With only 17 players (one a mid-tournament replacement), this was the smallest turnout of the Open era. As had the previous two Opens, it turned into a fine one-man show."
42nd US Open
Site: Hotel De Soto, St. Louis, Missouri
Dates: July 17-26, 1941 (1)
Director: L. Walter Stephens
Chess Review" expressed some surprised that it wasn't simply played as a single round robin, but the players voted to hold preliminary sections as usual. (2) In fact, there was some surprise expressed in "Chess Review" that simply one large you have to wonder why they even bothered having preliminary sections at all, since everyone wound up playing 14 or 15 games anyway. By the way, the tournament director was L. Walter Stephens.
Preliminary Section 1
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Reuben Fine X 1 = = 1 1 4.0 Championship
2 Joseph Lyon Rauch 0 X 1 = 1 1 3.5 Championship
3 Bruno Schmidt = 0 X 1 1 1 3.5 Championship
4 Llewellyn Walter Stephens = = 0 X 0 1 2.0 Championship
5 Dorothy Williams 0 0 0 1 X 1 2.0
6 Kirk D Holland 0 0 0 0 0 X 0.0 Class A
It appears that the top three finishers in each preliminary, plus the best 4th place finisher overall, were promoted to the Championship. Stephens and Williams tied for that last spot, but I do not know how the tie was broken or why Williams did not finish the tournament. The following pairing lists are based on daily reports in the "New York Times". These are not complete, but are sufficiently extensive to make reconstruction using a Berger table of pairing very certain. .
Round 1 (Thursday, 7/17): Fine 1 Williams*; Rauch 1 Schmidt; Holland 0 Stephens
Round 2 (Friday, 7/18): Williams 1 Stephens; Schmidt 1 Holland; Fine 1 Rauch*
Round 3 (Friday, 7/18): Rauch 1 Williams; Holland 0 Fine*; Stephens 0 Schmidt
Round 4 (Saturday, 7/19): Williams 0 Schmidt; Fine 1/2 Stephens*; Rauch 1 Holland
Round 5 (Sunday, 7/20): Holland 0 Williams; Stephens 1/2 Rauch; Schmidt 1/2 Fine*
Preliminary Section 2
1 2 3 4 5
1 Herman Steiner X 1 1 1 1 4.0 Championship
2 Boris Blumin 0 X 1 1 1 3.0 Championship
3 Frederic S Anderson 0 0 X 1 1 2.0 Championship
4 Ward Mayhew Parker Mitchell 0 0 0 X 1 1.0 Class A
5 Charles W McClure 0 0 0 0 X 0.0 Class A
Draw?
Round 1 (Thursday, July 17:) Steiner - Bye; Blumin 1 McClure; Anderson 1 Mitchell
Round 2 (Friday, July 18): Bye- Mitchell; McClure 0 Anderson; Steiner 1 Blumin*
Round 3 (Friday, July 18): Blumin - Bye; Anderson 0 Steiner*; Mitchell 1 McClure
Round 4 (Saturday, July 19): Bye - McClure; Steiner 1 Mitchell*; Blumin 1 Anderson
Round 5 (Sunday, July 20): Anderson - Bye; Mitchell 0 Blumin; McClure 0 Steiner
Preliminary Section 3
1 2 3 4 5
1 Weaver Adam s X = = 1 1 3.0 Championship
2 Erich Watkinson Marchand = X = = 1 2.5 Championship
3 George Sturgis = = X = 1 2.5 Championship
4 Charles M Burton 0 = = X = 1.5 Class A
5 David Ehrlich 0 0 0 = X 0.5 Class A
Making up for Preliminary 2.
