Mark Shaf-fer (New York ), H:Y'old M. Mc-Donald (Flint, :Mich.), Ronald Bad-ertscher (Hoboken), .James Kelly and Saul Wachs (Philadelpbia ) ,

"fcc""*' H. 'Rothaus (New Yorkl J ! I". l:11otzor (ChlcaA"o), \nd

TNt Ni(iIJEt: AUDITORIUM I --, " '-Th~ 1(fllt of tht ",pp'l}4(hi"8 U, S. N

Officlal Publication of me United States (nelS federation P'l.1bJ.W"d t1ri~e a month an the hhand lOth

" THE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION At 841 Bluff Stceet, Dubuque, Iowa

H .. Wed .. aeod eta. mllt. September " l~ at the pod omoe at DIlbaqu~, rowa, ~ the act 01 .. areb a. 1879,

SubOC:riprioa:-U,OO per y=; Sinslc copi ... 10c each

Add ...... U .ublcripriaDJ 10>--

80U Bluf Suw« Dobaque, 10 ....

Ed.urd I , Trcend. &~#lIry

OR 12. " Slrathmoor Aunlle

Dcttoir 27, Micbl",,,

Address all communications on editorial matte rs to:-EOITOIUAI. 12' North Humphrey Annlle

QpPlca: Oak Pork, Illinois

FAiltn' II"J Boui~elJ M .... g~ MONTGOMERY MAJOR

Volume I, Num ber 19 Thursday, June 5, 1947 -, --SOUR GRAPES? /

S OMEWHAT tardily In the MIl.Y Issue of CHESS REVIEW appears an article by M. Botvlunlk-it was ;lubl lshed In "CHESS" in March-in which the Russian master c ri ticizes the ' proposals concern ing the World ,Champions hip originally advanced by CHESS REVIEW over a year ago.

Our occasionally esteemed contemporary hastens to inform Ita read-ers that the views crltlch:ed were Indeed th08e Of CHESS REVIEW and not the proposals of the USCF, On this point CHESS LlFE thanks Ule R EVIEW for its somewhat belated assumption ot owucl"Shi(}-CHESS LIFE had a lready publlsltcd Il. dlsclalmec ot intel'est In Ihose views on April 5,

In the editorial of tills sallie May Issue, CHESS REVIEW reiterates its bellet In Its OWIJ opinions (and why shoul dn't U?); but ends Its s tatement lo.llIely with a question concerning the "silence" of the USCF COncerning the World Championship,

Headers of CHESS LIFE, of course, are well aware of the exchange at correspondence between our Mr, Glers and Dr, Rueb (all or which has been IJub1l8i1ed ill CHESS LIFE). If recent issnes have been silent on the subject, it has been because there llns h~en no change In the Federation's attltudo, and so nottl[ng fUI,thc r\ meriting publication_

SInce copies or this correspondence between Mr, Clers and Dr, Rueb were released to CHESS REVIEW, It Is difficult to excuse this question (and Its talse ImpUcatlon) upon the basis of ignorance. It Is true, however, that the USCF has not hastened to emhrace all the ideas advanced by our ingenioUS contemporary,

Can It be that the grapes taste sour~

YES, JUNIORS PLAY CHESS FROM time to time some well-intention adult will rise in protest to 'the matching In club OlIn tests or some bright-eyed junior against all j inottenslve~ and astigmatic adult, Remembering how en the athleUc field the youth, e\'el\ at more mature years, Is outmatched by the grealer experience and IItamlna e r the older atil iele, OU1' protesting Interrupter always means well. Dut he Is not very well versed in the hlstol"Y of clless, \

1'0 tile fact that iltol'phy at tho age ol lhll'leen won and drew In a two·gamo match w ith the recognlzcd Hungarian m astCl", J, J, Loweuthal, b e reSllOll (\S that th is was an excepUon; and he silrngs h is shoulders IJ-t t he r emInder that ClIlJablallCa was ChampIon of Cuba at fifteen ,

A few yeal's ago, he could afford to IJhrug and state tllese wel'e ~cepilons , But todny, his w E;: I!-lnlentloned PI'otests merely dls/Jlay his Ignol'ance, A juulol', Robert, D)Tlle, ,Is t"ew England Champion: a juniel', Paull>Oachel, ill 11l1uo18 StaLe Clw.ml)lon; a junior, George Kramer, was last year'lI New YOI'k State Champion; III the U. S. Championshi{) two juniors, George Kralller and Albert Sandrln, not only quallried in a field ot their stmiors but I) laced nlntll .a nd tenth ahead of well known lJiayel'S, Third place in the Mastel' Resen-e Teurnamen t weut to a junior, Hans Derllner, I n the U. S, Open Toul'uament fourth place was shared by Donald Byrne, a junk!r, and the well-known theorist, Olaf Ulvestad; while the Master Reserve, Major, a nd MaJol' Reserve Divisions were all won by junior players.

