<He was Israeli champion in 1935.> Blass was the first 'unofficial' champion of Palestine, winning the 2nd Maccabiah international tournament in Tel Aviv (April 1935). The first official champion was Moshe Czerniak (1936).

Czerniak notes in his Book 'Israel Be'Olympiadot Ha'Sachmat' [Israel in the Chess Olympiads] on p. 7, that the winner, of the tournament, Moshe Blass, was not on the Palestinian team for the 1935 Olympiad because he was considered an illegal immigrant by the British authorities in Palestine.

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From Al Ha'Mishmar, Aug. 12th, 1949, p. 8 by H. Reed:

<Moshe Blass>

Among the chess masters in the country there are players of international caliber, which have succeeded in many tournaments and matches.

One of them is Moshe Blass. Before arriving in the country, 17 years ago, he was one of the strongest players in Poland, often mentioned together with Rubinstein, Tartakover, Frydman, Makarczyk, Dr. Kohn, and the late Przepiorka. In 1927, when Najodrf and Czerniak were young beginners [in Warsaw], he already won the Warsaw championship, after a brilliancy against P[aulino] Frydman. He played in the Olympiad twice for the strong Polish team: in 1928 in the Hague and in 1938 [sic - 1930 is correct] in Hamburg.

From 1933 he is part of the chess life in our country and for many years he had no equal, until younger forces like Foerder [Porat], Czerniak, and Aloni dethroned him.

His greatest victory was in 1935, in the international tournament arranged with the Maccabiah, when he came first before Foerder, Enoch, and the Viennese Glass, who recently returned to the country after many troubles [a hint that Glass ran away from Vienna to Shanghai in 1938, thus surviving the war].

Source: https://jewishchesshistory.blogspot...