Chess in 1950
by Bill Wall
In 1950, the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was formed.
In 1950, Walter Bjornson, a chess player in Vancouver, British Columbia, was arrested for assault after cutting his chess opponent in the arm with a knife after he lost a chess game.
In 1950, Miguel Najdorf played 250 games simultaneously. He won 226, drew 14, and lost 10. (source: Chess Review, Jan 1951, p. 1)
In 1950, Jim Cross won the 1950 US Junior championship.
On January 8, 1950, Laszlo Szabo of Hungary won at Hastings 1949/50, scoring 8-1. Larry Evans, age 17, the only American entry, finished 4th. (source: Ottawa Journal, Jan 9, 1950)
On January 12, 1950, Robert Rowley was born in Arizona. He is a FIDE master. He has won the Arizona championship 11 times.
On January 15, 1950, Hans Boehm was born in Rotterdam. He was awarded the IM title in 1975.
On January 8, 1950, Liudmila Rudenko (1904-1986) won the 2nd Women's World Championship, held in Moscow.
On February 11, 1950, Evgeny Sveshnikov was born in Cheliabinsk, Russia. He was awarded the GM title in 1977.
On February 23, 1950 Maria Ivanka-Budinsky was born in Budapset. She was awarded the WIM title in 1968 and the WGM title in 1978.
On February 25, 1950, Kenneth Frey Beckman was born in Neuilly, France. He was awarded the IM title in 1975.
On February 28, 1950, Konstantin Lerner (1950-2011) was born in Odessa. He was awarded the IM title in 1978 and the GM title in 1986.
On March 24, 1950, Milan Babula was born in Uhersky Brod, Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the IM title in 1983.
On March 26, 1950, Semon Palatnik was born in Odessa. He was awarded the GM title in 1978.
On March 31, 1950, Andras Adorjan (nee Jocha) was born in Budapest. He was European Junior Champion in 1969-70 and Hungarian Champion in 1973 (jointly), 1992 and 1993. He was awarded the IM title in 1970 and the GM title in 1973.
On April 16, 1950, Slim Bouaziz was born in Tunisia. He was awarded the IM title in 1975 and the GM title in 1993. He was Arab champion in 1986 and 1991.
On April 9, 1950 three chess stamps were issued in Hungary (Magyar) to commemorate the first Candidates Tournament, held in Budapest, Hungary from April 9 to May 16, 1950.
On April 23, 1950, Yrjo Rantanen was born in Tampere, Finland. He was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1981. He won the Finnish Championship in 1978 and 1986.
In 1950, he was invited to the Candidates’ Tournament in Budapest, but decided not to play. The U.S. State Department decreed that American citizens should not travel to Hungary. Reshevsky then conducted a national exhibition tour.
On May 1, 1950, David Bronstein and Isaac Boleslavsky won the first candidates tournament, held in Budapest.
On May 8, 1950, Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez was born in Valencia, Spain. He was awarded him the IM title in 1974 and the GM title in 1979. He was Spanish champion in 1969, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1982.
On May 27, 1950, Maurice Wertheim (1886-1950) died in Cos Cob, Connecticut at the age of 64. He was former president of Manhattan Chess Club and chess patron.
On June 18, 1950, Franciscus Borm was born in Roosendaal, Netherlands. He was awarded the IM title in 1986.
In July, 1950, FIDE met in Copenhagen for their annual congress. FIDE awarded its first Grandmaster (GM) title to 27 players. The first list also included 94 International Masters and 17 International Women Masters. The first GMs were Bernstein, Boleslavsky, Bondarevsky, Botvinnik, Bronstein, Duras, Euwe, Fine, Flohr, Gruenfeld, Keres, Kostic, Kotov, Levenfish, Lilienthal, Maroczy, Mieses, Najdorf, Ragozin, Reshevsky, Saemisch, Smyslov, Stahlberg, Szabo, Tartakower, and Vidmar.
On July 9, 1950, Peter Lukacs was born in Budapest. He was awarded the IM title in 1976 and the GM title in 1986. He was Hungarian champion in 1980.
On July 10, 1950 Germany issued a stamp depicting Leonard Euler and the Knight's Tour.
On July 22, 1950, Francois Chevaldonnet was born in Reims, France. He was French champion in 1976. He was awarded the IM title in 1985.
On July 22, 1950, Arthur Bisguier won the 1950 US Open, held in Detroit.
On July 25, 1950, Julio Kaplan was born in Buenos Aires. He became an IM when he won the World Junior Championship in 1967.
In August, 1950, Madame Chantel Chaude de Silans (1919-2004) played on the French team at the Dubrovnik Olympiad, the first woman to play on a men’s team. She played first reserve board, winning 1 game, drawing 1 game, and losing 4 games.
In August, 1950, Sir T. Thomas became the only blind player to play in a chess Olympiad.
On August 20, 1950 five chess stamps were issued in Yugoslavia to commemorate the 9th Chess Olympiad, held in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia from August 20 to September 9, 1950. One of the stamps shows incorrectly a position from the game Capablanca-Lasker, New York 1924. Lasker's bishop should be on the g8 square and not the f8 square. The stamp values were 2, 3, 5, 10, and 20 Dinars.
On August 27, 1950, David Bronstein won the Candidates playoff, 7.5-6.5, against Boleslavsky.
On August 27, 1950, Elizbar Ubilava was born in Tbilisi. He was awarded the IM title in 1978 and the GM title in 1988.
On September 10, 1950, the Yugoslav team (Gligoric, Pirc, Trifunovic, Rabar, Vidmar junior, Puc) won the Dubrovnik Chess Olympiad. USA took 4th. This was the first post-war Chess Olympiad). 16 countries participated.
On September 11, 1950, Eduard Meduna was born in Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the GM title in 1987.
On September 11, 1950, Khosro Harandi was born in Iran. He won the Iranian Championships in 1971 and 1990. He was awarded the IM title in 1975.
On September 19, 1950, Andre Lombard was born in Bern, Switzerland. He was awarded the IM title in 1976. He was Swiss champion in 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974 and 1977.
On October 4, 1950, Norman Weinstein was born in New York City. He was awarded the IM title in 1973. He won the US Open in 1973.
On October 4, 1950, Nicolas Giffard was born in La Baule, France. . He was French champion in 1978 and 1982. He was awarded the IM title in 1980.
On October 30, 1950, Boris Velinsky (1888-1950) died in Moscow at the age of 62. He was Moscow champion in 1928 and USSR Champion in 1929. He was awarded the IM title in 1950.
In November, 1950, the first USCF rating list appeared. There were 2306 rated players, Fine was #1 at 2817 and Reshevsky was #2 at 2770.
On November 1, 1950, Joseph Mark Bradford was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He was awarded the IM title in 2007.
On November 2, 1950, Lubomir Ljubojevic was born in Belgrade. He was awarded the IM title in 1970 and the GM title in 1971. He was Yugoslav Champion in 1977 (jointly) and 1982.
On November 19, 1950, Peter Biyiasas was born in Athens, Greece. He was awarded the IM title in 1972 and the GM title in 1978. He was Canadian Champion in 1972 and 1975.
On November 27, 1950, Nathan Birnboim was born in Tel Aviv. He was Israeli champion in 1976 and 1980. He was awarded the IM title in 1978.
In December, 1950, Hans Johner won the Swiss championship for the 12th time.
On December 10, 1950, Miguel Najdorf won the Amsterdam international. Samuel Reshevsky was 2nd.
On December 12, 1950, Paul Keres won the 18th USSR Ch.
On December 24, 1950, Ladislav Dobrovolsky was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the IM title in 1982.