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Abe Yanofsky and Max Euwe (Dutch National Archive)
May 27 1935
The Bismarck tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, Monday, May 27, 1935 — Minneapolis Wins in Fargo Chess Tourney — Abie Yanofsky, 10-year-old Winnipeg prodigy, lost to F. F. Plouf of Minneapolis after a 61 move contest but came back Sunday to defeat the Minneapolis man.
January 08 1954
The Sault Star, Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canada, Friday, January 08, 1954
Upsets Russian Chess Master In Marathon Final
Hastings, England (CP) — Charles H. Alexander, a British foreign office official upset Russian Grand Master David Bronstein today in a marathon game of 120 moves that may well prove a classic in world chess annals.
The vital match to the international Hastings Chess Congress was decided after several adjournments and 14 hours of play. The victory put Alexander one point ahead of Bronstein and gave him what appeared to be a winning position in the tournament.
Bronstein has an adjourned game remaining with Germany's Rudolf Teschner which he must win to give him a tie for the tournament title. But Bronstein's position in the Teschner game is inferior and he will be fortunate to pull out with a draw. Alexander completed his tourney games.
The Alexander-Bronstein queen and pawn ending was a triumph of virtuosity for the British wartime code-breaker. Chess connoisseurs will be studying it and replaying it for many years to come. Major tournament games that run 100 moves or more are rare.
Alexander relaxed between play in the Bronstein struggle by reading space fiction. Bronstein conferred with his fellow Russians at the tourney or munched chocolate bars.
The match was resumed today after Bronstein and Alexander called it quits at 10:30 Thursday night. By that time they had fought through 102 moves and 10½ hours.
December 30 1953
The Nottingham Evening Post, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, Wednesday, December 30, 1953
First Russians At Chess Congress Since 1934
For the first time for nearly 20 years Russians are among the 121 competitors from 12 countries in the 29th annual international chess congress which opened at Hastings to-day.
The Russians are David Bronstein, 29, and Alexander Tolush, 42. Accompanying them are another Russian international master Alatortsev, and an interpreter.
Bronstein, who speaks English, played a drawn match in 1951 for the world championship with Mikhail Botvinnik, the present world champion, also a Russian. Tolush is the champion of Leningrad.
Bronstein and Tolush are the first Russian players to take part in the Hastings tournament since Botvinnik played in the congress in 1934.
September 24 1947
The Guardian, London, Greater London, England, Wednesday, September 24, 1947
Russia's 15-5 Chess Victory
Match with Britain
From our Chess Correspondent
London, Tuesday.
The closing day of the Anglo-Russian chess match was devoted to the conclusion of the adjourned games—six from the first round and two from the second and the final result was a heavy defeat for the home team, who scored four points in the first round, but only one in the second. Russia thus won by 15-5, a margin which the team fully deserved by its fine play.
The adjourned games from the first round ended in a draw for Alexander against Keres; a loss for Winter against Bondarevsky; a draw for Fairhurst against Flohr (these players also drew in the second round); losses for Aitken and Abrahams against Ragozin and Bronstein and a win for Newman against Tolush.
As Golombek and Smyslov (who eventually won) agreed to finish their second-round game this morning, there remained only the second game between Alexander and Keres to be decided this afternoon.
Hard-Fought Game
Alexander had a heavy task before him, with queen, bishop, two knights, and three pawns against queen, rook, bishop, knight, and three pawns, and with his king badly exposed. In his favour he had a passed pawn, but no farther advanced than the fourth rank. Keres had every inducement to play for a win, as he had apparently missed a winning line in the other adjourned game in the morning.
After a period of deliberation a quick series of exchanges followed, which left Keres with rook and knight against two knights, and two pawns each. In the ensuing play for position the superior mobility of the rook was a great asset to Keres. Alexander made a brave defence, but on the seventy-third move he was forced to resign after losing a pawn and having to exchange one of his knights.
The proceedings closed with speeches of congratulation by the president of the British Chess Federation and Sir George Thomas on the Russian victory.
