1939 in chess

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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 ship "Priapolis". 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).^[3]

Leningrad-Moscow won by Salo Flohr ahead of Samuel Reshevsky, January 3 - February 1, 1939.
Kemeri-Riga won by Flohr ahead of Gideon Ståhlberg and László Szabó, March 1939.
Margate won by Paul Keres ahead of José Raúl Capablanca and Flohr, 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 Efim Bogoljubow, May 1939.
Jerusalem (Championship of the City), won by Moshe Czerniak, June 1939.
Bad Elster won by Erich Eliskases, June 1939.
Bad Harzburg won by Eliskases, June-July 1939.
Bad Oeynhausen (the 6th German Chess Championship), won by Eliskases, July 1939.
New York (the 40th U.S. Open, American Chess Federation Championship), won by Reuben Fine followed by Reshevsky, Israel Albert Horowitz, etc., 17-29 July 1939.
Oslo (the 19th Nordic Chess Championship), won by Ståhlberg and Erik Lundin.
Bournemouth won by Max Euwe ahead of Ernest Klein and Flohr, August 1939.
Buenos Aires (Circulo) won by Keres and Miguel Najdorf, ahead of Ståhlberg and Czerniak, September 1939.
Rosario won by Vladimirs Petrovs, followed by Eliskases, Vladas Mikenas, etc., September 1939.
Montevideo (Millington Drake Tournament) won by Alexander Alekhine ahead of Harry Golombek and Vera Menchik, 21-29 September 1939.
Dnipropetrovsk (the 11th Ukrainian Chess Championship), won by Isaac Boleslavsky, 12-31 December 1939.
Hastings International Chess Congress won by Frank Parr in 1939/40.

Erich Eliskases defeated Efim Bogoljubow (11.5 : 8.5) in Germany (various places), January 1939.
Sonja Graf beat Fenny Heemskerk (4 : 0) in Amsterdam.
Sonja Graf beat Catharina Roodzant (3 : 1) in Rotterdam.^[4]
Max Euwe beat Salo Landau (7.5 : 2.5) in The Netherlands.
Roberto Grau defeated Carlos Guimard (7.5 : 5.5) in La Plata, Argentina (the 17th ARG-ch).^[5]
Paul Keres won against Max Euwe (7.5 : 6.5) in The Netherlands (various places) in 1939/40.^[6]

28 May 1939 - Hans Fahrni died in Ostermundingen, Switzerland. 1st to play 100 simultaneously, 1911.
26 September 1939 - Otto Blathy 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.