Chess in the Third Reich - How the game was played, glorified, and abused in Nazi Germany 1933-1945

 

REVIEW by Carl Portman

Chess in the Third Reich

Taylor Kingston

 

TAYLOR KINGSTON

Foreword by Herbert Bastian

Format: softcover (8.5 x 11)
Pages: 291
Bibliographic Info: 98 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, indexes
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9260-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5141-5

Imprint: McFarland

“What is actually Jewish chess, the Jewish concept of chess? The question is not difficult to answer. 1. Material gain at all costs. 2. Opportunism in the extreme, which seeks to eliminate every shadow of possible danger, and as a result gives rise to an idea (if one can call it an idea) “defense per se”. In the last analysis this ‘idea’ of Jewish chess, amounting as it does to suicide in every form of struggle, has dug its own grave.”

 

Alexander Alekhine 1941

 

What is the book about?

Oddly, let me begin with the cover design. I can imagine how tricky this might have been to decide upon given the nature of the book. I think it is an excellent choice. After all the Nazis used the powerful combination of black and red (and white) in all of their propaganda initiatives. 

When you turn the pages of this book, you are literally turning the pages of history both in terms of chess and the rise and fall of the Third Reich. I have been waiting almost forever for a book on this subject. I hoped it would give an opportunity to clarify some matters such as what part (if any) did Alekhine and Keres play in Nazi chess and how much chess was played during the war. Did they really play chess whilst bombs were dropping over Europe? It records chronologically how chess in the Third Reich developed and ultimately disintegrated. It includes games and photographs – some of which are remarkable - as well as various records, documents, anecdotes and profiles of players and personalities.    

Thanks must go to the Deutsche Schachblätter, Deutsche Schachzeitung and Schach-Echo for giving the author permission to use copyright material.

 

Contents

There are twelve chapters in the book with a foreword by Herbert Bastian, President of the German Chess Federation from 2011-2017. Along with an appendix, chapter notes, bibliography and indexes there is plenty there to absorb.

 

What does the official blurb say?

The USSR is famous as the first totalitarian state to promote chess. Less well known is that Nazi Germany was the second. The Third Reich gave chess a tremendous financial and propaganda boost in hopes of making Germany a dominant chess power. Yet this aspect of the Nazi era has received scant attention in later German literature, and even less in English. This book fills that gap.
Using a multitude of German sources, the author has crafted a narrative showing how the Nazis completely remade German chess into a monolithic structure to showcase the supposed cultural and intellectual superiority of the “master race.” Many games by German masters are presented—Bogoljubow, Richter, Sämisch, Rellstab, Kieninger, Junge, and more—and by others who came under Nazi rule: Alekhine, Keres, Eliskases, et al. Important political figures are featured: Otto Zander, Erhardt Post, Hans Schemm, Josef Goebbels, and especially Hans Frank. Politics affecting chess are detailed, both external (e.g., the annexations of Austria and Czechoslovakia) and internal (rivalry between the Grossdeutscher Schachbund and Kraft durch Freude), as of course are the effects of the war and persecution of Jews.

 

My thoughts

As I read through this book, the author took me on a journey not just of chess but how the national attitude changed in the early 1930’s to the prominence of Adolf Hitler and all of the horror that followed as a result. The wave of antisemitism and the mindless brutality of cowardly men power drunk in uniform angers any rational human being and it still seems unbelievable somehow that man can do this to fellow man. They did, and they still do – will we ever learn?

 

The Third Reich decided to use (and abuse) chess as a cultural tool to show the world how intellectually superior they were. Does this ring any bells? Yes, the USSR wanted the same and they achieved it for decades after the war, unlike the Nazis.

As they gained power, the Nazis cancelled all extant German chess associations, and the infighting between what remained – the Deutsche Arbeiter-Schachbund (German Worker’s Federation) the Grossdeutscher Schachbund (Greater German Chess Federation) and the Kraft durch Freude (Strength through joy) began. The DAS, GSB and KdF wanted all of the power and various characters were enlisted to oversee German chess, from Dr Otto Zander to the notorious Hans Frank, a murderous chess enthusiast and at one time so-called Governor of Poland or Generalgouvernement.

 

The author covers the development of chess up to and including WWII and includes the Olympiad in Munich in 1936 where the Germans simply had to win to celebrate the Reich – they didn’t! Not only would Hitler be upset by this but a certain black man - Jesse Owens - 'stuck it to them' on the track, winning four Olympic gold medals. The Germans had hidden away their hatred for jews, black people, gypsies and more for the time the Olympiad was on, pretending that all was well but nobody was fooled -excepting the weak British and French governments, but that is another story.

Later, at the Olympiad in Buenos Aries in 1939 several German chess players decided to remain in Argentina - which was an amputation for German chess as they were strong players. There are details of many German Championships, where Bogoljubow featured heavily and the likes of Carl Carls and Klaus Junge did also. The thing is, Germany could have been a very strong chess playing nation indeed had they included Jews in their teams.

 

The language of the time was clear and unambiguous. The GSB wrote this about the German players training for the 1936 Olympiad in Munich which incidentally was 'unofficial' and not sponsored by FIDE. 

‘The Olympic training takes precedence of all other chess events. Anyone who thinks he’s too good and doesn’t take part shuts himself out. In the future there will be no slackers in the battlefront of German chess.’ 

This is accompanied by an extraordinary photograph of players (coached by Willi Schlage) sitting on wooden boxes in some kind of barn, with a slab of wood for a table top and straw behind them to sleep on. All of this regimented activity fitted nicely with the National Socialist ideology of the time. Jews of course could not compete, and this included the very strong Bogoljubow who was a Ukrainian Slav. Did the German’s win? NO. Hungary did, with Poland just behind them but above Germany in third. That must have hurt, badly.