The teams have now been selected for the radio match. Great Britain v. Australia, on Saturday week. The British team win be the same as that against Russia, except for the substitution of R. J. Broadbent for Sir George Thomas. The Australian team will be L. Steiner, C. J. S. Purdy, G. Koshnitsky, Dr. M. Gellis, M. E. Goldstein. F. Crowl, Martin Green, B. Y. Mills, H. Klass, and S. Karoly. The British team will play at Australia House.
June 20 1946
Liverpool Daily Post, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, Thursday, June 20, 1946
Britain Plays Russia At Chess By Radio
Mr. Lewis Silkin, Minister of Town and Country Planning, opening the 1,600 miles radio chess match between Britain and Russia yesterday said that he wished a chess match could be arranged between Mr. Ernest Bevin and M. Molotov. “They might discover the value of a timely sacrifice if they sat opposite each other at the chess board.”
Twelve leading players of each country, the Russians in Moscow's Central House of Workers in Art and the Britons in the Gambit Rooms, Bridge Row, London are beginning a four-day match. The Russian team, which like their opponents includes two women, is regarded as the strongest in the world and a victory for Britain is not expected.
First Radio Match
Mr. Silkin described the match as unique in British broadcasting. It was the first to be played by radio-telegraphy and the first “hook-up” between B.B.C. and Moscow radio.
The British team included C. M. O. D. Alexander, the British champion, who lost his game in thirty-eight moves against M. Botwinnik, a contender for the world championship, vacant since the death of Dr. Alekhine. In addition to Alexander and Klein, the British team includes I. Konig who has played three times for Yugoslavia; H. Golombek, a former London boy champion, and P. M. List, who has been playing in international chess since 1908.
Britain's women players are Miss Eileen Tranmer, of Scarborough, who won the major tournament at Hastings this year, and Mrs. Rowena M. Bruce of Plymouth. British woman champion in 1937.
Chess Code
The moves are recorded in the international chess code, messages taking about twenty seconds to get through. In the first two hours 104 moves were sent from London to Moscow.
British players won the first game when W. Winter, a former British champion beat David Bronstein, in twenty-seven moves, a minute later J. M. Aitken playing against Bondarevsky, resigned.
At the close of play for the day, Russia led by five games to one.
December 19, 1945
Bradford Evening Star and The Bradford Daily Record, Bradford, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, December 19, 1945
New Chess Star
A new chess star is looming on the horizon. David Bronstein, a Russian, is only 21, but he qualified for a tournament of masters in which he defeated the Russian leader, Mikhail M. Botvinnik, and finally finished third out of a field of 20.
Chess brilliancy often flowers early. The great master of them all, Paul Morphy of New Orleans, showed his genius at 12. A recent American champion, Samuel Reshevsky, toured the country giving chess exhibitions when only eight.
Russian chess has just now a higher standard than that of any other country, presumably because it is taught in the schools and otherwise encouraged. Bronstein's success in a land where so many are gifted shows that he will bear watching.
December 08 2006
National Post, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Friday, December 08, 2006
Chess grandmaster never won world championship
David Bronstein, who died on Tuesday, aged 82, was a leading Soviet chess grandmaster and writer. Like Viktor Korchnoi, he was often described as the greatest player never to have won a world championship.
Bronstein's first international tournament success occurred at the Satsjobaden Interzonal of 1948, when he qualified for the first Candidates' Tournament of 1950 in Budapest. He went on to win the title over Isaac Boleslavsky (whose daughter, Tatiana, he later married) and, the following year, entered the world title challenge match.
He came agonizingly close to his goal when he tied the match (12-12) with Mikhail Botvinnik, the reigning champion. Under World Chess Federation rules, however, the title remained with the holder and Bronstein never came so close again.
It was rumoured that Bronstein, a Ukrainian, was forced to throw the match by the Soviet authorities to allow the Russian Botvinnik to win. Bronstein had been the stronger player until the final stages of the tournament, when he played feebly in the 23 rd and penultimate game, throwing away his chances of victory. In his book The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1995, co-written with Tom Furstenberg), Bronstein wrote: “The only thing I am prepared to say about all this controversy is that I was subjected to strong psychological pressure from various sources and it was entirely up to me to yield to that pressure or not. Let's leave it at that.”
