AAdditional Games
- Chessgames
- Game, Arthur Spiller vs. Saul Wachs, Santa Monica-Philadelphia Radio Match, 1950.
Saul Philip Wachs
December 24, 1931-unknown
July 29 1951
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sunday, July 29, 1951
Temple Junior Wins Chess Title
A 19-year-old Temple University junior yesterday won the sixth annual junior championship tournament of the United States Chess Federation at the Franklin Institute.
The winner is Saul Wachs, of 6237 Pine st. He survived a field of 44 from all parts of the United States and Canada. He was undefeated, scoring eight points for winning six matches and drawing four.
Irving Bizar, 19, of New York City, a student at CCNY, was second; Ross Siems, 15, of Toronto, Canada, third; Lionel Joyner, 19, of Santa Monica, Calif., fourth; Jackie Mayer, 18, of Louisville, Ky., and Albert Weissman, of New York City, tied for fifth.
In addition to a revolving trophy presented by the federation to the winner of the open contest, Isadore Bellis, on behalf of the sponsoring Junior Chamber of Commerce, presented trophies and medals to Wachs and other winners. It was the first time the tournament was held in Philadelphia.
September 01 1951
The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Saturday, September 01, 1951
January 27 1952
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sunday, January 27, 1952
7 Chess Titles at 19
When Saul Wachs was five years old, his father taught him to play chess. Saul was no ordinary pupil. In a few years the competition became too stiff for his dad. Saul began winning chess tournaments when he was 11, the first being the West Philadelphia Boys' Chess Championship. Last year, at 19, he won seven chess titles-the Philadelphia, U.S. Junior, U.S. Junior Speed, North City Chess Club, Tri-State (Pa., Ohio, W. Va.), National Intercollegiate Speed and the Pennsylvania Speed Chess championships.
Saul, now a tall, slim Temple University junior, will be qualified to teach history in another year. But when he's not teaching he'll be working toward his ultimate goal in chess--the world's championship.
“Most people, when they think of chess, picture a couple of old men playing a game that may last for days,” says Saul. “It's not like that today. We often play ‘rapid transit’ chess which is conducted at a rate of 10 seconds a move.” Every March this speed specialist puts on an exhibition at Central YMCA in which he plays simultaneously an average of 40 boards in three hours.
Saul likes music and most sports, but he'd rather play chess because of the endless possibilities for combination plays, because it keeps his mind agile for other subjects and because it offers opportunities for traveling and meeting interesting people.
Home for Saul is 6237 Pine st. where he lives with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Wachs. His one sister, Mrs. Herbert Millis, is the mother of a three-month-old son for whom Saul has big plans.
“I'm going to make a good chess player out of him,” he declares.
September 03 1955
Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Saturday, September 03, 1955
Eastern Champ Wins as Pa. Chess Tourney Opens Here
Philadelphia's Saul Wachs, eastern states open champion, took top honors in a round robin rapid transit tourney as the 17th annual Pennsylvania Chess Federation tournament opened last night at the Altamont Hotel.
The four-day competition will close Monday and is expected to attract some 200 chess enthusiasts from Pennsylvania.
Two In A Row
Wach's victory last night was a repetition of a similar win last year in a Philadelphia speed championship match.
Second honors last night went to Mahlon Cleaver, Allentown city champion and former junior champion of Pennsylvania, and third place went to Thomas Gutekunst of Allentown, state champion in 1943 and 1950 and president of the Pennsylvania State Chess Association.
Last night's informal tourney does not count in the actual tourney competition, which begins today.
Tourney Opens Today
The first round will be staged in the hotel ballroom at 2 p.m. today, with another round scheduled for 7 p.m. Three additional rounds will be played tomorrow at 9 a.m., 2 and 7 p.m. while the final rounds will be held at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday. A federation business meeting will be held at 1 p.m. today and prizes will be awarded at 7 p.m. Monday.
Competition is open in the senior, junior and women's divisions for Pennsylvania residents or persons belonging to a Pennsylvania club.
The tourney is being sponsored by the Hazleton YMCA and locally is in charge of A. G. Hoffman, Art Fey and Ben Roman. William A. Ruth, of Collingswood, N. J., is tournament director.