 

As I said, the Nazis would try again in 1939 in Argentina – and indeed they did prevail but that was because the USA and others did not play, boycotting the event for political reasons. Germany invaded Poland during this Olympiad, The British immediately left but the French decided to remain. Therefore not all full games were played. The German victory felt hollow for some. It is a fascinating chess account. I also made some new discoveries. I used to play the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit but I had no idea that Emil Josef Diemer was a committed Nazi, even after the war. This disgusting man believed that jews were detrimental to the objective of furthering German chess. I cannot think I will ever play the opening again!

 

I read with incredulity that in 1936 in the USSR there was a monster chess tournament comprising some 700,000 participants. Wow! It took six months to complete. Then there is Wehrschach, which was a chess variant developed by the Nazis to better educate soldiers. Known as TAK-TIK it has new figures with differing representations. Nothing was left untouched by the Nazis, not even 1500 years of chess history, to make instant changes to suit their agenda.

 

What of Alexander Alekhine? Well in fact he might at one time have been interned as a prisoner of war but his dealing with Nazi gangster Hans Frank the overseer of German chess in Poland were ‘cordial’ and he avoided punishment. Who really knows if he wrote articles for the Nazis as a way of self-preservation or because he was a sympathiser. You can read the book and draw your own conclusions. You can judge the man on just his chess, and what he gave to the world or in the round as a person on and off the board. Personally, I believe he got away with an awful lot because of who he was. Hans Frank was a close aid to Hitler, and  passionate lover of chess so it was good for him to have Alekhine around. Frank was a decent player apparently and he collected a lot of chess books, but whilst outwardly ‘civilized’ he was responsible for grave crimes against humanity. He was a beast.

 

Paul Keres was a pawn in the Reich game. His country, Estonia was absorbed into the USSR  so he was a target for the Reich. He represented a propaganda opportunity and by all accounts he was a naïve man. Again, his standing as a great chess player may well have saved his life. He features in tournaments not just in Germany but for example one held in Madrid in 1943 organised by the Europaschachbund. He won that tournament ahead of Fuentes.

 

Klaus Junge

I should also mention one Klaus Junge (1 January 1924 – 17 April 1945) who was one of the youngest Chilean-German chess masters. In several tournaments during the 1940s he held his own among the world's leading players and showed a deep understanding of the game for one so young. An officer in the Wehrmacht, he died during the Battle of Welle shortly before the end of World War II. He fell for Hitler’s ideology and a young life was wasted at the age of 21 – along with countless others from many nations.

As for the chess itself, the strength of players varied greatly throughout the years both for German national championships and Olympiads. Keres, Euwe, Alekhine and Bogoljubow played in various competitions around the country. There are plenty of games played by ‘patzers’ who would do well to fit into a club team nowadays but as they say, you can only beat who is in front of you.

 

There were several chess publications at the time, and a little book called Schach ist schön, Schach bringt Freude! (Chess is fun, chess brings joy) and it contained this funny little gem. What happens if White plays 4.h3 now?

 

The answer is 4…Ne3 and the queen is lost or White gets mated after 5.fxg Qh4+ 6.g3 Qxg3#

 

I must mention again the photographs which are a very powerful addition to the text and are found here for the first time – as far as I know anyway. Two examples are the playing hall in Munich in 1941 with Alekhine in the centre, and strong Berlin player Rudolf Elstner giving a simul for the Wehrmacht in 1940. When I see Nazis playing chess I am reminded that the beautiful game can be played by ugly people.

 

Concluding notes

Since this is a book about chess and the rise of the Nazis, I am reminded how utterly insane the European zeitgeist was in the 1930s and for much of the next decade. Looking today at the war in Ukraine and beyond it seems we have not learned. Chess is just a game, especially compared to the mass destruction that occurred because of the Third Reich, but we can still appreciate that the game has endured for centuries, through wars, political and religious upheaval and social conflict. It will always endure because it is such a magnificent art form. Truly it is a war game and Hitler and his henchmen reflected this on their chessboard of hate and bigotry. Like all dictators, Hitler eventually fell and so did the dream of a thousand year Reich.

 

I lived in Bergen, Germany in the early 2000’s and my office was situated next to Bergen Belsen, the former concentration camp which I visited many times. It was actually one of the old barns adjacent to the main camp and I have images of them being used at the time filled with straw and other items. I have many German chess friends from my time there and whilst we remember what happened we can also look to today and the future. I played my chess for a club not far from Belsen so again, this book means more to me than it might do normally.

 

Today, Germany is making many contributions to chess, not just with players at the board. There is ChessBase, who develop chess software used by players all around the world, from beginners to the World’s elite. They have contributed significantly to the rise in chess playing standards throughout the world, and that is something they can be rightly proud of.

 

Time has moved on, but a good deal of pain and sorrow still exists, perhaps it always will. What we must do is learn from the past, as we learn from our mistakes on the chessboard. There is always a better way forward if we are willing to explore it. As there is darkness, there will always be light, and this book is a compass to help us understand, reflect and progress. Congratulations to Taylor Kingston and McFarland press for publishing this invaluable tome. Though an often painful read it is a necessary one. Not designed to improve your game per se, it reveals how chess was used and abused for social and political gain – yet the game itself is not to blame – chess will always endure.

I recommend this book very highly and you should get a copy whilst it is still available. You can do so here:

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/chess-in-the-third-reich/

Who is the author?

Taylor Kingston has been a chess enthusiast since his teens, and was a correspondence master in the 1980s. His historical articles have appeared in Chess Life, New in Chess, Inside Chess, Kingpin, and ChessCafe.com, and he has authored biographical works on Edgard Colle and Carlos Torre. He lives in Paso Robles, California.