Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
MaggieJackson
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Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by MaggieJackson » Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:15 am

Hello - I am a US author and journalist, writing a book on reflective thought, and researching some of Adriaan De Groot's early research into chess and judgment. Does anyone know where I could get information on the voyage of the steamship Piriapolis to Argentina in 1939 for the Olympiad - De Groot did onboard experiments using the European chess champions who were his fellow passengers - I would like to get detail on the length of the voyage, what he did on board etc.
Secondly, many of the chess champions on that trip stayed in South America to flee the Nazis. Does anyone have information on what happened - was there a kindly Argentine official? Or is there a story to their 'escape.' Did De Groot help in any way?
Thank you! Maggie Jackson, New York City, maggie-jackson.com

Gordon Cadden
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Gordon Cadden » Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:12 am

This is a very interesting line of research. The England team was on board the Piriapolis, with the exception of Sir George Thomas, who found his own route to Buenos Aires. They did not take part in the Finals of the Olympiad. Baruch Wood was on board the Piriapolis; will check the CHESS magazines for the period. Also on board were the Polish and German teams, and this at a time when Germany was invading Poland, and Great Britain had declared war on Germany. One can only imagine the tension on board the Piriapolis.
Germany won the Olympiad with 36 points, with Poland on 35.5 points, in second place.
The Polish board 2, Miguel Najdorf, did not return to Poland. He would spend the rest of his life in Argentina. The big surprise came from the German champion, Erich Gottlieb Eliskases. He started life in Austria, and became the Austrian champion. When Germany annexed Austria, he became the German Champion. He decided to stay in Argentina, possibly not by choice. Have heard that his money and clothes were stolen, on board the Piriapolis, and so he relied on support from his chess friends. He eventually represented Argentina in later Olympiads.
Adriaan de Groot does not specifically mention the Piriapolis in his book, "Thought and Choice in Chess", but it would be no surprise if he had conducted experiments with the European champions - he certainly had a captured audience.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:50 am

Gordon Cadden wrote: Also on board were the Polish and German teams, and this at a time when Germany was invading Poland, and Great Britain had declared war on Germany. One can only imagine the tension on board the Piriapolis.
Isn't the timing for that a bit out? I thought the invasion of Poland and declaration of war was after the completion of the Olympiad Preliminary Sections. That was a reason why the BCF team pulled out. Something I don't know is whether Alexander and Milner-Barry knew they had to report to GC&CS on outbreak of war, but they were in more of a hurry to return than Golombek.

A number of European players were stranded in Argentina. There would be several reasons, not having a country to go back to being one of them, but difficulty and danger of sea travel would also be a factor.

BH Wood, the Editor of the UK's magazine "Chess", was part of the BCF team. He wrote a number of articles about his experiences, some of which have been reprinted in recent times by the present magazine.

Gordon Cadden
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Gordon Cadden » Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:37 am

Have just located the 1939 reports from Buenos Aires, by Baruch Wood. Germany had invaded Poland, but the declaration of war by Great Britain, against Germany, was announced during the Olympiad.
Sir George Thomas, as Match Captain, took the decision to withdraw the England team from the Final.
Three members of the England team returned on the "Highland Monarch" liner. The British Embassy advised Baruch Wood, and Mrs. Vera Menchik-Stevenson, not to return immediately, but to take part in a tournament at Montevideo, in aid of the British Red Cross.
It was Baruch Wood who reported that Eliskases had his money and spare clothes, stolen on board the Piriapolis. Many of the competitors would have been desperately concerned about returning to Europe.
British passenger ships would require a convoy enroute to Europe.
It would seem that the Buenos Aires officials were racist like the Nazis, but with a different agenda. Sir George Thomas was furious with being listed as a Turk (he was born in Turkey). The English Team was very angry at having their eyelids twisted; the officials were looking for Negro blood. Stuart Milner-Barry did not play a single game of chess, on board the Piriapolis; he was busy writing his forthcoming book on the Stock Exchange. Alexander showed Keres a difficult mathematical problem, giving odds of 20-1 that Keres would fail to solve the problem. Alexander lost the bet.

David Sedgwick
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by David Sedgwick » Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:51 pm

Gordon Cadden wrote:Have just located the 1939 reports from Buenos Aires, by Baruch Wood. Germany had invaded Poland, but the declaration of war by Great Britain, against Germany, was announced during the Olympiad.
Sir George Thomas, as Match Captain, took the decision to withdraw the England team from the Final.
I think Wood must have been referring to the finals, as Roger de C says above.

According to OlimpBase, the Preliminary Groups took place from 24th to 30th August 1939 and the Final Groups from 1st to 18th September 1939.

Germany invaded Poland on 1st September and the UK and France declared war on Germany on 3rd September.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:55 pm

"Something I don't know is whether Alexander and Milner-Barry knew they had to report to GC&CS on outbreak of war, but they were in more of a hurry to return than Golombek."

MB was recruited to Bletchley fairly quickly - he then recruited Alexander (who arrived early 1940) and Golombek (late 1941).

Gordon Cadden
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Gordon Cadden » Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:19 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:"Something I don't know is whether Alexander and Milner-Barry knew they had to report to GC&CS on outbreak of war, but they were in more of a hurry to return than Golombek."

MB was recruited to Bletchley fairly quickly - he then recruited Alexander (who arrived early 1940) and Golombek (late 1941).
The British Embassy advised BH Wood and Mrs Menchik- Stevenson not to return immediately, possibly as a cover for Milner-Barry and Alexander, who would have been instructed to return home.
Golombek also left for Montevideo, finishing in second place below Alekhine, who won all his games.

Colin Patterson
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Colin Patterson » Sat Jan 18, 2014 12:16 pm

Hi Maggie -
If you haven't done so already, I would advise you try to contact Fernand Gobet (hopefully still at [email protected]). Gobet is a Swiss International Master of chess, a university lecturer/researcher at the Department of Human Sciences (Brunel University) and a writer on various aspects of decision making, often specifically in connection to chess. He has authored several papers/works, either on his own, or with De Groot and others. Some of these are available to read on the net as PDF files, for instance "Role of pattern recognition and search in expert decision making" - if you Google it. This paper gives a list of references, including those relevant papers by De Groot. I would imagine Gobet will also be familiar with the details of De Groot's studies on the Piriapolis.

MaggieJackson
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939 - thank you for the replies

Post by MaggieJackson » Wed Jan 22, 2014 1:19 am

Thank you all for the great replies to my questions… I am still looking for more information specifically on De Groot's role and his experiments on board the ship. But your information is very helpful.
I had contacted Gobet, but he hadn't replied… I will try again.
If you anybody has more information, please let me know! (And if the articles by Wood in the UK Magazine Chess refer to De Groot, do you know how I could see them?)

Richard James
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Re: Adriaan De Groot in 1939

Post by Richard James » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:17 am

Hi Maggie

I have a more up to date email address (from last month) for Fernand Gobet, who has moved from Brunel to Liverpool: [email protected].