Yes, the junior playa cheas; and he often plays it hetter than his seniors. In this cJty ot Cleveland , where the 2nd U, S, National Junior Tournament will be held, It Is the Pawns Club (composed exclusively ef junlers) which hOlds the club team champienship 01 the clly.

ORGANIZED CHESS By Lucius A, F rit ze

USCF Dimtor, Illinois

T HE position o( t he local small playlulO g l'Oups 1n relation to the broad expansion or chess clnh activities In this c~ntl'y Is Olle of increasing Interest. Many ot the chess clubs that have [unctiened fo r years had a beginning which stemmed tl'om a small playing group who desired grea.ler competltlen In thei r chess play a nd a more attracUve program of chess entertainment,

In the evolution of the BmaU group to a well organized chess club we find the nnderly[ng su'ength ot chess advancement in the U. S, A. The pattern ot such prcgl'ess has been demonstrated in the many Clubs T/ow functioning and whose o!'lgin was a s mall lOroup phi Ying a t Irregular interva ls at the home ot o ne of the members.

Under our Alno1'IC8u way of l!(e alld wilh lhe business ~aCkgrOUnd of many or qUI' chess phlYCI"S, we usually find in any smaU groUll an In_ dividual who ha lJ had expm'lence in promotional 01' organlzalion work and who ilJ hlgbly qualified to ol'lOani:r.e a chess club. Usually 8uch an Individual can weld l together easily severa.! playing groups in a city to form a dub aud t~el'eby provide programs ot gl'eatel' il1tel'est for aU the members and at moderate cost.

Tho uulted ello'rt of two or more small playing gl'OuPs III'oYldes a n ucleus lor an active club, T he result ot such COOperation is well dem-onstrated by many prospel'ous clubs now o peraUng In variOUS Cities throughout the OOUIltry,

Some 12 yeanl ago In a small midwestenl city, two groUIIS of chess players were acUve. One group included a number of strong players who met frequently at the home of one of the membeu. The second group included raLber weak players, but these players were anxklus to leal'Il , The second group, however, included several s uccessful business executivea who lel~ that t he legical thing to do was to combine both groups Into a club, since It would be possible to I)rovlde a Illel'e varied form of entertainment. With well directed publicit y, including a little peI1lu.aslon. a club was organized and within a. short time It had a mem-beI1lhlp ot over 36, In spite ot war oonditiens, with a heavy shitt in popu-ia.tlou, the club haf been most acUve and the members have enjoyed excellent entertainment a,nd a happy a asociatien. ~'

T he small I)laylng greUI) Is the key to chess e;'[panslon In this country, q The vlewa expresled In this Guest Editorial are not necessarily thOle

of CHESS LIFE. \ ~, ----------------_.

BUSY JULY -- BUSY AUGUST (Monthly LtUu No. 42)

I By Elbert A. Wagner, Jr. P"esiJe"l. Unittl SI"lu Chtss Ffatr"tioll

T HE next two months will see two major F edera.tlon tournaments, both of which premise to set new records In s11.o, Quality ot play and all around exctlence, The second annual tournament for the "Jun-ior Chess Champlo hlp ef the Unit~ States will open at Cleveland on

, the 30th ot this mo th, and tor two tun weeks the good burghers on the shol'Cs of Lake Er l~ will see pyr()technlcs never betol'e dlsp[ayed 011 tbe chess board. T he nrst Junior tOUl'nament a year ago demonstrated that the averago would rather wind up in. a bla1.e 01 glory after u brlll1ant wou ld t he Test of us It we dared) than rest

win through more prosaic methods. This year will be larger, the play more dlveI1l1fled and the

