Author: Hilbert, John S (1953- ) and Peter P Lahde
Year: 2000
Publisher: Chess Archaeology Press
Place: Sands Point, NY
Description:
iv+200 pages with photographs, tables, diagrams and indices. Octavo (9" x 6") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers. First edition.
This was the first USCF-sponsored tournament for the US championship. Frank James Marshall finally bowed to the inevitability of a transition from match play for the US championship to an invitational tournament. After he won the title from Showalter in 1909 (Marshall - Showalter US Championship (1909)), Marshall defended it only once, in 1923 (Marshall - Ed Lasker US Championship (1923)). This lack of activity, due in part to the inability of potential challengers to raise sufficient funds to meet Marshall's conditions, fueled the demand for a championship tournament held on a regular basis. At first, Marshall said he would play, but as the tournament became less of an idea and more of a reality, Marshall formally resigned his title and announced he would not play in the tournament. The Marshall Chess Club donated a trophy for the US championship named the Frank J. Marshall trophy. Dake, Fine, Horowitz, Kashdan, Kevitz, Kupchik, Reshevsky, and H. Steiner were all seeded directly into the tournament. Edward Lasker was to be seeded as well, but he did not play. The remaining players had to earn a spot by finishing in one of the top two places in a 12-player qualifying section. Factor and Simonson qualified out of Section A, Adams and Denker qualified out of Section B, Bernstein and Treysman qualified out of Section C, and Hanauer and Morton qualified out of Section D. The finals were held at the Hotel Astor in New York 25 Apr - 16 May 1936. Marshall, Hermann Helms, and Fritz Brieger served as tournament directors. Reshevsky would dominate this early period of US championship tournaments, but he had a difficult time of it in this first one, losing two games and drawing three, winning by a half point with a strong finish. Even then, he needed a bit of last minute help from a couple of opponents. At various points in the tournament, Kashdan, Fine, Dake, Treysman, and Simonson were either in the lead or close enough to be a threat. Everyone lost at least one game and everyone but Fine lost at least two. Kashdan lost
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