Sonja Graf
Encyclopedia
Sonja Graf was a German
chess master who also lived in Argentina
and the United States
. She was the Women's World Sub-Champion, two-time winner of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship
and author of two books which describe her life in chess as well as the sufferings of her abusive childhood.
, Sonja Graf was the daughter of Josef Graf and Susanna Zimmermann, both Volga German
s from the Samara
region, who had moved to Munich in September 1906. She later wrote that despite the suffering she endured at the hands of her father, who was originally a priest in Russia
, but moved to Munich to pursue life as a painter, she was grateful that he taught her the game of chess when she was still a child.
Chess became her means of escape, both mentally and physically, and she began spending all her time in Munich chess cafés. Her fame as a coffeehouse player grew and she was introduced to and became the protégée
of the German master, Siegbert Tarrasch
. By age twenty-three, she had beaten Rudolf Spielmann
twice in simultaneous competition and turned chess professional. She began traveling throughout Europe, following the chess circuit both for the experience and to distance herself from what she considered the ominous Nazi
movement based, at the time, in Munich.
During the early decades of the 20th century, female chess players were a rarity and Sonia Graf basked in the popularity and attention her sudden fame brought her as much as she exploited the freedom and independence of her new itinerant lifestyle. In 1934, she played against the era's other woman champion, Vera Menchik
, in an unofficial Amsterdam
match and, subsequently, in an official 1937 world championship match in Semmering
, Austria
. She lost both matches (1:3 and 4.5 : 11.5), but was invited, along with Menchik, to participate in what would normally have been an exclusive male tournament held that year in Prague
. Again, she did not win against any of the champions, and her best result was a draw with the Estonia
n master Paul Keres
.
to play on the German team for the 8th Chess Olympiad
. As a result of her outspoken defiance of Hitler's government, she was taken off the list of German participants and took the option of playing under "Liberty", the international flag. In September, with the tournament still in progress, Germany invaded Poland
, unleashing World War II
and causing unprecedented confusion within the competition. Some teams withdrew, others refused to play teams from certain countries. Both Graf and Menchik played the entire tournament. Graf won 16 games and lost 3. In her game against Menchik, Graf lost after achieving a winning position, something she always regretted ("against Menchik, when she was world champion, I had a won game, but I found the three stupidest moves you could think of and lost."—New Yorker, September 19, 1964). Following the outbreak of the war, Sonja Graf, along with many other participants of the 8th Chess Olympiad (Miguel Najdorf
, Gideon Stahlberg
, Paulino Frydman
, Erich Eliskases
, Paul Michel, Ludwig Engels
, Albert Becker, Heinrich Reinhardt
, Jiří Pelikán, Karel Skalička
, Markas Luckis
, Movsas Feigins
, Ilmar Raud
, Moshe Czerniak
, Meir Rauch
, Victor Winz
, Aristide Gromer
, Franciszek Sulik
, Adolf Seitz
, Chris de Ronde
, Zelman Kleinstein
, Paulette Schwartzmann
) had decided to remain in the safety of Argentina.
She quickly learned the local Spanish
language, assimilated herself in the culture and wrote the books, Asi Juega una Mujer (This Is How a Woman Plays), which describes her experiences as a chess player, and Yo Soy Susann (I Am Susann), recounting the physical and psychological abuse she suffered during her childhood. She also met merchant mariner
Vernon Stevenson, whom she married in 1947.
The newlyweds moved to Southern California
, settling in Hollywood, and Graf started playing under the name Sonja Graf-Stevenson. She retired from chess to give birth and raise her son Alexander, but subsequently returned to co-win (with Gisela Kahn Gresser
) the 1957 U.S. Women's Chess Championship
. She and her family moved to New York City
's Greenwich Village
, where she gave chess lessons at Lisa Lane
's Queen's Pawn Chess Emporium. In 1964 she had her second win in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship, but was already suffering from the liver ailment which would take her life the following year.
Sonja Graf died in New York City two-and-a-half months after her 56th birthday.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
chess master who also lived in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She was the Women's World Sub-Champion, two-time winner of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship
U.S. Women's Chess Championship
The U.S. Women's Chess Championship tournament is to determine the woman chess champion of the United States.-List of U.S. Women's Chess Champions:*1937 Adele Rivero*1938 Mona May Karff*1940 Adele Rivero*1941 Mona May Karff*1942 Mona May Karff...
and author of two books which describe her life in chess as well as the sufferings of her abusive childhood.
Early years
Born in MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Sonja Graf was the daughter of Josef Graf and Susanna Zimmermann, both Volga German
Volga German
The Volga Germans were ethnic Germans living along the River Volga in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain German culture, language, traditions and churches: Lutherans, Reformed,...
s from the Samara
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
region, who had moved to Munich in September 1906. She later wrote that despite the suffering she endured at the hands of her father, who was originally a priest in Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
, but moved to Munich to pursue life as a painter, she was grateful that he taught her the game of chess when she was still a child.
