The USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945 was a chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 match between the USA and the USSR that was conducted over the radio from September 1 to September 4, 1945. The ten leading masters of the United States played the ten leading masters of the Soviet Union (except for 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....

) for chess supremacy. The match was played by radio and was a two-game head-to-head match between the teams. The time control

Time control

A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock...

 was 40 moves in 2½ hours and 16 moves per hour after that. Moves were transmitted using the Uedemann Code. It took an average of 5 minutes to transmit a move. The US team played at the Henry Hudson Hotel

Hudson Hotel

The Hudson Hotel is a boutique hotel located at West 58th Street, New York City, USA.-History:The building, which currently houses the Hudson Hotel, was constructed in 1928 by the daughter of J. P. Morgan as the American Women’s Association clubhouse and residence for young women in New York....

 in New York. The Soviet team met at the Central Club of Art Masters in Moscow. The USSR team won the match 15½–4½.

This result was met with astonishment around the chess world, since the USA 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

Nikolai Krylenko

Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. Krylenko served in a variety of posts in the Soviet legal system, rising to become People's Commissar for Justice and Prosecutor General of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.Krylenko was an...

 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 .

Other radio matches took place around this time.

The matchups

The matchup and results are in this table. Scores are from the perspective of the USSR player, i.e., a "1" indicates that the USSR player won, a "½" indicates a draw

Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...

, and a "0" indicates that the USA player won.

USSR vs. USA radio match 1945

Board	Soviet Union	Game 1	Game 2	United States	Result (USSR–USA)
1	Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...	1	1	Arnold Denker Arnold Denker Arnold Sheldon Denker was an American chess player, Grandmaster, and chess author. He was U.S. Chess Champion in 1945 and 1946....	2–0
2	Vasily Smyslov Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...	1	1	Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Reshevsky Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...	2–0
3	Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...	½	1	Reuben Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...	1½–½
4	Salo Flohr Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne...	1	0	I.A. Horowitz	1–1
5	Alexander Kotov Alexander Kotov Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...	1	1	Isaac Kashdan Isaac Kashdan Isaac Kashdan was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. Kashdan was one of the world's best players in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was twice U.S. Open champion...	2–0
6	Igor Bondarevsky Igor Bondarevsky Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author...	0	½	Herman Steiner Herman Steiner Herman Steiner was a United States chess player, organizer, and columnist.He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1948 and became International Master in 1950....	½–1½
7	Andor Lilienthal Andor Lilienthal Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik...	½	½	Albert Pinkus Albert Pinkus Albert Sidney Pinkus was an American chess master and author. In 1943 and 1944, he published an analysis of the Two Knights Defense in Chess Review.-Chess career:...	1–1
8	Viacheslav Ragozin Viacheslav Ragozin Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin was a Soviet chess Grandmaster, an International Arbiter of chess, and a World Correspondence Chess Champion. He was also a chess writer and editor.- Biography :...	1	1	Herbert Seidman Herbert Seidman Herbert Seidman was a U.S. Senior Master of chess born in New York City. He played several times in the U.S. Chess Championship. He was known for his swashbuckling-style, playing risky or sacrificial openings such as the Orang-Utan attack.In 1961, Seidman won the most games of any player in the U.S...	2–0
9	Vladimir Makogonov Vladimir Makogonov Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov was a chess player from Azerbaijan. He was born in Nakhchivan but lived in Baku for most of his life. He became an International Master in 1950 and was awarded an honorary Grandmaster title in 1987. Makogonov never became well known outside the Soviet Union, but was...	1	½	Abraham Kupchik Abraham Kupchik Abraham Kupchik was an American chess master.Abraham Kupchik was born into a Jewish family in Brest . His family emigrated to the USA in 1903....	1½–½
10	David Bronstein David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...	1	1	Anthony Santasiere Anthony Santasiere Anthony Edward Santasiere was an American chess master. Santasiere was a high school mathematics teacher by profession. His hobbies included creative writing and oil painting.-Chess career:...	2–0

Nine of ten Americans and four of ten Soviets were Jewish.

