Sonja Graf

Sonja Graf, 1934

Sonja Graf (* December 16, 1908 in Munich as Susanna Graf ; † March 6, 1965 in New York ) was one of the best chess players in the world. She played for the World Cup several times.

Childhood and youth

Susanna Graf's parents, Josef Graf (1869–1935) and Susanna Zimmermann (1876–1953) came from the Samara area in the Volga region. The couple moved to Munich in November 1900, where their first child was born, but then went back to Taganrog on the Azov Sea in Russia , where two more children were added. In 1906 the parents finally took up residence in Munich. According to Sonja Graf, his father was a bohemian who cared little about the daily things in life and who, as a painter and later also as a hypnotist and magnetizer, fed his large family rather poorly than well.

On June 14, 1919, the father (and with the family) received German (Bavarian) citizenship as a so-called Volga - German returnee, and the parents married on April 19, 1920, at which time they had eight children together. Susanna (Sonja) was the fifth of them. According to Frank Mayer, she was abused by her father in her youth. At the age of 16, she fled the family and stayed in the artist and entertainment district of Schwabing . Because of criminal offenses committed by the minors, she was admitted to the Catholic welfare home in Munich-Thalkirchen in November 1926 and transferred to the “Zeller Sisters” home in Kirchschönbach in September 1927 . The official discharge took place on January 14, 1930, but Susanne Garf had been registered with her parents in Munich since November 1, 1929. She had her main residence there until March 1931.

Development as a chess player

According to Michael Negele, Sonja Graf saw the game of chess as a unique opportunity to defy the social barriers imposed on a young woman and at the same time to escape the unfortunate family constraints. As a five or six year old girl she had already learned to play chess with her family. Her father in particular was an avid chess player. She initially played successfully in the men's team championships in Munich. She later traveled through Europe to play chess internationally. Your sponsors in Munich were Eduard Dyckhoff and Siegbert Tarrasch .

In March 1934 Sonja Graf, mediated by the later world champion Max Euwe , had the unexpected opportunity in Amsterdam for an unofficial, i.e. not declared a world championship bout, with the reigning women's world champion Vera Menchik . She lost this duel with one win and three losses.

In 1937 Graf then clearly lost his first official World Cup fight on Semmering (Austria) against Menchik (+2 = 5 −9). In doing so, however, she took at least more points from her than Menchik otherwise had to surrender in all seven world championship tournaments with a total of 81 games (+76 = 4 −1).

The 7th Women's World Cup was held in Stockholm that same year using a variant of the Swiss system . Among the 29 participants, Graf took third place behind Vera Menchik and the Italian Clarice Benini .

She made another attempt at the title at the 1939 World Chess Championship for women . In Buenos Aires, however, she again had to let Vera Menchik go first, it was only enough for second place and thus for the runner-up world championship.

Further successes were first place in 1932 in Vienna and 1936 on the Semmering, the 4-0 victory in 1939 in Amsterdam against Fenny Heemskerk and two match wins against the Dutchwoman Catharina Roodzant in Rotterdam, namely in 1937 with 3.5: 0.5 and in 1939 with 3: 1. In contrast, she had to admit defeat to Paul Heuäcker 0: 6 in Hamburg in 1934 .

Its highest historical rating was 2431. It reached it in August 1946.

Game example

Menchik Count

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

End position after 30.… Nc3

In the following game Graf defeated the world chess champion Menchik in 1934 in an exhibition match with the black pieces.

Menchik – Graf 0: 1

Amsterdam, March 21, 1934

Queen's Gambit rejected ( Tarrasch Defense ), D32

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Bd6 7. Bd3 0–0 8. 0–0 b6 9. De2 Bb7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Rd1 Ne5 13. Ba6 Nxf3 + 14. gxf3 Bxh2 + 15. Kxh2 Qd6 + 16. f4 Bxa6 17. Qf3 Bb7 18. Bd2 Qd7 19. Qh3 Qxh3 + 20. Kxh3 d4 21. exd4 cxd4 22. Nb5 d3 23. Be3 Rfd8 24. Nd4 Ba6 25.b4 Nd5 26.b5 Nxf4 + 27.Kg4 Ne2 28.Rxd3 Bxb5 29.Nxb5 Rxd3 30. Kf3 Nc3 0: 1

Life after emigration

In 1939 the now stateless Graf did not return to Germany from the World Cup in Buenos Aires because of the beginning of the Second World War . Instead, she stayed in Argentina, where she married the sailor Vernon Stevenson in 1947. With him she moved first to Los Angeles, later to Palm Springs, both in southern California in the United States. They had a son, Alexander (* 1951).

In 1950 she was one of the first 17 players to receive the title of International Women's Champion (WIM). Although, according to Max Euwe, still counting among the world's best, she did not take part in any other world championships, but she won the US women's championship as Sonja Graf-Stevenson in Los Angeles in 1957 and in New York in 1964 . She died of liver disease on March 6, 1965 in New York City.

Honors

In 2016 Sonja Graf-Stevenson was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame . Besides her, only Emanuel Lasker and Siegbert Tarrasch from Germany have been honored in this way.

Fonts

In Argentina she wrote two books:

• Asi Juega Una Mujer. Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires 1941.
• Yo soy Susann. Editorial Piatti, Buenos Aires 1946.

literature

• Michael Negele: Fate of a "Miss Miracle". Sonja Graf-Stevenson's life path. In: KARL. 3/2004, pp. 28-34.
• Ariel Magnus : The Chess Players of Buenos Aires . Novel. German by Silke Kleemann. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-462-05005-9 .

Web links

Commons : Sonja Graf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Michael Negele: Fate of a “Miss Miracle” - Sonja Graf-Stevenson's path through life , edited on February 10, 2007, Chess History & Literature Society , the shortened version was published in Karl , 3/2004, pp. 28–34.
• Frank Mayer: An abused girl developed into a chess master , German Chess Federation .
• 100th birthday of Sonja Graf , German Chess Federation, December 16, 2008.
• Playable chess games by Sonja Graf on chessgames.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Other sources mention other birthdays, around May 15, 1912, December 18, 1912, December 16, 1914. The specified year of birth 1908 is documented by documents from the Munich City Archives, see Michael Negele: Sonja Grafs Childhood decrypted. In: KARL. 1/2005, p. 5.
2. ↑ 100th birthday of Sonja Graf Deutscher Schachbund: December 16, 2008, accessed on October 26, 2019.
3. ↑ Unless otherwise stated, biographical information is based on: Michael Negele, Schicksal einer “Fräuleinwunders” - the life path of Sonja Graf-Stevenson , edited on February 10, 2007, Chess History & Literature Society .
4. ^ Sonja Graf: Yo soy Susann. Buenos Aires 1946, quoted from: Michael Negele, Fate of a “Miss Miracle” - Sonja Graf-Stevenson's life path , edited February 10, 2007, Chess History & Literature Society .
5. ↑ Frank Mayer: A mistreated girl developed into a chess master , German Chess Federation .
6. ↑ Michael Negele: Fate of a "Miss Miracle" - the life path of Sonja Graf-Stevenson , edited February 10, 2007, Chess History & Literature Society .
7. ^ Sonja Graf-Stevenson, World Chess Hall of Fame
8. ^ André Schulz : Sonja Graf in the World Chess Hall of Fame , Schach Nachrichten, February 25, 2016.