1947

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January 01, 1947

• Livingston County Daily Press and Argus Howell, Michigan Wednesday, January 01, 1947 - Page 15 — Age 6, Plays 12 Chess Games at Once — Andy Oberta, 6-year-old North Hollywood, Calif., chess wizard, plays 12 games of chess simultaneously with paraplegics at Birmingham Veterans' Hospital, Van Nuys, Calif. He's shown working on a move against Howard Parke of Seattle, Wash. The youngster learned the game at age 4. (Paraplegia is parlysis from the chest down, usually caused by injury to the spine.) Read More

• The Guardian London, Greater London, England Wednesday, January 01, 1947 - Page 3 — Hastings Chess – Wood's Notable Game with Yanofsky (From a Chess Correspondent) Some exciting play was seen in the Hastings chess tournament yesterday. G. Wood played a game of great theoretical interest against Yanofsky. In a queen's gambit declined he sacrificed the exchange early on, increasing the odds to a rook. When in time difficulties he played the safe move and had to be satisfied with a draw by perpetual check instead of scoring a memorable win. Abrahams seems to make a habit of trying premature attacks against players of the front rank. Yesterday in a Slav defense against Dr. Tartakower he again let his temperament run away with him, with the usual result. He lost a piece on the 12th move, but carried on and resigned on the 30th move a game which he might well have given up fifteen moves earlier.
  Aitken played a giuco piano against Alexander. The game was adjourned and Alexander won on the 63rd move. Golombek-Raizman, an English opening, and Gudmundsson-Prins, an Indian defence with double fianchetto, were both adjourned. From the first round Raizman resigned his adjourned game against Gudmunsson and the Yanofsky-Tartakower game was adjoured a second time. Read More

• The Winnipeg Tribune Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Wednesday, January 01, 1947 - Page 12 — Yanofsky Draws — Hastings, Sussex, England—Abe Yanofsky, 21-year-old Winnipeg chess master, and G. Wood of Southall, Middlesex, drew in their chess match at the 22nd International chess tournament here in which some 130 players are competing.

• The Age Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Wednesday, January 01, 1947 - Page 6 — Chess Title Upset — H. Klass Beaten by A.L. Miller. – Adelaide, Tuesday. The first major upset of the Australia chess congress, now in its fifth round, occurred to-day when A.L. Miller (S.A. defeated H. Klass (N.S.W.) G. Lindren (W.A.) by defeating Ian Stapleton (Vic.), ran himself into third place, following L.J. Steiner and G. Koshnitzsky. Read More

January 08, 1947

• The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, California Wednesday, January 08, 1947 - Page 9 — Noted Chess Champ Will Exhibit Here — S.R. Included in Nationwide Tour — George Koltanowski, recognized as the world's blindfold chess champion, will give an exhibition in Santa Rosa the evening of February 24, it was learned yesterday. In a letter to Thomas Shoemaker, Santa Rosa chess enthusiast, Koltanowski, who is now in Colombia, South America, confirmed an earlier announcement that he will include Santa Rosa in his 1947 tour of the United States. He will demonstrate his ability to play blindfolded and simultaneous games. Location of the exhibition was not announced. The 43-year-old Koltanowski is a native of Antwerp, Belgium, where he learned to play chess from hsi father at the age of 14 years. He was educated in Belgian schools and now speaks and reads seven languages. Since coming to the United States he has become an American citizen. In 1937 he broke all existing records for simultaneous blindfold in Edinburgh, Scotland, with 34 games, winning 24 and drawing 10 without a single loss. During a tour of Switzerland he established a record of playing 10 games blindfolded for 26 consecutive days for a winning average of 94 per cent. He has made six successful American tours and is the author of many humorous chess articles and several books. His achievements include victories in Antwerp in 1934, in Barcelona in 1935; six times champion of Belgium; playing 160 times simultaneously in Antwerp in 1932 to win 135, draw 18, and lose but 7; participating for 13 consecutive years in the Hastings Christmas Congress and entering England's famous Margato Tournament four times. He has been accorded recognition by Bob Ripley in his “Believe It or Not” feature. Read More

May 18, 1947

• The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, California Sunday, May 18, 1947 - Page 7 — Santa Rosa Chess Experts to Visit New Ukiah Club — Cries of “check and mate” will soon ring out in Ukiah as the Mendocino county seat enters a club in the Redwood Empire Chess League. Three members of the recently formed Santa Rose Chess Club, Tom Shoemaker, Alan Kelly and John Boschen, will visit Ukiah tomorrow to aid chess devotees in that town in the formation of a club. Shoemaker is president of the local organization and secretary of the league, which embraces clubs in San Rafael, Valejo, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and soon Ukiah. The Santa Rosa club was organized in April and already has 40 members. Local chess addicts learned recently that George Koltanowski, world champion blindfold chess player, expects to make his home in Santa Rosa next month. Koltanowski played an exhibition game here February 24 and was “completely sold” on the town, planning to move here from his home at Yankton, S.D. He won Scotland, playing 34 simultaneous games and winning 24 while drawing 10. His record has never been bettered. Read More

July 11, 1947

• The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, California Friday, July 11, 1947 - Page 11 — World Champ Chess Player Makes Home in Santa Rosa — George Koltanowski, world champion blindfold chess player, yesterday returned to Santa Rosa to make his home here. Impressed by the “City Designed for Living” when he visited it in February during his seventh transcontinental tour, the mental genius and his wife has occupied an apartment in town and are looking for more permanent quarters. The renowned chess master plans to make Santa Rosa not only his home but his base of operations for future nation and world-wide exhibition tours, he declared. One of his first projects, how that his recent tour has been completed, will be to finished the final chapters of his book, “In the Dark.” His recent tour included Canada to Colombia, South America; from Montana to Corpus Christi, Tex.; from Sequim, Washington, to Deep River, Conn., to California—135 cities in all. On February 24, Koltanowski gave one of his famous exhibitions under the sponsorship of the Santa Rosa Chess Club, and was so favorably impressed with the city and its people that he determined to return here to become a permanent resident, a wish fulfilled by his arrival yesterday. Koltanowski won the world's blindfold chess championship in Edinburgh, Scotland, September 20, 1937, with 34 simultaneous games, winning 24, drawing 10, without a single loss. Some realization of the tremendous magnitude of this undertaking is gained with the understanding that over 1,000 chessmen were in action, every intricate move followed by memory alone. Koltanowski is internationally known as a mental genius as well as a chess master. Born in Belgium 43 years ago, he learned to play chess from his father at the age of 14. He was educated in the schools of Belgium and speaks and reads seven languages, including very excellent English. He came to this country before World War II and has since become an American citizen. He has done much to popularize chess through the United States, especially among young people, for he has been a great debunker of the long graybeard, solemn idea of chess. Mrs. Koltanowski is a charming, petite lady, a perfect complement on tour, but they hope now to make Santa Rosa their permanent home and take an active part in civil life. Read More

August 23, 1947

It's A Pleasure 23 Aug 1947, Sat Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, Texas) Newspapers.com