Chess and Class War

 

A frequent correspondent points out to us that in Ha'mashkif had criticism of chess on the second page on the second page of its 13 June 1945 issue. The revisionist newspaper -- its title means "The Observer" -- was that of those in favor of a maximalist Jewish state, as the map on their masthead shows (top image). As such, it was a minority to the general moderate socialist Zionist leadership of the Jews in Palestine at the time. 

The criticism, under the title "Chess and... Class War" (lower image), is not so much of chess itself but of its coverage in the socialist Al Ha'mishmar (then still just Mishmar). The article notes that the reporting in Al Ha'mishmar keeps inserting socialism into the chess column, by, for example, noting that the winner of the Palestinian championship was the "modest worker" Itzhak Aloni, which implies the existence of immodest workers of the despised upper classes. Or, complains Ha'mashkif, Al Ha'mishmar's reports about another tournament (a 32-player elimination tournament in "Lasker"; see e.g. Davar, 11 February 1945, p. 3), said they are glad "comrade Aharon Susna," a plumber by profession, won, thus proving the rise of the working class. 

What really got Ha'mashkif's goat was the short story reported by Al Ha'mishmar about Susna. In his youth, a revisionist Zionist came to Susna's town in Poland and wanted to make Jews there join the revisionists. Susna, a good socialist, played chess with him and won - which was reported by Al Ha'mishmar as a victory, not in a chess game, but of the forces of progress.

It seems Ha'maskhif is over-egging the pudding. Calling someone "comrade" (haver) instead of "Mr." was indeed common in socialist papers at the time, but was just a polite figure of speech. Similarly, Aloni being described as a "modest" worker merely indicates he held a junior, as opposed to a senior, position at work. Finally, it is hard to believe Al Ha'mishmar seriously implied the game Susna won against a revisionist in Poland is truly a case of class war. It seems more of a humorous way to frame the story, or rooting for the home team.