At the end of August and the beginning of September 1939, on the eve of armed conflict in Europe, the Eighth Chess Olympiad was played in Buenos Aires. Poles, who were considered favourites for the event, took part. In the face of war, several of them did not return home ...

The Chess Olympiad is an international tournament in which national teams participate. The condition for participation is membership status in FIDE (International Chess Federation). The premiere edition of this competition took place in London in 1927. The Poles competed for the first time in the next edition. In The Hague, they caused quite a sensation by finishing third. A year later... they won! From 1931, chess Olympiads were organised every two years. The 1939 one was held in Buenos Aires, at the famous Politeama Theatre (Teatro Politeama de Buenos Aires). And it was unique not only because it was the first time it was organised by a non-European country. During the eighth edition of this event, the Second World War broke out.

The chess competition began on 21 August 1939 and chess matches were played until 19 September 1939. In the end, 27 teams with 133 players arrived in Argentina. Among them were Poles, who were among the world's top chess players in the 1930s. The Polish chess players sailed at the expense of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Polish diplomats noticed that no one better than chess players to popularise Poland in the world and, on the eve of Germany's attack on our country, they allocated the necessary funds. The Polish players set off for South America at the end of July. The daily Polonia of 30 July 1939 reported (original spelling):

"The ship 'Piriapolis', on board of which the chess teams of European countries for this year's Olympiad departed Antwerp for Buenos Aires. Among others, the Polish team, consisting of Dr Tartakower, Najdorff, Frydman, Regedziński and Sulik, is on board. During the voyage, which will last about three weeks, the Polish players will undergo intensive training and will also have the opportunity to measure themselves against chess players from other teams" .

Tension and game
When the participants arrived, it turned out that no Americans would be sitting at the chessboards. The US players were expecting additional compensation of $2,500 for being away from home for several weeks. They were offered only $1500, so they refused to go. Other big absentees were the Hungarians and the Yugoslavs. Representatives of Czechoslovakia entered as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. There were also Germans in the stakes, who were supported by Austrian chess players.

The atmosphere between the participants was tense. After all, representatives of countries that at the time belonged to opposite camps - the Axis and the anti-Hitler - were to sit opposite each other. The Germans demanded that the Czechs use the flag with the swastika. However, the Argentine government did not agree to this condition and our neighbours to the south used their own national flag. The games were started.

According to the rules, the preliminary round was played from 23-31 August. Four teams each were selected from the four groups, which advanced to the final Group A and would play for the Hamilton-Russell Cup. The others formed Group B, officially known as the 'Copa Argentina'.

Boycott of games against Germany
On 1 September 1939, news of the Third Reich's aggression against Poland reached the participants. As a result, the English decided to return home. Representatives of several other teams thought about a similar step. However, the struggle continued, although not without problems. Due to the special situation caused by the outbreak of war, 928 of the 1012 scheduled matches were played. In the encounters between the Germans and Poland and France, the representation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and Poland and France, and the matches between Palestine and Germany and Argentina, not even a move was made. They were considered a draw (score 2-2). The Olympics were eventually won by Germany, who were second only to the Poles.

"In the last round we were supposed to play against ... Germany: both teams did not show up, all games were considered a draw and this deprived us of probably 1st place. Germany won, ½ point ahead of us. Five and a half years of occupation, persecution and terror began. We played in hiding in cafes, in private flats," wrote the editor of the "Polish Chess Player" in 1946.

After the Chess Olympiad, several chess players remained in Argentina. They did not want or could not return to a Europe plunged into conflict. Among them were the Germans Erich Eliskases, Paul Michel, Ludwig Engels, Albert Becker, Heinrich Reinhardt, and the Poles, who were offered to stay by the Jewish community of Buenos Aires.

Mieczysław Najdorf
Mieczysław Najdorf (born 1910) remained in Argentina. Born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, the son of a leather seller and a housewife, he learned to play from Dawid Przepiórka and Xavier Tartakower. He defeated his teacher (Tartakower) in 1935, a victory which, among other things, opened the door for him to join the Olympic team. He did not return to his country and was granted Argentine citizenship in 1944. Years later he recalled:

"None of my family survived the war. A wife, a child, four brothers, a father...".

In Argentina, he quickly became the country's best chess player. He won prestigious tournaments. He had triumphs over world champions Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Fischer. He also made quite a substantial fortune, working in the insurance sector, among others. He managed to marry twice. He died in 1997 in Málaga.

Paulin Frydman
Frydman was five years older than Najdorf. Before the war he was one of Warsaw's best chess players. He was the only representative to participate in all the chess Olympiads in which the Poles took part. He was the mainstay of his team. After settling in Buenos Aires, he established a chess café where Witold Gombrowicz, among others, was seen. He actively participated in tournaments for some time: in 1941 in Mar del Plata (IV-V place), Buenos Aires (III), Buenos Aires (I place), Sao Pedro (III-IV place). In 1942 he became ill and retired to the shadows. He died in 1982 in Buenos Aires.

Francis Sulik
He was born in 1908 in Gliny, near Lviv. He was a lawyer by profession. He was a reserve player at the 8th Chess Olympiad, but still won 4 ½ points in seven games. After the outbreak of war, he lived for a while in Buenos Aires, but when the opportunity to join the army arose, he took it. Krzysztof Puszczewicz, in the Eighth Chess Olympiad, wrote:

"When military recruitment was announced, Franciszek Sulik enlisted without hesitation in the Second Corps and fought in Italy. He wanted to return to Poland, but was warned that the situation was not conducive to returns like his".

After the war he settled in Australia. He died in Adelaide in July 1997.

Ksawery Tartakower and Teodor Regedziński
Tartakower returned to Europe after a short stay in Argentina. He settled in France, where he took the surname Cartier and served in the army there. After the end of the war, he lived in Paris. He was regarded as one of the most talented chess players of the first half of the 20th century. Except that he himself did not see the game as a way to compete. He was regarded as a chess intellectual. He died in 1956 in Paris.

Teodor Regedziński was the only one of the five to return to Poland. He signed the folkslist and took the surname Reger. During the war he played in tournaments organised by the Third Reich, but was sent to the Eastern Front for refusing to train German chess players. After the war, he served a four-year sentence in a labour camp. He occasionally played in tournaments. He died in 1954 in Lodz.

After the 8th Chess Olympiad, Poland lost its status as a chess power. The war and the consequent loss of its best players meant that the gap left by the brilliant generation was filled for years. In 1951, the World and Life wrote:

"The war also caused heavy losses here. Gaps have been created in the ranks of our chess players which have not yet been filled. At the moment in Poland we have 10 'national champions' and about 20 'candidates for champions', playing matches for the Polish championship every year".