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Overview of the events of 1939 in chess
The below is a list of events in
chess in 1939.
Chess events in brief
- Last (21st) edition of
Howard Staunton's The Chess-Player's Handbook is published.
- 21 August-19 September 1939 - the
8th Chess Olympiad (known at the time as the Hamilton-Russell Cup) is held in
Buenos Aires. Germany wins the gold medal (
Erich Eliskases on first board), Poland silver (
Savielly Tartakower on first board), and Estonia bronze (
Paul Keres on first board).
[1]
- The
7th Women's World Championship is held in conjunction with the Olympiad.
Vera Menchik-Stevenson (England) retains her title. She won, scoring 18/19, followed by
Sonja Graf (16/19),
Berna Carrasco (15.5/19), etc.
- Political refugees - At the conclusion of events, many participants decided to stay in Argentina or moved elsewhere in South America, rather than face an uncertain future by returning to Europe in the midst of World War II. The players affected included
Miguel Najdorf,
Paulino Frydman,
Gideon Ståhlberg,
Erich Eliskases,
Paul Michel,
Ludwig Engels,
Albert Becker,
Heinrich Reinhardt,
Jiří Pelikán,
Karel Skalička,
Markas Luckis,
Movsas Feigins,
Ilmar Raud,
Moshe Czerniak,
Meir Rauch,
Victor Winz,
Aristide Gromer,
Franciszek Sulik,
Adolf Seitz,
Chris De Ronde,
Zelman Kleinstein,
Sonja Graf and
Paulette Schwartzmann.
[2] Most of them were Jewish and had come to Buenos Aires in August 1939 on the Belgian steamer "Piriapolis".
[3] The ship has therefore come to be regarded as the epitome of Noah's Ark for a generation of chess players. Significantly, all members of the German team also chose not to return to
Nazi Germany.
- 27 December 1939 - American Chess Federation and National Chess Federation form the
United States Chess Federation (USCF).
[4]
Tournaments
-
Hastings International Chess Congress won by
László Szabó ahead of
Max Euwe, 1938/39.
-
Sydney (the
Australian Chess Championship), won by
Gary Koshnitsky, 1938/39.
-
Wanganui (the
New Zealand Chess Championship), won by John Dunlop, 1938/39.
-
Riga (the
Latvian Chess Championship), won by
Vladimirs Petrovs, 1938/39.
-
Warsaw won by
Mieczysław Najdorf ahead of
Dawid Przepiórka, 1938/39.
-
Karlsruhe won by
Anton Kohler,
Efim Bogoljubow and Eisinger Jr, 26 December 1938 - January 1939.
-
Leningrad-Moscow won by
Salo Flohr ahead of
Samuel Reshevsky, January 3 - February 1, 1939.
-
Amsterdam (KNSB), won by Euwe, Szabó and Flohr
-
Amsterdam (VARA), won by
Salo Landau and Euwe.
-
Baarn (I) (Quadrangular), won by Flohr.
-
Baarn (II) (Quadrangular), won by Euwe.
-
Beverwijk (Quadrangular), won by
Nicolaas Cortlever.
-
Amsterdam (the 12th
Dutch Chess Championship), won by Landau.
-
Birmingham won by
Lodewijk Prins ahead of
Paul List and H.E. Price.
-
Budapest won by
Zoltán von Balla and Szabó.
-
Kemeri–
Riga won by Flohr ahead of
Gideon Ståhlberg and Szabó, March 1939.
-
Warsaw won by Najdorf ahead of
Paulin Frydman.
-
Łódź won by
Izaak Appel and
Jakub Kolski, ahead of
Teodor Regedziński, March 1939.
-
Lvov (Championship of the City), won by
Izak Schächter ahead of
Henryk Friedman.
-
Minsk (the
Belarusian Chess Championship), won by
Gavril Veresov.
-
Leningrad (the
Leningrad City Chess Championship), won by
Georgy Lisitsin.