Bronstein's game demonstrated a high degree of creativity and tactical verve. He introduced many new ideas into the King's Indian Defence and King's Gambit. His theoretical work on the King's Indian Defence is reflected in his book Bronstein on the King's Indian (1999). He was one of the originators of Rapid Chess, played at a faster time limit (with 30 minutes or less for the game) and developed a form of Random Chess well before Bobby Fischer claimed ownership of the concept. In Bronstein Random Chess, the pawns are set out and the first eight moves involve placing the pieces on the vacant back rank. Bronstein's serious manner was belied by a ready smile. He was held in particular affection among chess cognoscenti for his unaffected love of the game and his commitment to explaining its higher mysteries to the average player. Interviewers would be treated to a torrent of chess stories, reminiscences, philosophical speculations about the game, ideas and analysis, all dispensed with undiminished enthusiasm and charm.
In a series of books (most notably in Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953), Bronstein sought to explain in simple terms the elements of strategy. Rather than burden the reader with pages of turgid analysis of all possibilities, he aimed to amplify the ideas behind the players' moves.
A second cousin to Leon Trotsky, David Ionovich Bronstein was born on Feb. 19, 1924, at Bila Tserkva, near Kyiv, in Ukraine. He was taught chess by his grandfather and began playing competitively at the age of six. His rise was meteoric. After he won a tournament for adults and juniors at Kyiv in 1938, he soon became one of the strongest young Soviet players in the period before the outbreak of the Second World War.
In 1941 he was ordered to leave Kyiv as a conscript in the Red Army, taking only the clothes he was wearing though he avoided being sent to a combat unit due to his poor eyesight. His mother left Kyiv immediately, fleeing the German army. When Bronstein returned home a couple of years later, he found the family home was empty. As relatives of Trotsky, his family were constantly under the eyes of the Secret Police and his father served seven years in the Gulag.
David Bronstein 07 Dec 2006, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Bronstein came to the notice of the chess world when, aged 20, he inflicted a defeat on Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1944 Soviet championship. Bronstein twice shared the championship, in 1948 with Alexander Kotov and the next year with Vasily Smyslov. After his world championship match in 1951, Bronstein represented the Soviet Union at the Olympiads of 1952, 1954, 1956 and 1958, winning gold medals in all of them. He played in the Candidates' Tournament in Zurich in 1953, when there was again speculation that he, along with other non-Russian Soviets, had been “persuaded” to allow Smyslov to win.
The following year, after tying for first and second places with the British chess player Hugh Alexander at the Hastings International Chess Congress, Bronstein was singled out for criticism in Moscow's Literary Gazette in an article which accused him and other Soviet players of “complacency and self-conceit” which had robbed the nation of big honours in international tournaments.
Away from their rivalry over the chess board, the difficulties of life in the Soviet Union generated a strong sense of camaraderie among many of the leading players. During an exhibition match, Bronstein recalled how he and Smyslov had agreed to a draw in 12 moves. A chess official protested, pointing out that, after all, the Soviet Chess Federation was paying them. “Do you really believe that I will attack Smyslov for only three rubles a day?” Bronstein retorted.
The Soviet authorities allowed Bronstein to travel abroad until 1976, when he refused to sign a letter condemning the defection of Viktor Korchnoi. This was the most difficult period of his life and coincided with a bout of cancer, which he successfully fought off. Bronstein remained confined behind the Iron Curtain until the collapse of Communism in 1989.
During the 1990s, Bronstein toured the world giving displays and lectures. An American chess fan who saw him at an exhibition match at Long Beach, noted that he played modestly and deliberately, tailoring his game to the level of his opponents, playing “waiting moves” where necessary and making the odd sacrifice, not wanting to gratify his ego with easy victories.
The Daily Telegraph.
April 17 1952
The Daily Telegraph, London, Greater London, England, Thursday, April 17, 1952
Boy Holds Chess Master
Russians' Exhibition
Daily Telegraph Reporter
Keith Stanley, 14, an Ilford schoolboy was one of the opponents who held out longest during an exhibition chess contest in London against D. Bronstein, 28, the Russian chess master who is runner-up for the world championship. Play lasted nearly five hours.
