International Notice

Herbert Halsegger (Graz, Austria) who is researching the history of Hakoah (the German spelling) Jewish sports organization in Austria, points out to us that the Wiener Schachzeitung took notice of the championship of Palestine in 1936 (p. 314). In particular, it notes that some "very well known" players from Europe participated. These include Czerniak, Blass, Porat (Foerder), Blass, and Macht. 

In a previous note, the same journal (1936, pp. 217-218) reports on the Tel Aviv championship (won by Weil) notes that Porat and Enoch from Germany, Beutum from Austria, and  Macht from Lithuania will participate in the Palestinian championship "later this year." In the event, Enoch and Beutum did not participate. 

Rauch - Weil, Tel Aviv Championship, 1938

The following game, brought to our attetion by a frequent correspondent, was played in the Tel Aviv championship in 1938 (see details and source below). 

Rauch - Weil

Nimzo-Indian, Classical [E33]
Tel Aviv Championship, Tel Aviv, Feb. 1938

Source: Davar, 11/3/1938, p. 4

Annotations: Marmorosh (Davar's chess columnist)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.e3 0–0 7.Be2 Re8 8.0–0 Bxc3 9.Qxc3 Ne4 10.Qc2 d5 11.a3 a5 12.b3 f5 13.Bb2 Rf8 14.Rad1 Rf6 15.Bd3 Rh6 16.Rfe1 g5 The beginning of a very dangerous attack. Black is already threatening to win with g4, followed by Qh4. 17.Bxe4 fxe4 18.Nd2 g4 19.Nf1 Qh4 20.Bc3 Bd7 21.Qd2 Rf8! 22.g3 Qf6 23.Rc1 Rh3 24.Rc2 b6 25.Ra1 Nd8! The knight is aiming at f3. 26.Qe2 Qf5 27.Bb2 c6 28.a4 Nf7 29.cxd5 exd5 30.Nd2 Qh5 31.Kf1 The king abandons his pawns and runs away from the front. 31...Rxh2 32.Ke1 Ng5 33.Nf1 Nf3+ 34.Kd1 Rh1 35.Rcc1 Qh3 36.Kc2 Qg2 37.Kc3 Ng1 38.Qd1 Rxf2 White resigns (0–1)

The final position is an amusing example of an overwhelming attack:

A Real-Life Study

In the 1936 championship of Tel Aviv, the game between Y. Taub and S. Weil reached the following position.

Here are Czerniak's annotations (source: HaSachmat, vol. 1 no. 1., Sept. 1936, p. 5).

White's position seems hopeless. Black is a pawn up and has a better position.

1. c5! Bxd5 Perhaps slightly better is 1... dxc5 but even then Black's victory is very doubtful, e.g. 2. e4! c4 3. Bd4! Kf7 4. Bc3! a4 5. Rf1+ and Black must be careful or he might even lose.

2. cxd6!! Rxc1! Other moves draw immediately. For example: 2... Rd8 3. Rc5 or 2... Be6 3. Rxc8+.

3. d7 Rh1+ 4. Kg3 Rh3+! A honorary mention to both. This looks more like a study than an actual ending. 5. Kf4 Rf3+ 6. Ke5 Rf5+ 7. Kd6 Rf8 Black's rook is finally in its correct place. But the quiet is decieving.

8. Kxd5 Kf7! The only move to save the game. 8... a4 9. e4 Kf7 (too late!) 10. e5 Rd8 11. Bc5!! and the threat of e6+! wins. We see how merely changing the move order can decide a game.

9. Kd6 Forced loss of a tempo. If, e.g., 9. Bc5 Rd8 10. Kd6 Kf6! 11. e4? Rxd7+ and Black wins.

9... a4! At the right moment! If instead 9... Rd8 10. e4 a4 (again -- too late!) 11. e5 Re8 12. Bc5! h5 13. Kd5!! followed by e6+.

10. e4 a3 11. e5 Re8!! The point. White has no time to play Bc5 and Kd5 because Black queens. 12. dxe8=Q+ Kxe8 13. Kd5 Drawn (1/2-1/2)

Mieses Reporting on Chess in Palestine

Credit: see below. Click to enlarge.

Mr. Peter Anderberg has further notified me that the Jüdische Rundschau, whose chess column Mieses edited, also has, for this reason, occassional reports and games about Palestinian chess. 

Above is one example Mr. Anderberg notified me of: Mieses' report (Dec. 4th, 1936, p. 6) of the Tel Aviv 1936 tournament, including a game between Dobkin and Weil. I am working on translating the game into English, in the meantime the German scan (click to enlarge) is a bit unclear, but a better quality version can be found here, with the ability to enlarge it as well. 

Bombs

Italian bombing of Haifa, WWII. Credit: Wikipedia.  

How many chess players of significant strength were killed in wars? The death of numerous Jewish players in the holocaust is well known, but what about in actual acts of war? Some non-Jewish players were, of course, killed. Most famously, Vera Menchik was killed (with her sister, also a strong chess player, and her mother) in a V-1 bombing raid in 1944 (according to Wikipedia; some sources claim it was a V-2 attack).

One example is given to me by Almog Burstein. The Jewish player Simon Weil, who played in the 1935 Maccabia, was killed in an Italian bombing raid on Haifa in WWII. Also, after the 1973 war, for example, the Israeli chess magazine had obituaries for chess players who were killed, although (appropriately) without explicitly noting how strong, or weak, they were. This blog had noted some cases of problemists or players who were killed in wars or in terrorist attacks, but are there other cases?