Chess became her means of escape, both mentally and physically, and she began spending all her time in Munich chess cafés. Her fame as a coffeehouse player grew and she was introduced to and became the protégée
Mentorship
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
of the German master, Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
. By age twenty-three, she had beaten Rudolf Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann was an Austrian-Jewish chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer.-Career:He was a lawyer but never worked as one....
twice in simultaneous competition and turned chess professional. She began traveling throughout Europe, following the chess circuit both for the experience and to distance herself from what she considered the ominous Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
movement based, at the time, in Munich.
During the early decades of the 20th century, female chess players were a rarity and Sonia Graf basked in the popularity and attention her sudden fame brought her as much as she exploited the freedom and independence of her new itinerant lifestyle. In 1934, she played against the era's other woman champion, Vera Menchik
Vera Menchik
Vera Menchik was a British-Czech chess player who gained renown as the world's first women's chess champion. She also competed in chess tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, defeating many of them, including future World Champion Max Euwe.The daughter of a Czech father...
, in an unofficial Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
match and, subsequently, in an official 1937 world championship match in Semmering
Semmering
For the town of the same name, see Semmering, Austria.Semmering is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria, between which it forms a natural border.-Location:...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. She lost both matches (1:3 and 4.5 : 11.5), but was invited, along with Menchik, to participate in what would normally have been an exclusive male tournament held that year in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Again, she did not win against any of the champions, and her best result was a draw with the Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n master Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
.
In Argentina and the United States
In 1939, Sonia Graf traveled to Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
to play on the German team for the 8th Chess Olympiad
8th Chess Olympiad
The 8th Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs , comprised an 'open' tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest...
. As a result of her outspoken defiance of Hitler's government, she was taken off the list of German participants and took the option of playing under "Liberty", the international flag. In September, with the tournament still in progress, Germany invaded Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, unleashing World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and causing unprecedented confusion within the competition. Some teams withdrew, others refused to play teams from certain countries. Both Graf and Menchik played the entire tournament. Graf won 16 games and lost 3. In her game against Menchik, Graf lost after achieving a winning position, something she always regretted ("against Menchik, when she was world champion, I had a won game, but I found the three stupidest moves you could think of and lost."—New Yorker, September 19, 1964). Following the outbreak of the war, Sonja Graf, along with many other participants of the 8th Chess Olympiad (Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....
, Gideon Stahlberg
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939....
, Paulino Frydman
Paulino Frydman
Paulino Frydman was a Polish chess master.-Biography:...
, Erich Eliskases
Erich Eliskases
Erich Gottlieb Eliskases was a chess Grandmaster of the 1930s and 1940s, who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition....
, Paul Michel, Ludwig Engels
Ludwig Engels
Ludwig Engels was a German–Brazilian chess master.-Biography:In 1928, Engels tied for 1st-2nd with van Nüss in Düsseldorf. In 1929, he took 4th in Cologne. In 1929, he won in Duisburg. In 1929, he tied for 1st-3rd in Duisburg. In 1930, he tied for 1st-2nd with Weissgerber in Frankfurt...
, Albert Becker, Heinrich Reinhardt
Heinrich Reinhardt
Heinrich Reinhardt a German–Argentine chess master.In 1932, he tied for 3rd-5th in Hamburg–Altona . In 1935, he won a match against Herbert Taube in Hamburg . In 1937, he tied for 3rd-4th in Berlin...
, Jiří Pelikán, Karel Skalička
Karel Skalicka
Karel Skalička was a Czech–Argentine chess master.In 1924, he won a team gold medal for Czechoslovakia in the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad in Paris. He took 3rd in group eliminations , and tied for 21-31st in the major tournament...
, Markas Luckis
Markas Luckis
Markas Luckis was a Lithuanian–Argentine chess master.-Biography:Luckis was born in Lithuania. He twice won the Kaunas City Chess Championship in 1927 and 1928...
, Movsas Feigins
Movsas Feigins
Movsas Feigins or Movša Feigins was a Latvian chess master.-Biography:Movsas Feigins was born in Dvinsk, . He won at Riga 1930, and was Latvian Champion in 1932 . In 1932, he tied for 3rd–5th at Riga. The event was won by Vladimirs Petrovs...
, Ilmar Raud
Ilmar Raud
Ilmar Raud was an Estonian chess master.-Biography:Raud played several times in the Estonian championships at Tallinn. In 1933, he tied for 3rd-5th at the 5th EST–ch. The event was won by Gunnar Friedemann. In 1934, he won the 6th EST–ch. In 1936, he took 3rd at the 8th EST–ch...
