 Nyorai kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Stolberg akakunda Rostov-on-Don City championship muna 1938. Gore rakatevera racho akava wechipiri mumakwikwi eSoviet evanhu vaida kuva nyanzvi. Muna 1940, Stolberg akagovana kekutanga naEduard Gerstenfeld muKiev iyo 12th USSR-ch semi-fainari, uye akabatanidza 13-16th muMoscow iyo 12th USSR Chess Championship yakakundwa pamwe chete naAndor Lilienthal naIgor Bondarevsky. Muna June 1941, Stolberg akanga ari panzvimbo yechina muRostov-on-Don iyo 13th USSR-ch semi-fainari, apo kurwisa kweGermanypamusoro peSoviet Union yakapindira chiitiko chacho. 