-
Lübeck won by
Alfred Brinckmann, start 2 April 1939.
-
Krefeld won by
Georg Kieninger and
Ludwig Engels, start 6 April 1939.
-
Bad Warmbrunn won by
Rudolf Keller,
Paul Michel and
Ludwig Rellstab, start 7 April 1939.
-
Aberdeen (the
Scottish Chess Championship), won by
Max Pavey, April 1939.
-
Margate won by
Paul Keres ahead of
José Raúl Capablanca and Flohr, 12–21 April 1939.
-
Leningrad (the 11th
USSR Chess Championship), won by
Mikhail Botvinnik ahead of
Alexander Kotov, April 15 - May 16, 1939.
-
Stuttgart (Europa-Turnier) won by Bogoljubow ahead of
Kurt Richter, start 15 May 1939.
-
Montreux (the
Swiss Chess Championship), won by
Henri Grob.
- Paris won by
Nicolas Rossolimo ahead of
Savielly Tartakower.
- Rome (the
Italian Chess Championship), won by
Mario Monticelli ahead of
Vincenzo Castaldi.
-
Zagreb (the
Yugoslav Chess Championship), won by
Milan Vidmar ahead of
Vasilije Tomović.
-
Prague won by
Jiří Pelikán ahead of
Karel Opočenský,
František Schubert and
Karel Skalička.
-
Buenos Aires (the
Argentine Chess Championship, Torneo Mayor), won by
Ion Traian Iliescu followed jointly by
Carlos Maderna,
Luis Piazzini, and
José Gerschman.
- London (Championship of the City), won by
George Alan Thomas.
- London (League Congress), won by
William Winter.
-
Durban (the
South African Chess Championship) won by
Wolfgang Heidenfeld.
-
Oslo (the 19th
Nordic Chess Championship), won by Ståhlberg and
Erik Lundin.
-
Helsinki (the
Finnish Chess Championship), won by
Osmo Kaila.
-
Copenhagen (the
Danish Chess Championship, play-off), won by
Holger Norman-Hansen.
-
Stockholm (the
Swedish Chess Championship), won by Ståhlberg ahead of
Rudolf Spielmann and
Nils Bergkvist.
-
Gothenburg won by Flohr and Spielmann.
-
Tallinn (the
Estonian Chess Championship), won by
Ilmar Raud.
-
Jerusalem (Championship of the City), won by
Moshe Czerniak, June 1939.
- Berlin (the
Berlin City Chess Championship), won by Mölbitz ahead of
Paul Mross, June 1939.
-
Bad Elster won by
Erich Eliskases followed by
Josef Lokvenc,
Herbert Heinicke and Michel, start 4 June 1939.
-
Vienna won by Eliskases ahead of
Hans Müller, start 11 June 1939.
-
Bad Harzburg won by Eliskases ahead of Ståhlberg, start 25 June 1939.
-
Bad Oeynhausen (the 6th
German Chess Championship), won by Eliskases followed by Lokvenc,
Karl Gilg, etc., start 9 July 1939.
-
Ventnor City won by
Milton Hanauer ahead of
Fred Reinfeld, 8–16 July 1939.
-
New York City (the 40th
U.S. Open, American Chess Federation Championship), won by
Reuben Fine followed by Reshevsky,
Israel Albert Horowitz, etc., 17–29 July 1939.
-
Bournemouth won by
Max Euwe ahead of
Ernest Klein and Flohr, August 1939.
-
Rosario won by Petrovs, followed by Eliskases,
Vladas Mikėnas, etc., 21–28 September 1939.
-
Montevideo (Millington Drake Tournament) won by
Alexander Alekhine ahead of
Harry Golombek and
Vera Menchik, 21–29 September 1939.
-
Buenos Aires (Circulo) won by Keres and
Miguel Najdorf, ahead of Ståhlberg and Czerniak, 2–19 October 1939.