, Moshe Czerniak
Moshe Czerniak
-Biography:In 1930 Moshe Czerniak took ninth at Warsaw in an event won by Paulino Frydman. In 1934 Czerniak emigrated from Poland to Palestine . In April 1935, he tied for 7th–8th in Tel Aviv . He was Palestinian Champion in 1936 and 1938. In April 1939, he played in the First Lasker Chess Club...
, Meir Rauch
Meir Rauch
Meir Rauch was an Israeli chess master, born in Zolynia, Poland.In August–September 1939, he played for the Palestinian team in the 8th Chess Olympiad on the first reserve board in Buenos Aires...
, Victor Winz
Victor Winz
Victor Winz was a Palestine/Israeli–Argentine chess master.Born in Germany, he began his chess career in Berlin...
, Aristide Gromer
Aristide Gromer
Aristide Gromer was a French chess master.Gromer was thrice French Champion .He tied for 5-6th at Paris 1923 , took 3rd at Biarritz 1926 , took 2nd, behind Chéron, at Saint-Cloude 1929, shared 2nd with Savielly Tartakower, behind Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, at Paris 1930, took 2nd, behind Aimé Gibaud,...
, Franciszek Sulik
Franciszek Sulik
Franciszek Sulik was a Polish-Australian chess master.Before World War II, he lived in Lvov . In 1934, he tied for 2nd-3rd with Henryk Friedman, behind Stepan Popel, in the Lvov championship. In 1935, he tied for 8-9th in Warsaw...
, Adolf Seitz
Adolf Seitz
Jakob Adolf Seitz was a German–Argentine chess master and journalist.In 1920, he tied for 2-4th in Canterbury, took 10th in Berlin, and tied for 4-5th in Kulmbach. In 1921, he tied for 8-9th in Hamburg. In 1922, he tied for 2nd-3rd in London . In 1922/23 he tied for 6-9th in Portsmouth/Southsea...
, Chris de Ronde
Chris de Ronde
Chris de Ronde was a Dutch–Argentine chess master.He was a champion of Rotterdam...
, Zelman Kleinstein
Zelman Kleinstein
Zelman Kleinstein was a Palestine/Israeli chess master.He played for Palestine team in the 8th Chess Olympiad on fourth board at Buenos Aires 1939...
, Paulette Schwartzmann
Paulette Schwartzmann
Paulette Schwartzmann was a Latvian–French–Argentine chess player.Born in Riga, she emigrated to France. She won seven times French Chess Championship , although she was awarded the title only thrice. She became French citizen in 1933.She played twice in Women's World Chess Championship...
) had decided to remain in the safety of Argentina.
She quickly learned the local Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish or River Plate Spanish is a dialectal variant of the Spanish language spoken mainly in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata basin of Argentina and Uruguay, and also in Rio Grande do Sul, although features of the dialect are shared with the varieties of Spanish spoken...
language, assimilated herself in the culture and wrote the books, Asi Juega una Mujer (This Is How a Woman Plays), which describes her experiences as a chess player, and Yo Soy Susann (I Am Susann), recounting the physical and psychological abuse she suffered during her childhood. She also met merchant mariner
United States Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant vessels, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is...
Vernon Stevenson, whom she married in 1947.
The newlyweds moved to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, settling in Hollywood, and Graf started playing under the name Sonja Graf-Stevenson. She retired from chess to give birth and raise her son Alexander, but subsequently returned to co-win (with Gisela Kahn Gresser
Gisela Kahn Gresser
Gisela Kahn Gresser was one of the first two female chess players in the United States, and one of the first seventeen players in the world, to be awarded the title of Woman International Master in 1950 when FIDE created official titles. She was also the first American woman to be inducted into...
) the 1957 U.S. Women's Chess Championship
U.S. Women's Chess Championship
The U.S. Women's Chess Championship tournament is to determine the woman chess champion of the United States.-List of U.S. Women's Chess Champions:*1937 Adele Rivero*1938 Mona May Karff*1940 Adele Rivero*1941 Mona May Karff*1942 Mona May Karff...
. She and her family moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, where she gave chess lessons at Lisa Lane
Lisa Lane
Marianne Elizabeth Lane Hickey is an American former chess player. Her combination of good looks and chess-playing ability made her an international celebrity, even though she never achieved the title of chess master...
's Queen's Pawn Chess Emporium. In 1964 she had her second win in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship, but was already suffering from the liver ailment which would take her life the following year.
Sonja Graf died in New York City two-and-a-half months after her 56th birthday.
External links
- Sonja Graf download 61 of her games in pgn format.
- Article from The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
(September 19, 1964) - "Childhood of Sonja 'Susann' Graf - the solutions to (nearly) all open questions"