'~, ::":::~I:,~~:,;;,:'~t:ronger, _II will ~ given the teuma.ment I! present pillns Cana~lan boys to enler the com petitiou , and IlI'esence will add interest as well as strength

the tourney, Another pleasin lO note is the prospect Hint

Herman Steiner may again be on hand to officiate ut tho tou r:.lament. The YOllllgsteI1l idol!zod Stetn-er a year a.go and are eagel' to have him' back, , 'he 'Californian's breezy personallty, his tales ot pliler tournaments In this country and a.brond, plus /lhe ract that III spirit he Is cOlllpletely a. youngster h lnlself, assure his popularity willI Playerd of all ages. \

For their playing room the boys will have the luxurIous setting of the IlUge auditorium ot the Higbee Company's departmeut store- u spac-Ious hall which can easily accomodate flny tablea

EJbrrl 11., W.,,,,,, Jr. for match play and leave comfort and spuce fo r lOany Sllectators, Designed for flower shows, art

exhlblUons and other dlllnty displays, the Higbee Auditorium will gain new character by the eXllerlence,

FOJ' recreation the boys llave some delightful s urprises In store, It was my pleasure to meet wllh t he Teurnament Commlttoe at Cloveland a tew weeka ago, and I know that a great deal (It earnest l)reparnUon is being made for the com[OI't and entertainment or the boys who will play In the Junior Chanwlonshlll,

'rrllnsferl'lng our thoughts Crom Ohio to Texas. mention must he made ot the glgUlltiC tourney fOI' which the Open Champlon sh[p Tourna. lIIent Cemmltteo Is Ill'epal' ing at COl"})Us Chri8ti In Augus t, De tal18 will be annouDcod In Inter Issues (It CHl!lSS LIFE. butl m eanwhlJe l\ , WOl-d to sumce the wise : This PQ I'ticulal' Opon w!ll sllarkle with color all(\ In-tel'est; do})'t delay In sanding youI' t'ntl-y to thc Tournament COllimilte&--you will Illost decfdedly not want te m iss this event,

By JobfJ D, FreJIch

MODERN IDEAS IN CHESS By Richard ' R~ti; David McKay ($2.00) Richard Retl' s hook, "Mode ... 1 Ideas In Chess," Is just that. although

the volume was written when Dr, i\'1ax Euwe was "a young Dutch mas-ter," The valuable little handbook has beeD repl"inted by the energetic McKay Company In Its new program of reIssuing many or the standard texta of the world,

Ret! was the herald ef the Hypermodern SchOOl ot masten, (and average players such as we), and In this volume be gives a «:onclse ex-plauatlon of juat what these players (as capablanca aud Alekhlne) have to offer In Improving the game, Like any chess ted, the volume usea games to Illustrate the pOints In\'olved, These, however, a re made even mOre s parkling by t he in timate a ppraisals made of almost all the play-ers by Reti, an Interestlug writer oas well -as an enterprllJlng master, Most or tllese lIIen he knew personally, p layed against them, thon ana-lyzed with them the H ypermodern School Id'cas,

The book deals more fully with many or the European "new think-ers"- than most American and English texts, As such it will pro\'e both entertaining in the personalized aspect or the masters, and ef Immense value in the s tudy o[ the ir playing style. A book to rend, not study; the rull value Is thrust upon' the player without any conSCious eftor:t at work or dr ill.

Misfortune Isn't tunny, but some comedians can turn misfortune In to laughter, Che.al Isn't a. dull game, hut some players, . ,

lucius A. Fritze A successftn business man lIIm-

seU, I .. uclus Fl'itze has always main· ta ined that the same -principles which brlug success in business are allpllcable to chess erganiza-lion. Equally welJ as Vice-Pres, 01 the Elgin Softener Company a nd

a s (lrganlzer of the Glen Ell yl! Chess Club, he has pften I)roved his tloint,

Always sup-lJorting a n y coustrcut [ ve sUlOgcstion tor Chess, Fl'Itze 11 a s himself contr l!:l u t'e d m a II y excel-lent Ideas to promote and strengthen the

whole f,'ederation program, About two years ago he made a srstema-tic survey concerning chess clubs In every fllInols city haYing a popu-lallon over 10,000 and the results aud conclusions of the suryoy have beeu \'aluable to the F ederation in detel'mlning lOore thaIl one point of

