Belgian championship, Brussels
04-09-1943 > 12-09-1943
| Major | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | Tot | |||
| 1 | NM | Soultanbeieff, Victor Ivanovich | RUS | – | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | NM | O’Kelly de Galway, Albéric | BEL | ½ | – | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 3 | NM | Van Seters, Frits | NED | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 4 | Ambühl, Louis | SUI | 0 | 0 | ½ | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 5 | Borodin, Vladimir | RUS | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | – | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | |
| 6 | Gerits, Valère | BEL | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | – | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5 | |
| 7 | De Mey, Emile | BEL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4 | |
| 8 | Van Lennep, Frits | BEL | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 9 | Vaver, Vladimir | RUS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | ½ | ½ | 3 | |
| 10 | Plavchitch, Spiro | YUG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | – | 1 | 2 | |
| 11 | Limont Ivanoff | RUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | – | 1½ | |
| – | NM | Devos, Paul | BEL | – | – | ½ | 0 | (½) |
| Minor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Tot | ||
| 1 | Bodart, Albert | BEL | – | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3½ |
| 2 | Colombin | BEL | 0 | – | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Hottart | BEL | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 1 | ½ | 2½ |
| 4 | Patriarche | BEL | 0 | ½ | 1 | – | 0 | 1 | 2½ |
| 5 | Mollekens, Jozef | BEL | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | – | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Lisenberg | BEL | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | – | 1½ |
Notice that Devos left the tournament after having forfeited his first two games, drawn against De Mey, and lost against Vaver. Soultanbeieff clinched the victory, after favourite O’Kelly led a very unnecessary defeat against outsider Vaver. As O’Kelly was the first Belgian, he gained the title of Belgian champion. The difference between this edition and the pre-war ones is stark: Dunkelblum, Dyner, and Sapira, faithful participants but Jewish, were absent.
There were quite a few games of very low quality. Perhaps due to the war going on, perhaps also partly due to the very fast schedule, because [2] indicates that the eleven rounds were played on only nine days — quite unusual for the time. On the other hand, the famous Soultanbeieff-Borodin game was played in this tournament and won the first brilliancy prize. The third brilliancy prize was also won by Soultanbeieff for his amusing victory against Ambühl.
Both crosstables and all the games from the major tournament, with the exception of the draw Devos-De Mey, are given in [1]. To date, I have not been able to find any games from the minor tournament.
Wanted
- Devos’ game against De Mey.
- The exact dates for the games.
Sources
- Revue Belge des Echecs/Belgisch Schaakblad [as kindly sent to me by Mr. Tamm]
- E. Cornil, Les championnats de Belgique d’Échecs (1901 à 2009)
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