Botvinnik later won the 1948 World Championship

World Chess Championship 1948

The 1948 World Chess Championship was a tournament played to determine a new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had...

 and was World Champion for 13 years. Smyslov and Reshevsky also played in the 1948 World Championship and Smyslov became World Champion in 1957

World Chess Championship 1957

The 1957 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 5 to April 27, 1957. Smyslov won.-Results:...

. Fine was also invited to play, but he declined. Bronstein was the challenger for the World Championship in 1951

World Chess Championship 1951

The 1951 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and David Bronstein in Moscow from March 15 to May 11, 1951. Botvinnik retained his title.-Results:The match was played as best of 24 games...

. Boleslavsky tied for first in the 1950 Candidates tournament but lost the playoff match to Bronstein to decide the challenger for the 1951 World Championship

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

Alexander Kevitz

Alexander Kevitz was an American chess master, of at least International Master strength at his peak, although he was never awarded this title. Kevitz also played correspondence chess, and was a creative chess analyst and theoretician. He was a pharmacist by profession.-Early life:Kevitz was born...

, Robert Willman, Jacob Levin

Jacob Levin (chess player)

Jacob Levin was an American chess master, born in Daugavpils, Latvia.He reached the best results of his career in Ventnor City. He tied for 2nd–3rd in 1939 , was a winner in 1941, took second behind Daniel Yanofsky in 1942, tied for 5th–7th in 1943, and won again in 1944...

, George Shainswit, Weaver W. Adams

Weaver W. Adams

Weaver Warren Adams was an American chess master, author, and chess opening theoretician. His greatest competitive achievement was winning the U.S. Open Championship in 1948. He played in the U.S...

, Edward Lasker

Edward Lasker

Edward Lasker was a leading German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author.-Background:...

, Fred Reinfeld

Fred Reinfeld

Fred Reinfeld was an American chess master and a prolific writer on chess and many other subjects, whose books are still read today.-Biography:...

, Edward S. Jackson, Jr., Samuel Factor

Samuel Factor

Samuel Factor was a Polish-American chess master.-Biography:During World War I, Faktor was one of the strongest chess players in Łódź . In 1916, he lost a match to Hirszbajn . In 1917, he took 3rd, behind Gersz Salwe, and Teodor Regedziński. In 1917/18, he took 2nd, behind Regedziński...

, and Martin C. Stark. The Soviet reserves were: Alexander Konstantinopolsky

Alexander Konstantinopolsky

Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky was a Soviet International Master of chess, chess coach and trainer, and a chess author. He was a five-time Kiev champion, and trained the world title challenger David Bronstein from a young age...

, Vitaly Chekhover

Vitaly Chekhover

Vitaly Chekhover was a Soviet chess player and chess composer. He was also a pianist.- Composing career :...

, Iosif Rudakovsky

Iosif Rudakovsky

Iosif Iosifovich Rudakovsky was a Ukrainian chess master.He took 8th at Moscow 1936, won at Rostov-on-Don 1939, shared 3rd at Kiev 1940 , tied for 4-7th at Kiev 1940 , took 20th at Moscow 1940 , and...

, and Peter Romanovsky

Peter Romanovsky

Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky was a Russian chess International Master, International Arbiter, and author.-Biography:At the beginning of his career in Sankt Petersburg, he shared fourth place in 1908 , tied for 10-11th in 1909 , took second place behind Smorodsky in 1913, and shared first with...

.

Other radio matches

• Moscow vs. Lenningrad, March 1941
• USSR vs. England, 18-6, 1946
• Australia vs. France, 5½-4½, 1946
• Spain vs. Argentina, 8-7, 1946 .

The USSR also won these matches:

• USSR vs. United Kingdom, 1947
• USSR vs. United Kingdom, 1954
• USSR vs. United States, 1954
• USSR vs. United States, 1955 .