Bronstein, and his compatriot, M. Taimanov, 26, each met 21 opponents at the London headquarters of the British Czechoslovak Friendship League. The contest was arranged by the Soviet Chess Circle, and their opponents were from Home Counties clubs and Cambridge University.
Bronstein and Taimanov arrived in Britain last Thursday to play at the University Chess Centre in Liverpool. They have been unable to accept an invitation to the tournament at Southsea because they return to Moscow today to prepare for the Soviet Chess Championships next week.
Bronstein won 18 games and drew three against J. Penrose, P. Alfrey and P. Clarke. Taimanov won 14, drew four, against E. Millis, R. Newman, T. Sweby and Miss Tranmer, and lost three to L. Kennion, H. Samuels and B. Ward. He accepted an offer of a draw by Miss Tranmer, former British women's champion.
March 26 1951
Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut, Monday, March 26, 1951
Chess Match in Moscow
Most of the references to chess play in the news these days are figurative. We're told often —too often— that the men in the Kremlin look on the world as a chessboard. We hear the tired analogies about pawns, about checkmate, about the strategies and stratagems of chess. We hear about stalemate at the 38th Parallel.
All this is a bit wearying, to chess players and nonplayers alike. It's a relief to get back from global chess to a standard-size board, and rules of the game that have international standing. Now it happens that there are two men in Moscow today who have a vivid interest in manipulating pieces and pawns, in a perfectly literal sense.
One of those men is Mikhail Botvinnik, chess champion of the world. The other is another Russian, David Bronstein, recent winner of a monster tournament to pick a challenger for the title. Messrs. B. and B. are now, perhaps even at this very moment, bent over the board pondering the significance of each other's moves. For the world championship is at stake. This match is, to the Russians, the equivalent of our World Series.
Two games have already been contested in Moscow, and they've probably caused more excitement among the city's chess-playing citizens than all the bulletins from Korea. Nor is the interest confined to the Soviets. For one of the few activities in which the Russians have been willing (and able) to participate against the best the West can offer is chess. Both the champion and the challenger are well known in this country.
The future of the world does not depend on who wins this match. But isn't it somewhat comforting to know that even the Russians can find time for a few things these days that are not global in their significance? The pawns that Messrs. Botvinnik and Bronstein are moving about will not yield the answer to the riddle of peace or war. So much the better. On with the match, then, and may the better man win.
April 1950
Inaugural Candidates Tournament in Budapest from April 11 to May 18, 1950. Shown here are Isaac Boleslavsky, Seymon Furman, and David Bronstein. It was a double round-robin competition with 10 competitors: Bronstein, Boleslavsky, Smyslov, Keres, Najdorf, Kotov, Stahlberg, Lilienthal, Szabo, and Flohr. The Budapest event became the only Candidates Tournament to result in a first-place tie with no tiebreaker in place. Original b/w photo source: FIDE.
August 28, 1950
Evening Despatch, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, Monday, August 28, 1950
Chess challenger
Soviet grandmaster David Bronstein has won the right to challenge the world's champion chess player Mikhail Botvinnik by defeating Boleslavsky in Moscow yesterday. In the 14th game Bronstein won on the 30th move having taken Boleslavsky's queen. Bronstein and Botvinnik will meet next year.
December 12 1968
David Bronstein and Mikhail Tal, USSR Sporting Societies Team Championship, Riga, December 12, 1968. 6th Soviet Team Cup.
May 19 1949
Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, Thursday, May 19, 1949
Al Ludwig Invites Russian Chess Champions to Omaha
World-Herald Washington Bureau, 1374 National Press Building.
A couple of champion chess players from Soviet Russia may invade Omaha next July to take on chess artists from all over the world.
Alfred C. Ludwig of 3351 South Seventeenth Street, Omaha, President of the Omaha Chess Club, wrote Senator Wherry about the fiftieth annual United States Open Championship to be held in Omaha July 11-23.
They'd like to invite Mikhail Botvinnik and David Bronstein from Moscow, said Mr. Ludwig, if it wouldn't violate security rulings.
Botvinnik is world champion, Bronstein is second ranking player in the U.S.S.R.
Senator Wherry took it up with the State Department, was informed that so far as the department was concerned, in Washington, there was nothing to stand in the way of the men getting visas.
