General Government chess tournament
General Government chess championships were Nazi tournaments held during World War II in occupied central Poland. Hans Frank, the Governor-General of General Government, was the patron of those tournaments because he was an avid chess player.
The competition began when he organized a chess congress in Krakow on 3 November 1940. Six months later Frank announced the establishment of a chess school under Chess grandmasters, Efim Bogoljubov and Alexander Alekhine.Historical context
A number of Polish chess players was arrested in January 1940. Jewish players were killed by Germans, e.g. Dawid Przepiórka. Ethnic Poles didn't participate in the tournaments.Participants
- Alexander Alekhine Russia/France
- Efim Bogoljubow Ukraine/Germany
- Paul Felix Schmidt Estonia/Germany
- Klaus Junge Chile/Germany
- Karl Gilg Czechoslovakia/Germany
- Josef Lokvenc Austria/Germany
- Hans Müller Austria/Germany
- Wolfgang Weil Austria/Germany
- Paul MrossPoland/Germany
- Teodor RegedzińskiPoland/Germany
- Leon Tuhan-BaranowskiPoland/Germany
- Fedir Bohatyrchuk Ukraine/Soviet Union
and other German players /Germany.
Regedziński played as Theodore Reger, and Tuhan-Baranowski as Lisse.The first General Government Championship was held in Krakow/Krynica/Warsaw in 3–17 November 1940.The second General Government Championship was held in Krakow/Warsaw in 5–19 October 1941.The third General Government Championship was held in Warsaw/Lublin/Krakow in 11–24 October 1942.Krynica">Krynica-Zdrój">Krynica 1943
The fourth General Government Championship was held in Krynica in 25 November–5 December 1943.The fifth General Government Championship was held in Radom in February 1944.