Round 1 (Thursday, July 17: Adams - Bye, Marchand 1/2 Burton; Sturgis 1 Ehrlich
Round 2 (Friday, July 18): Bye - Ehrlich; Burton 1/2 Sturgis; Adams 1/2 Marchand
Round 3 (Friday, July 18): Marchand - Bye; Sturgis 1/2 Adams; Ehrlich 1/2 Burton
Round 4 (Saturday, July 19): Bye - Burton; Adams 1 Ehrlich Marchand 1/2 Sturgis
Round 5 (Sunday, July 20): Sturgis - Bye; Ehrlich 0 Marchand; Burton 0 Adams
Championship
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1 Reuben Fine X 1 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 8.0
2 Herman Steiner 0 X 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 6.5
3 Weaver Adams 0 1 X 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 6.0
4 Boris Blumin = = 1 X 0 1 0 = 1 1 5.5
5 Frederic S Anderson = 0 1 1 X 0 0 = 1 1 5.0
6 Erich Watkinson Marchand 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 1 1 1 5.0
7 Bruno Schmidt 0 0 0 1 1 0 X 0 1 1 4.0
8 Joseph Lyon Rauch 0 0 0 = = 0 1 X 1 = 3.5
9 Llewellyn Walter Stephens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1.0
10 George Sturgis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 X 0.5
Fine cruised in the preliminary, and also had an easy time in the Finals to win his 7th title in 7 attempts. It would be his last, since he would soon be involved in war work before prematurely retiring from tournament chess. Herman Steiner, by contrast, had his fifth second place finish; he would finally break through the next year.Round 1 (Monday, July 21): Marchand 1 Stephens*, Sturgis 0 Schmdt, Anderson 1 Blumin, Adams 0 Fine*, Steiner 1 Rauch*
Round 2 (Tuesday, July 22): Stephens 0 Rauch, Fine 1 Steiner*, Blumin 1 Adams, Schmdt 1 Anderson, Marchand 1 Sturgis
Round 3 (Tuesday, July 22): Sturgis 0 Stephens*, Anderson 0 Marchand, Adams 1 Schmdt, Steiner 1/2 Blumin*, Rauch 0 Fine*
Round 4 (Wednesday, July 23): Stephens 0 Fine*, Blumin 1/2 Rauch, Schmdt 0 Steiner*, Marchand 0 Adams*]], Sturgis 0 Anderson
Round 5 (Wednesday, July 23): Anderson 1 Stephens, Adams 1 Sturgis, Steiner 1 Marchand*, Rauch 1 Schmdt*, Fine 1/2 Blumin*
Round 6 (Thursday, July 24): Stephens 0 Blumin, Schmdt 0 Fine*, Marchand 1 Rauch*, Sturgis 0 Steiner*, Anderson 1 Adams*
Round 7 (Thursday, July 24): Adams 1 Stephens, Steiner 1 Anderson*, Rauch 1/2 Sturgis, Fine 1 Marchand*, Blumin 0 Schmdt*
Round 8 (Friday, July 25): Stephens 0 Schmdt, Marchand 0 Blumin, Sturgis 0 Fine*, Anderson 1/2 Rauch, Adams 1 Steiner*
Round 9 (Saturday, July 26): Steiner 1 Stephens*, Rauch 0 Adams, Fine 1/2 Anderson*, Blumin 1 Sturgis, Schmdt 0 Marchand
Class A
1 Charles Burton 6.5/10
2 Ward Mayhew Parker Mitchell 6.5/10
3 David Ehrlich 6.0/10
4 Byron B Price 5.0/10
5 Kirk D Holland 3.5/10
6 Charles W McClure 2.5/10
Played as a double round-robin. Price replaced Williams. Holland withdrew after five rounds. Unfortunately there is not enough detail available to give a further breakdown.----
Two special prizes were donated by USCF Vice President L. Walter Stephens (who had also directed and played in the tournament):
brilliancy Prize: F S Anderson vs W Adams, 1941
Best-Played Game: B Blumin vs B Schmidt, 1941
"Chess Review" (3) disagreed with both assessments, but that's not unusual. Of course, it should be pointed out that the games were also judged by L. Walter Stephens. (4) Perhaps he was trying to make it a two-man show.
------
A class picture with partial key from Edward Winter's "Chess Notes", July 2013, no.8094:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...
As far as I know, L. Walter Stephens did not take the picture.
-----
Notes
(1) Dates are generally given as July 17-27; for instance, in Di Felice and ACB. However, the NYT report, dated 7/26 and published on 7/27, gives full final results and states the tournament standings were decided "today", indicating that play finished on the 26th.
(2) Chess Review, August/September 1941, p.148.
(3) Ibid, p. 147-148
(4) Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 4, 1941
-----
Sources:
American Chess Bulletin, July/August 1941, p. 82-85. (ACB)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle July 24, September 4, 1941. (BDE)
Chess Results 1941-1945 / Gino di Felice, p. 45. (Di Felice)
Chess Review, 1941, p.147-150. (CR}
Los Angeles Times, August 3, 10, 1941
New York Post July 26, 1941. <NYP>
New York Times, daily reports, July 17-July 28, 1941 (NYT)
Reuben Fine : a comprehensive record of an American Chess Career, 1929-1951 / Aidan Woodger. Jefferson, NC : McFarland, 2004. (Woodger)
-----
PREVIOUS: Game Collection: US Open 1940, Dallas
NEXT: Game Collection: US Open 1942, Dallas
SEE ALSO: Game Collection: US Open Tournament Index
Kibitzing