')}QUcy, As USCF Director 101' illinois

since 1944, Fritre has been liberal with his time and the benefits ot . his ox]Jerleuce whenever cailed up-all by the l?edcl'aUoll, and turrent· Iy Is acting :IS an Ass0C..!ate Editor at tile Club Manual wh icll will be published in the ne&l' future,

Married and the father of a son, Richard, (16) Fritze does not let the love of chess monopolize lIIs Interests, As an additional outlet fol' IIII! gifts he holds a. love tor music, and Is :J. corutlOSel' of dis· tinction,

Herbert H, Holland A nallve of Dubuque, lo ..... a~ Her·

bert Holland hilS traveled e~tell . IIlvely as might lIe expected at an attorney in the sel'vlce o( the Fed· eral Government, aud Is at present

located in Chi-cago, Illinois, Ai a lawyer , l}e has the dis· tinc t ion ot be-Ing licensed to practice In

• lown, Illl1l0is and Wisconsin.

As a vetc. ... an of the 1st World War and who speut many mouths

Hcrbtrl H, HoI/mid ill a govCI'n-mcnt hospital, Herb Holland

has n parU(!ularly strong (eelilllO ot fellowship [or the service men who are hospitalized as the urtcr· math of the recent stl'ulOgle.

Upon settling In Chicago Hel'b her:ame the f..;SCF Area DIl'ector for the 1I'IIdwestern area [II the USCF "Chess for the Wounded."

Herb has s uccessfully demon· s trated the theol'Y that a man on a hos pilal cot, feeling low and lost, will respond more favorably to learning chess, if tile s uggestion cOllies (rom a pretty miss, H e has therefore taught nu mbers or young women to play chess so that they In turll can teach the game to wounded veterans-thiS with the assistance and under the watch-tul eye or MI'S, Hollaud, For this progl'am of Instruction the Aller-ton Hotel of Chicago has gener· ously provided a spacious room and douated IllIlch equipment,

Gl'OU PS organiZed bY)'Iel'b Hoi-laud vis it on 0. l'egulal' schedule the veterans at Gl'eat Lakes Naval Hospital, l\IcIntyre Hospital (also at Great Lakes), Hines Hos pital, and Vaughn Hospital (adjacent to Hines), Ffr his extensIve work with Ule wounded Herb bas beeu honored by the Alnerican Red Cross with special recognition,

I Cl.ejj :Jor 51.e :;;".J BUjinlHj m an By Fr~d R~infcld

Time Marches On O NE evening I was very muCh taken with a pretty 11tUo game played by Milton Ha)\auer In a Metropolitan League match. "Here," I said to myself, "Is thE! perfect re!utaUoli of the view that modern chess t8 dull. This game deserves to be published." I clipped the 8eOl'6 out cit a newspallcr and carefully placed the cllllping In my walleL Ma llY a Ume I was 00 the point or anuotating .and publishi ng the game, but al-ways something Intervened. My wallets wore out, I bought. Dew ones, but tbe clipping, like its contents, was Indestructible. At last tbe Lime bas come to publish tbe game. Alas, almost two decades have passed s ince it ~as pla.yed! can the game still be called modeJ::n?!

N ew York, 1929

QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED White Wick

M. HANAUER F. BARTHA

t ~~B) Ktp':"J ~: ~::g5 QKJ:~ ,. P·B4 P-Q4 6. QKt-Q2

Cavablanca's idea: he Intends to answer an eventua l PxP with l{UP, bringing this piece into pow-erful play at K5. 6. •.• _ 0-0 1, B·Q) P-QRl

The s implest course, an'd qulte good tor equalidllg purposes , Is ....... . P·D" follOWed by ........ P-QKt3, . B-Kt2 etc. &. 0-0 P·D4 ,. Q-K2 R·Kl Wca~nillg the King Bis hop's

Pawn, without any apparent pur-pose. lD. KR·Ql BPxP 11. KPxP PxP

H e lets the Knight come into piny beeause he is intent on bur-dening White with an Isolated Pawn. 12. KtxP P·QKt4 14. BxKt PxB? n. Kt(4)-K5 B-KU

Played with a laudable objective : keeping White's Knights OuL of 1(5.

