Chess in 1932
by Bill Wall
In 1932, there were no computers, no Internet, no regular TV, and it was the height of the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected by a landslide over Herbert Hoover (42 states top 6 states and 472 electoral votes to 59 electoral votes. Alexander Alekhine was world champion (1927-1935 and 1937-1946).
In January 1932, the top 10 chess players in the world were Alexander Alekhine, Jose Capablanca, Isaac Kashdan, Efim Bogoljubow, Aron Nimzovich, Max Euwe, Salo Flohr, Akiba Rubinstein, Savely Tartakower, and Mir Sultan Khan.
The 12th Hastings Christmas Congress has held from December 28, 1931 to January 6, 1932. It was won by Salo Flohr, scoring 8 out of 9 (+7=2), followed by Isaac Kashdan with 7.5, Euwe with 5, Sultan Khan with 4.5, Yates, Stoltz, and Menchik with 4, and Thomas and Michell with 2.
On January 16, 1932, Victor Ciocaltea was born in Bucharest, Romania. He was Romanian champion in 1952, 1959, 1961, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, and 1979. He was awarded the Grandmaster (GM) title in 1979. He died of a heart attack at the chess table while playing at a chess tournament in Manresa, Spain on September 10, 1983. He was 51.
In January 1932, George Alan Thomas won the 42nd City of London Chess Club championship, ahead of Reginald Michell and William Winter.
In January 1932, Paul Keres won the Estonian Junior championship.
In February 1932, The London Sunday Referee tournament was held. It was won by Alekhine, scoring 9 out of 11 (+7=4), followed by Flohr with 8, and Kashdan and Khan with 7.5. The Sunday Referee was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom until it merged with the Sunday Chronicle.
In February 1932, Reuben Fine won the 15th Marshall Chess Club championship, ahead of Fred Reinfeld, Milton Hanuer, and Tony Santasiere.
On March 22, 1932, Larry Melvyn Evans was born in Manhattan. He won the U.S. championship 5 times. He died on November 15, 2010. He was 78.
In April 1932, Fleischer Studios released Chess-Nuts, an animated short film starring Betty Boop. A chess game becomes a chaotic, animated quest for the favors of Betty Boop. Betty comes to life as the black queen and Bimbo the dog becomes the white king. The black king wants Betty for himself and carries her away to his castle. Bimbo must come to her rescue. The battle contains elements of chess, bowling, football and boxing. Koko the Clown appears briefly as part of Bimbo's team of animated chess men.
In April 1932, Geza Maroczy won the Hungarian Championship, ahead of Esteban Canal, Endre Steiner, and Andor Lilienthal.
On April 20, 1932, Edgard Colle died in Ghent, Belgium at the age of 34. He died after an operation of a gastric ulcer. He was Belgium champion six times between 1922 and 1929.
In 1932, Isaac Kashdan went on a USA tour from May 9 to July 18, giving 19 simultaneous exhibitions. We won 467, lost 18, and drew 20.
In May 1932, Capablanca gave a chess lecture in Cuba.
An international chess tournament was played at the Bad Sliac, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) health resort from June 10-28, 1932. It was won by Salo Flohr (+6=7) and Milan Vidmar, scoring 9.5 out of 13, followed by Pirc (8.5), Canal, Maroczy, and Spielmann (8), Treybal (7), Bogoljubow (6.5), Pokorny (5.5), Opocensky and Walter (5), Rohacek (4), May (3.5), and Engel (3).
In July 1932, Alekhine won at Berne, Switzerland, ahead of Euwe, Flohr, Sultan Khan, Ossip Bernstein, and Efim Bogoljubow.
The Berne (Bern), Switzerland tournament in July 1932, included 10 Swiss masters and 6 foreign masters. Alekhine won with 12.5 out of 15, followed by Euwe and Flohr with 11.5. This was the strongest tournament in 1932, which included five of the top ten players in the world.
In August 1932, the 25th British Championship, held in London, was won by Mir Sultan Khan with 8.5 out of 11, followed by C.H.O’D Alexander with 8. George Koltanowski won the Major Open section.
From July 30 to August 7, 1932 the 33rd Western Chess Association Championship (33rd US Open) was held at Minneapolis. It was won by Reuben Fine, scoring 9.5 (+8 =3), followed by Samuel Reshevsky with 9. 3rd place went to Fred Reinfeld. 4th place went to Herman Steiner. There were 12 players in the event. It was Fine’s first national title.
In August 1932, Siegbert Tarrasch won the 13th Bavarian Chess Federation.
In August 1932, Nathan Grossman won the 54th New York State Chess Association championship.
Before the Pasadena International tournament, several of the competitors were taken aloft in the dirigible Volunteer. Kashdan and Dake contested an informal game which ended up as a draw. The moves were transmitted by radio to the opening luncheon meeting and commented by Alekhine. Alekhine had just arrived from Berne, Switzerland, traveling 8,000 miles in 15 days by ship and train.