-
New York City (the 23rd
Marshall Chess Club Championship), won by Fine followed by Hanauer,
Frank James Marshall,
David Polland,
Herbert Seidman,
Edward Lasker, etc.
-
Hampstead won by
Imre König and
Philip Stuart Milner-Barry, December 1939.
-
Dnipropetrovsk (the 11th
Ukrainian Chess Championship), won by
Isaac Boleslavsky, 12–31 December 1939.
- Moscow (the
Moscow City Chess Championship), won by
Andor Lilienthal ahead of
Vasily Panov and
Vasily Smyslov, 1939/40.
-
Hastings International Chess Congress won by
Frank Parr, 1939/40.
Matches
Team matches
- 15–16 April, Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary), Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia: Germany vs. Hungary 26½-13½ (13½-6½, 13-7)
(Eliskases 1½ Barcza; Bogoljubow 11 E.Steiner; Kieninger ½½ Rethy; Gilg ½1 Vajda; P.Michel 1½ Szily; Rellstab 1½ Tipary; Richter 11 Füster; Heinicke 1½ Törok; Kohler ½½ Balla; A.Becker ½1 Negyessi; Zollner 00 Balogh; L.Schmitt ½1 Sarközy; Lokvenc 1½ St. Gecsei; Schlage ½0 Sebestyen; Blümich ½½ Bakonyi; Hahn 1½ Sooky; R.Keller ½½ Laszlo; Krassnig ½1 Szentkiralyi-Toth; Platt ½1 Vargha; H.Keller ½1 Rög)
- 28–29 May, The Hague: Netherlands vs. England 10-10 (4½-5½, 5½-4½)
(Euwe 0½ Alexander; Landau 10 Thomas; Van den Bosch 1½ Milner-Barry; Cortlever 00 Broadbent; Van Scheltinga ½½ Golombek; G.S.Fontein 0½ Winter; De Groot ½1 E.G.Sergeant; Muhring 11 B.H.Wood; Mulder 0½ Parr; J.H.C.Fontein ½1 Lenton)
[10]
Births
- 7 January –
Ivan Radulov in
Burgas, Hungarian GM
- 29 January –
Hans-Joachim Hecht in
Luckenwalde, German GM, two-time
German Champion
- 29 January –
Li Shongjian, Chinese chess player
- 1 March –
Leroy Dubeck in
Orange, New Jersey, President of the
United States Chess Federation (1969–1972)
- 14 March –
Stewart Reuben, British chess player, organiser, and arbiter
- 1 June –
Yaacov Bernstein, Israeli chess player
- 27 August –
Tüdeviin Üitümen, Mongolian IM
- 15 November –
Charles Kalme in
Riga, American IM
Deaths
- 1939 -
Katarina Beskow-Froeken died in Sweden. Women's World Sub-Champion in 1927.
- 1939 - Iosif Januschpolski (Yanushpolsky) died.
- 2 February 1939 -
Bernhard Gregory died in Berlin, Germany.
- 8 February 1939 -
Salomon Langleben died in Warsaw, Poland.
- 11 February 1939 -
Jan Kvíčala died in Czecho-Slovakia.
- 28 May 1939 -
Hans Fahrni died in Ostermundingen, Switzerland. 1st to play 100 simultaneously, 1911.
- 7 August 1939 -
Paul Krüger died in Germany.
- August 1939 -
Alexei Alekhine killed by
NKVD in the Soviet Union.
- September 1939 -
Jan Kleczyński, Jr. died of a heart attack during a bombing of Warsaw (World War II).
- September 1939 -
Karol Piltz died during the siege of Warsaw.
- after 17 September 1939 -
Kalikst Morawski died during the Soviet occupation of Lvov.
- 26 September 1939 -
Ottó Bláthy died in Budapest. Created longest problem, 290 moves.
- 4 October 1939 -
Ludvig Collijn died in Stockholm. President of the Swedish Chess Association from 1917 to 1939.
References
External links