The matter was referred to the United States Embassy in Moscow to see if there was any objection from that end.
July 30 1948
Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Friday, July 30, 1948
Yanofsky And Kotov Adjourn Chess Match
Stockholm. (CP)—A ninth-round game between Abe Yanofsky, young Winnipeg chess master, and Alexander Kotov of Russia was adjourned Thursday as the international chess tournament continued.
Yanofsky now stands 12th among the 20 masters competing in the 19-round tournament. He has a score of 3½-4½ with one adjourned game.
David Bronstein of Russia and Gideon Stahlberg of Sweden meanwhile caught up with Laszlo Szabo of Hungary, who has been leading the tournament. Bronstein and Stahlberg have scores of 6-3 while Szabo has a score of 6-2 with one adjourned game.
July 07 1955
The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, July 07, 1955
Russia Beats U.S. In Chess
By Clifton Daniel.
Leased Wire From N. Y. Times.
Moscow, Russia—United States chess players ended their Moscow match in a crushing defeat Wednesday night.
They lost to a Soviet team by an even worse score than they did last year. The count was 25 to 7 in favor of the Russians; in 1954 in New York it was 20 to 12.
Compensations.
There were compensations, however. The leading American, Samuel Reshevsky, defeated world champion Mikhail Botvinnik of the Soviet Union by 2½ to l½ points. Soviet sports officials were extremely hospitable and the visitors had a good time—except at the chess tables.
Most of them met Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin and other Soviet leaders at the United States embassy's Fourth of July party.
In spite of the score, the Americans performed creditably against the best players in the world. Probably no other country could have done so well. Every Soviet player was a grand master of chess, every one a challenger or potential challenger for the world title.
Two of them, Vassily Smyslov and David Bronstein, actually have played Botvinnik to draws in championship matches. The American team had only two grand masters, Reshevsky and Isaac I. Kashdan. The rest were merely masters.
Even so, Larry Evans, only 23 and the youngest member of the United States team, forced Bronstein to draws in three games out of four. Bronstein won the fourth.
Highest Scores.
Next to Reshevsky, Evans and Kashdan had the highest scores on the United States team, 1½ each. Donald Byrne won one game to collect a point, and Robert Byrne scored a half point with one draw.
'til the world understands why Robert J. Fischer criticised the U.S./British and Russian military industry imperial alliance and their own Israeli Apartheid. Sarah Wilkinson explains: Tweets by swilkinsonbc |
 “What a sad story Fischer was,” typed a racist, pro-imperialist colonial troll who supports mega-corporation entities over human rights, police state policies & white supremacy. |
To which I replied: “Really? I think he [Bob Fischer] stood up to the broken system of corruption and raised awareness! Whether on the Palestinian/Israel-British-U.S. Imperial Apartheid scam, the Bush wars of ‘7 countries in 5 years,’ illegally, unconstitutionally which constituted mass xenocide or his run in with police brutality in Pasadena, California-- right here in the U.S., police run rampant over the Constitution of the U.S., on oath they swore to uphold, but when Americans don't know the law, and the cops either don't know or worse, “don't care” -- then I think that's pretty darn “sad”. I think Mr. Fischer held out and fought the good fight, steadfast til the day he died, and may he Rest In Peace. Educate yourself about U.S./State Laws -- https://www.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit/videos After which the troll posted a string of profanities, confirming there was never any genuine sentiment of “compassion” for Mr. Fischer, rather an intent to inflict further defamatory remarks. |
This ongoing work is a tribute to the life and accomplishments of Robert “Bobby” Fischer who passionately loved and studied chess history. May his life continue to inspire many other future generations of chess enthusiasts and kibitzers, alike.
March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008The photograph of Bobby Fischer (above) from the March 02, 1956 The Tampa Times was discovered by Sharon Mooney (Bobby Fischer Newspaper Archive editor) on February 01, 2018 while gathering research materials for this ongoing newspaper archive project. Along with lost games now being translated into Algebraic notation and extractions from over two centuries of newspapers, it is but one of the many lost treasures to be found in the pages of old newspapers since our social media presence was first established November 11, 2017.