On August 14, 1932, Alexander Alekhine arrived on the eve of the Chess Congress Masters Tournament (part of the Los Angeles Congress) at the Maryland Hotel in Pasadena, following the 10th Modern Olympic Games at Los Angeles. Alekhine won the event (and $250) with a score of 8.5-2.5 (+7=3-1). Isaac Kashdan took 2nd with a score of 7.5-3.5. Next were Arthur Dake, Sammy Reshevsky, and Herman Steiner with 6.5. Next came Harry Borochow, California State champion, with the score of 5.5-5.5. He was followed by Fred Reinfeld, Jacob Bernstein, Reuben Fine, and Samuel Factor, all with 5-6. Jose Araiza came next with a score of 3.5-7.5. Last place went to Adolph Fink, San Francisco's strongest player, with a score of 3-8. It was agreed that the California player having the highest score in this event would be declared champion of California. Thus, Harry Borochow became California champion for the third straight year. This international tournament was promoted by Cecil B. DeMille. The tournament organizers also wanted to invite Capablanca, but Alekhine demanded an extra $2,000 appearance fee if Capablanca participated in the event. The money could not be raised (the whole budget for the tournament was $1,500), and Capablanca was not invited.
On August 11, 1932, Istvan Bilek was born in Budapest. He won the Hungarian championship three times. He was awarded the GM title in 1962. He won the Hungarian championship in 1963, 1965, and 1970. His ex-wife was Hungarian women’s champion. He died on March 21, 2010.
In September-October 1932, Mexico City hosted its first international chess tournament in Mexico. Alekhine and Kashdan shared 1st place with 8.5 out of 9, followed by Jose Joaquin Araiza (champion of Mexico and organizer of the tournament) with 6.
On November 11, 1932, Frederick Dewhurst Yates died in London, England at the age of 48. He won the British championship 6 times. He died in his sleep, asphyxiated by a faulty pipe connection at his home.
In November 1932, Mikhail Botvinnik won the 9th Leningrad championship.
On November 27, 1932, Tibor Weinberger was born in Hungary. In 1962, he tied for 1st in the California State Championship. In 1970, he won the California Open. He is a FIDE master.
In December 1932, Alekhine gave a simultaneous exhibition at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, scoring 19 wins and 3 draws. On December 17, 1932, Alekhine played against 26 boards at the new Hollywood Chess Club, winning them all. The next day, he then gave a 7-board simultaneous blindfold exhibition at the Hollywood Chess Club, winning 5 and drawing 2. The president of the Hollywood Chess Club was Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Herman Steiner later became the president of the Hollywood Chess Club. Members included Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer, and Jose Ferrer.
On December 25, 1932, Reuben Fine, age 18 and a student at CCNY, won the 16th Marshall Chess Club Championship without the loss of a game (+10=3). A. Kevitz finished 2nd.
The 13th Hastings Christmas Congress began in late December, 1932. The eventual winner was Salo Flohr.
In 1932, the Canadian Chess Federation (CCF) replaced the Canadian Chess Association, which was founded in 1872. For the first time, all major cities in Canada were represented. In 1945, the Canadian Chess Federation was renamed to the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC).
In 1932, the Braille Chess Association was founded. It was affiliated with the British Chess Federation and the British Postal Chess Federation.
In 1932, Jesse B. Hanson and Frank Frain purchased Ajeeb the automaton and later toured the USA with it.
In 1932, Emil Josef Diemer (1908-1990) popularized the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f3), which he called the Polish Gambit.
In 1932, the 5th edition of Modern Chess Openings was published by Griffith and White.
In 1932, the first international correspondence chess tournament was held and eventually won by Janos Balogh.
In 1932, chess master Norman Whitaker (later International Master) gained notoriety during the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh, Jr in March 1932. A former FBI Agent named Gaston Means concocted a scheme to swindle $104,000 from a wealthy heiress by claiming to be in contact with the kidnappers. Means intended to use Whitaker as the bagman to pick up her money, but both were arrested and convicted. Whitaker was later convicted of attempted extortion. He claimed that the Lindbergh kidnappers had refused $49,500 of the ransom money paid by Mrs. McLean because the serial numbers on the money had been published. Therefore, he demanded replacement money in the amount of $35,000, in exchange for which he promised to return the original $49,500 plus the baby. That was when the FBI was finally called in. Whitaker never got any of the money and, when asked what happened to the money, Whitaker replied, "I do not know and I wish I did". Whitaker got out in just 18 months.
George Koltanowski played 160 boards simultaneously at Antwerp, winning 135, drawing 18, and losing 7 games.
Koltanowski played 30 boards blindfolded simultaneously, winning 20, drawing 10, and losing none.
Alekhine played 60 teams of 5 players each (300 players) in Paris, winning 37, drawing 17, and losing 6.
Jose Capablanca played 66 teams of 5 players each (330 players) in Havana, winning 46, drawing 16, and losing 4.