June 02 1952
The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, California, Monday, June 02, 1952
Northerners Win Close Chess Tourney Here
A 59-man chess team from northern California defeated southern California team of equal size here Saturday afternoon by a score of 32 to 27 in the 19th annual North-South chess tourney.
It was the best showing made by the south in several years, and toward the end of the game, with eight boards still to report, the north led the south by only 29½ to 21½ leaving the way open to a possible tie.
More than 120 players from throughout the state as well as visiting chess experts from other states participated in the north-south tournament or in the annual rapid-transit tournament which followed it. With the wives and families of participants and other kibitzers and local chess enthusiasts, more than 200 people were in the San Luis Obispo city recreation center during most of the tournament.
The rapid-transit tournament which got under way Saturday evening and continued until 3 a.m. yesterday was won by Ray Martin of Santa Monica, with Sven Almgren and Irving Rivise, both of Los Angeles, in second and third places respectively.
Twenty-nine players entered this event, in which each was allowed only 10 seconds for a play.
Biggest individual game of the tournament was that between Lionel Joyner, Canadian junior chess champion, and Henry Gross of San Francisco, a veteran west coast chess expert, who defeated the Canadian.
Among the interesting individuals participating in the tournament were Mrs. Mary Bain of New York women's national chess champion.
Oldest player in the tournament was E. P. Elliott of Los Angeles who is 79. At least two 16-year-olds participated: Peter Dahl and Robert Currie both of San Francisco.
Two of the participants—William P. Barlow and Fred N. Christensen both of Oakland, have not missed a match in the 19 years the north-south chess tourney has met.
Some 50 five-year pins in recognition of players who have attended that many consecutive matches in San Luis Obispo and Atascadero, were presented by Luke Trahin, San Luis Obispo chamber of commerce manager yesterday morning.
Co-captains of the opposing sectional teams— W. G. McClain of Berkeley and Wade Hendricks of Castro Valley for the north, and John Keckhut and Leroy Johnson, both of Los Angeles for the south expressed appreciation for the hospitality extended the players by the chamber of commerce and the city recreation department.
The California state chess tournament was officially formed here over the weekend, 10 directors were elected, and the group voted to make the California Chess Reporter, established in San Francisco last year, the group's official organ.
The newly named directors included: A. E. Hoerchner of Shell Beach, San Luis Obispo area; George Oakes of Salinas, Monterey area; Neil T. Austin of Sacramento, central valley area; Herman Steiner and John Keckhut, Los Angeles area; George Croy of Banning, Riverside-Pomona-Orange area; Cecil Bates of La Mesa, San Diego area; A. L. Ritz, Eureka, north coastal area; W. G. McClain, San Francisco bay area; and a Redwood Empire representative to be named.
