Reuben Fine Wins ACF Congress
The 36th annual running of the ACF Chess Congress was held at the Hotel Schroeder from July 21 to 31 in 1935. 30 players from around the country entered this two stage tournament.Reuben Fine continued his winning ways for his fourth straight victory (he shared first with Reshevsky the previous year) completing all 19 games this year wthout a loss, giving up draws to William Ruth (Philadelphia) Samuel Factor (Chicago) Burton Dahlstrom (Chicago) Arthur Dake (Portland) Isaac Kashdan (New York) Harold Morton (Boston) and Arpad Elo (Milwaukee).
This pairing system was experimented with by Kirk Holland of Chicago the previous year, and it worked well enough to be used again this year. The players were divided, or seeded, into the sections in rough order of strength, putting the top player in one section, the next in the second section, and so on, in order to distribute the strength of the tournament evenly. Then the scores of all the players were compared, and the top scores were seeded on into the Championship.
Players remarked upon the welcome the city of Milwaukee rolled out for this event, going so far as to hang a large lighted sign on the Municipal Building downtown reading “Welcome, American Chess Congress.” Part of the scheduled events was a visit (on July 29) to the Milwaukee playgrounds for one of the many chess classes being held there, as well as a visit to the Municipal chess rooms and a visit to the Milwaukee Chess Club, which was open 24 hours a day 7 days a week at the Republican Hotel.
Preliminaries
Section A
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Reuben Fine | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.5 | |
| William Ruth | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| Samuel Factor | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| Harold Morton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| A. N. Towsen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | |
| Burton Dahlstrom | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| C. Kraszewski | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 3.5 | |
| Redpath Drummond | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 2 | |
| E. Nash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1.5 | |
| S. Kreznar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 |
Section B
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Isaac Kashdan | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 7.5 | |
| John Belson | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| Anthony Santasiere | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | |
| Barnie Winkelman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 5 | |
| Horace Kent | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| M. Surgies | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Kirk Holland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 4 | |
| H. Woods | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 3.5 | |
| F. Rathman | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 3 | |
| R. Ratke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 |
Section C
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Arthur Dake | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8.5 | |
| Fredrick Chevalier | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Arpad Elo | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Albert Simonson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Charles Elison | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 5.5 | |
| George Eastman | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| Theodore Barron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 3.5 | |
| B. B. Price | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 2.5 | |
| N. Schaefer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 | |
| F. Koller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 |
Masters (Championship)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Reuben Fine | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 8 | |
| Arthur Dake | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.5 | |
| Isaac Kashdan | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| Fredrick Chevalier | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | |
| Samuel Factor | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 5.5 | |
| Albert Simonson | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | |
| Anthony Santasiere | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Harold Morton | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| John Belson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 3 | |
| Arpad Elo | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 2.5 | |
| William Ruth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 2 |
Consolation Masters
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Charles Elison | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| Horace Kent | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| Barnie Winkleman | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| C. Kraszewski | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Burton Dahlstrom | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 4.5 | |
| H. Woods | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| M. Surgies | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 4 | |
| A. N. Towsen | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| Kirk Holland | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Theodore Barron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
“Class A” Tournament
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||
| S. Kreznar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| F. Rathman | 1 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| E. Nash | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Redpath Drummond | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | |
| N. Schaefer | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1/2 | 3.5 | |
| F. Koller | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 3 | |
| B. B. Price | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 2.5 | |
| R. Ratke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 |