April 05 1936
Greater Hollywood Tournament 05 Apr 1936, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
The Hollywood Chess Club announces a tournament for the championship of Greater Hollywood to be held in its club-rooms, 6107 Franklin avenue. Play will begin Wednesday, April 15, and will continue each Wednesday thereafter. Any player living in Hollywood or its environs is invited to enter this interesting event. Application may be made to Adolph Chern, secretary, Hollywood Chess Club at the above address.
July 13 1936
Chess Matches By Short Wave Are Postponed 13 Jul 1936, Mon The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com
Chess Matches By Short Wave Are Postponed
Island-Coast Competition Now Set for July 19; Odds Declined
On radio advices received from Los Angeles last night the scheduled Island-Coast chess match which was to have been played over radio last night has been postponed until Sunday, July 19, at 5:00 p.m., Hawaii time. The postponement was made at the request of the Southern California players.
The radio message received last night revealed that the Los Angeles team will have Dr. Robert Griffith as team captain. Dr. Griffith is one of the strongest players on the west coast and has won many tournaments. Player number two will be Henry MacMahon, secretary of the NACCL and leading player of the Beverly Hills Chess club. Boards number three and four will be played by LeRoy Johnson and Adolph Chern, members of the Hollywood Chess club, and known here to be outstanding chess players.
The Los Angeles team in asking for the postponement offered the Hawaii team odds of one board in the five-board match. The local players declined the odds but accepted the necessary postponement.
The Hawaii team expects to be fortified by the addition of Robert L. MacConel of American Factors who is one of the best players to play in match competition in the islands. Other team members will be Sgt. James L. Huth, Third Engineers, who has been state champion in Indiana; Cpl. Griffith T. Roberts, Thirteenth Field Artillery; and T. Sarraela of the Twenty-Seventh infantry. All are outstanding players of the Schofield Chess club. The fifth member of the local team will be a civilian from Honolulu.
The match will last three hours and will start at 5 p.m. Radio station WLXB/W6EWQ, amateur station of Sgt. Bunn R. Mills and J. J. O'Connor, Twenty-first Brigade at Schofield Barracks, station WLMI/W6GXM, owned and operated by Lieut. Donald M. Draper of the Los Angeles Police department, will be the medium of play transmission. Operators of both stations have had considerable experience in sending receiving chess moves, but this the first time that a five-board team match has been handled in the islands.
July 20 1936
Chess Signals Cross Pacific 20 Jul 1936, Mon The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com
Chess Signals Cross Pacific
Amateur Radio Stations Used for Game
A battle of wits was flashed back and forth between Schofield Barracks and Los Angeles via radio for five hours last night.
Starting at 7:30 p.m., the Island-Coast chess match between the two teams waged until after midnight. The Hawaii team was composed of Robert L. MacConel, of American Factors; Sgt. James L. Huth, Third Engineers, former champion of Indiana; Corp. Griffith T. Roberts, Thirteenth Field Artillery, and T. L. Sarraela, Twenty-seventh Infantry. The Los Angeles team was composed of Dr. Robert Griffith, winner of many West Coast tournaments; Henry McMahon, secretary of the NACCL and leading player of the Beverly Hills Chess club; LeRoy Johnson and Adolph Chern, outstanding players of the Hollywood Chess club.
Radio station WLXB/W6EWQ, amateur station of Sgt. Bunn R. Mills and J. J. O'Connor, Twenty-first Brigade at Schofield Barracks, and station WLMI/W6GXM, owned and operated by Lt. Donald M. Draper of the Los Angeles police department, were the mediums of play transmission.
Results of the play had not yet been determined at a late hour last night.
Radio Chess Games End In Tie For Hawaii, California 20 Jul 1936, Mon Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com
Radio Chess Games End In Tie For Hawaii, California
Transmitting chess moves by radio, a picked team of islanders and four outstanding players of southern California ended their play 1 to 11 Sunday evening after five hours and 45 minutes of play.
The first game started at 5:15, Honolulu time, and went to the Californians, LeRoy Johnson and Adolph Chern of the Hollywood Chess club, on a quick decision when Pfc. T. L. Saarela, 27th Inf., and Cpl. Griffith T. Roberts, 13th F. A., attempted the Evans Gambit maneuver.
The following game was an upset because Dr. Robert Griffith, one of the participants, is one of the leading players of southern California. His partner was Henry MacMahon, also an outstanding player. The game was played from this end by Sgt. James Huth, 3rd Eng., assisted in the earlier part by Robert L. Macconel of Honolulu. Sgt. Huth and Mr. Macconel adopted the Steinitz defense against the Ruy Lopez tactics of the Californians and successfully withstood the opening maneuvers of the Californians. Sgt. Huth obtained a passed pawn late in the game which ultimately succeeded in getting through to the queen row, practically deciding the outcome 20 moves before the end of the game. The game ended on the 58th move.
Instead of the five individual matches originally planned, it was decided to play two games because of limited space at the radio station in Los Angeles. No time limit was observed.
Pvt. John J. O'Connor, 21st Brig., transmitted most of the plays to Los Angeles over station WXB-W6EWQ, with the assistance of Sgt. Bunn R. Mills. Lt. Donald Draper of the Los Angeles police force transmitted the Los Angeles moves from his amateur station WMI-W6EXM.
The night's games provided a total of 132 messages.
