US vs. USSR radio chess match 1945

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The US vs. USSR radio chess match 1945 was a chess match between the United States and the USSR that was conducted over the radio from September 1 to September 4, 1945. [1] The ten leading masters of the United States played the ten leading masters of the Soviet Union (except for Paul Keres) for chess supremacy. The match was played by radio and was a two-game head-to-head match between the teams. The time control was 40 moves in 2+1⁄2 hours and 16 moves per hour after that. Moves were transmitted using the Uedemann Code. [2] It took an average of 5 minutes to transmit a move. The US team played at the Henry Hudson Hotel in New York. The Soviet team met at the Central Club of Art Masters in Moscow. The USSR team won the match 15+1⁄2–4+1⁄2.

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This result was met with astonishment around the chess world, since the US had won four straight Chess Olympiads from 1931 to 1937; however, the Soviet Union had not competed in those tournaments. The Soviet program for producing a new generation of chess masters, originated and supervised by Nikolai Krylenko from the early 1930s, clearly was paying dividends. From 1945 onwards, Soviet players would dominate international chess for most of the rest of the 20th century. The radio match proved a watershed and a changing of the guard in the chess world. [3]

Other radio matches took place around this time.

The matchups

The matchup and results are in this table. Scores are from a Soviet point of view: "1" for a Soviet win, "0" for an American win and "½" for a drawn game. [4] [5] [6]

USSR vs. US radio match 1945
BoardFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union Game 1Game 2Flag of the United States.svg  United States Result (USSR–US)
1 Mikhail Botvinnik 11 Arnold Denker 2–0
2 Vasily Smyslov 11 Samuel Reshevsky 2–0
3 Isaac Boleslavsky 1⁄21 Reuben Fine 1½–½
4 Salo Flohr 10 I.A. Horowitz 1–1
5 Alexander Kotov 11 Isaac Kashdan 2–0
6 Igor Bondarevsky 01⁄2 Herman Steiner ½–1+1⁄2
7 Andor Lilienthal 1⁄21⁄2 Albert Pinkus 1–1
8 Viacheslav Ragozin 11 Herbert Seidman 2–0
9 Vladimir Makogonov 11⁄2 Abraham Kupchik 1½–½
10 David Bronstein 11 Anthony Santasiere 2–0
Total15½–4+1⁄2

Nine of ten Americans and six of ten Soviets were Jewish. [7] [8]

The match featured most of the leading players in the world: including the first, second and equal third placegetters at the 1948 World Championship (Botvinnik, Smyslov, Reshevsky); Fine, who declined his invitation to the 1948 Championship; and the top two placegetters in the 1950 Candidates tournament (Bronstein and Boleslavsky).

Reserve players

The following players were reservists in the U.S. team, to be called on, in the order given, if any of the primary team are unable to compete: Alexander Kevitz, Robert Willman, Jacob Levin, George Shainswit, Weaver W. Adams, Edward Lasker, Fred Reinfeld, Edward S. Jackson, Jr., Samuel Factor, and Martin C. Stark. [9] The Soviet reserves were: Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Vitaly Chekhover, Iosif Rudakovsky, and Peter Romanovsky. [10]

Other radio matches

The USSR also won these matches:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Sinfree.net". Sbchess.sinfree.net. Archived from the original on 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  2. ↑ Uedemann Code is usually an incorrect name for Gringmuth notation which was designed for transmission over telegraph. Both systems assign two-letter names to each square of the chessboard and moves are transmitted as a four-character group giving the starting and ending square.
  3. ↑ ( Hooper & Whyld 1992 :330)
  4. ↑ "USA vs USSR radio match, 1945". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  5. ↑ https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/al2055perv/matches/1945/ursusa45.html&date=2009-10-25+16:13:02 [ dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". www.geocities.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ "Exhibit Page @ Virtual Museum". Jews In Sports. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  8. ↑ JINFO (1985-08-16). "Jewish Chess Players". Jinfo.org. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  9. ↑ "Sinfree.net". Sbchess.sinfree.net. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  10. ↑ "Sinfree.net". Sbchess.sinfree.net. Archived from the original on 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2013-12-12.

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References

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