FOR "OPERATION MICHIGAN" D-DAY SET AS JUNE 6

In an ambitious program for the bene fit of tilose who have never played chess, a group Or public spirited citizens - the Wayne Coun· ty Public Library Commission head-ed by "\Vllliam,Van Dyke of Detroit - will sponsor a series of lessons on chess. This will not be a li-brary function, bu t Lhe facilities of the library will be used as a setting for the lectures in the various towns where the commission operates a public library_

Northville (Mich.) will be the scene of the first o[ the series, starUng on June 6 and conducted bi-weekly unt il the seven lectu.res have been completed. On June 7 a similar series of lectures will be inaugurated a t P lymouth (Mich.), a city about five d istant.

AHer the instruction has been completed, it is planned to or~nize chess clubs in each town and sch-edule a series of friendly Inatch-es. If the experi.ment is successful, the plan will be extended to other lowns throughou t the county.

The chess classes will be con-ducted hy Edmund Peckover , a m a n of considerable expel'ience i n teach-ing chess, and s ufficient sets will be provided by the commission so that all the participants may take them home between sessions during the instruction by signing u p for them at t he library. The outco me or th is experime~ will .be studied carefully by USCF officia ls i n the hope that it will prove a patern adapta ble to other communities th roughout the country.

FERNDALE CHESS OUTMATCHES EDISON CHESS

In a nine-board ma t ch played at t he Service Building quar ter s of the Edison Chess and Checker Club (Detro it), the Fe rndale Chess Club ou tplayed the ir bosts to win the match 5~-3!.i.

Fernd ar. Cheu Schechter _ .. _ .. _ 0 Sargent _ ._ ... _~ 1 Ecltbardt ._ .. ~~ .. _ 1 0 .. ___ ~ .. ~~ .. _ 1 J"enki"" _ ...• M"_._ Ii Moore .... _ .. ~_._._ 0 Brierly ~~ .. _ _ ~_ 1 Becker .. _ .. _ .. _._ I R umer .. _ .. _ .... _._ 0

Edl",,, Cheu O'Kede ~' _____ M 1 Roberto _ ___ , )la.oon M. ____ ~~ 0 Sd-Ier ._ .. __ "" __ 0 Black _~_~ __ M_' II Lewio •• _ . __ ~ .. _M 1 P a rtch _ . __ ._ .. ~ __ 0 Sande....,n __ . __ M 0 BlacMord ~ __ ._ . 1

But now White has a winning at· tack:

15. KtxP!! King moves

text continuation; 16. KtxKt ; 11. Q-R5 c h win s ea sily for White. n, Q_R5/:h K·K(2 19. Q_R6

Gbess Cif' Tbll .,J.7. /nlle 1, J947

IRREGULAR OPENNING Chiellgo Championlhip Tournament,

1947 _

NIII l$ try u";S J. 1_ , White mad<

L.. J. ISAACS E. .ICHEUEN L P-K4 P·KKU

~t:\Hft ..J1":;:''':='' ;:,*,~.r ~~ X ieMltm. • line ""tunl pl.t.nr. haot wall m&ll,. pme. with II, du~ t o 11M 'act II!. O~" were onl,. ttleoreUool or '-I< f. Kt·K8) a-Itt! 5. 0-0 0-0 !:~:g;, K:K1~ ,. p-QB) p-os.& In orOt. to break \lp Whlto', (!eon". pawn pOIi!""'. Will", ex~ It aDd lbef'efore f!''P~KX;QBlI th" ~ ~Of'e. To II"""""t B·Kt5 or lal~ Kt·Kt.5, A me Idn

I~~ ~ note .bo~p.p n. R_Bt 8.K12 t ~i~)lJ) K~:8~~ ~: ,..~~ K~'-:l 10. B.Id ... P.Q1(14 tao _. KI.- KIl .... the other ~1IO) ... ble move. Jllaek gel ... doubled II but uP

SANCHEZ F . PLANAS (s.tIto 00",111110) (Cuba) ~. p.Q4 KI· KBl ~ B. lel p · K4 2. P·Q84 P·KKO ,p.os 8 .1

~~~IK.:;;'~:t:tb~I':';"t;.. 1 C~ :.;.....~ !:. i~I~~~D!~ ::.,: ~~~wt .... lba t

QnIJ.et,J I? r:sKI ; 18. Q: