Samuel Reshevsky
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Samuel Herman (Sammy) Reshevsky (born November 26, 1911, Ozorków, Poland - died April 4, 1992, New York, USA) was a leading American chess Grandmaster.
Born Szmul Rzeszewski, he learned to play at age four and was soon acclaimed as a child prodigy (a chess prodigy). At age eight he was beating accomplished players with ease and giving simultaneous exhibitions. In November 1920 his parents moved to the US to make a living exhibiting their child. He played in the 1922 New York Masters tournament.
As an adult however, Reshevsky was never a professional chess player. He temporarily gave up chess to enter the University of Chicago, and graduated in 1933 with a degree in accounting. He supported himself and his family by working as an accountant. His 1941 marriage to the former Norma Mindick produced three children.
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[edit] Chess Career
Reshevsky won US championships in 1936, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1946, 1969 and 1970. His international career began in 1935 with first place at the Margate (England) tournament where he beat, among others, former world champion José Raúl Capablanca. The game transcript follows. Reshevsky has the white pieces (moves given in algebraic chess notation):
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qc2 c5 9. Nf3 c4 10. Bf5 Re8 11. O-O g6 12. Bh3 Nf8 13. Bxc8 Rxc8 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. b3 Qa5 16. b4 Qd8 17. Qa4 a6 18. b5 Re6 19. Rab1 Rb8 20. Rb2 Be7 21. bxa6 Rxa6 22. Qc2 Ne6 23. Rfb1 Ra7 24. a4 Nc7 25. Ne5 Qe8 26. f4 f6 27. Ng4 Qd7 28. h3 Kg7 29. Nf2 Ba3 30. Ra2 Bd6 31. Nfd1 f5 32. Nb5 Ra5 33. Nxc7 Bxc7 34. Nc3 Qd6 35. Qf2 b6 36. Qf3 Rd8 37. Rab2 Qe7 38. Rb4 Rd7 39. Kh1 Bd8 40. g4 fxg4 41. hxg4 Qd6 42. Kg1 Bc7 43. Kf2 Rf7 44. g5 Bd8 45. Ke2 Bxg5 46. Rxb6 Qa3 47. Kd2 Be7 48. Rb7 Rxa4 49. Qxd5 Ra5 50. Qxc4 Rh5 51. Kd3 Qa8 52. Qe6 Qa3 53. Rd7 Rhf5 54. Rb3 Qa1 55. Rxe7 Qf1+ 56. Kd2 1-0
A year later he shared third place at Nottingham. In 1937 he shared first at Kemeri, Latvia, and in 1938 shared fourth in the AVRO tournament in the Netherlands, which featured arguably the eight strongest players in the world.
Reshevsky was a serious contender for the World Championship from roughly the mid-1930's to the mid-1960's. He was one of the five chess grandmasters to compete in the World Championship match tournament in The Hague/Moscow 1948 and finished in joint third place with Paul Keres, behind Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov. In 1950, the U.S. State Department prevented him from playing in the Candidates Tournament in Budapest due to the Cold War.[1] At the following Candidates in Zurich 1953, he finished in joint second place with David Bronstein and Keres, behind Smyslov. Much later he qualified from the Interzonal tournament in Sousse 1967, but lost the subsequent quarterfinal to Viktor Korchnoi the following year.
He was a regular top board for the USA at the Chess Olympiads. Overall he played in eight events, helping the U.S. team to win the gold in 1937 and bronze in 1974 and winning an individual bronze medal for his performance on board one in 1950.
In 1952, New York hosted the first eight games of an informal match for "The Championship of the Free World" between Reshevsky and Polish-Argentine grandmaster Miguel Najdorf. An additional five games were played in Mexico City and five more in San Salvador. Reshevsky won the match, 11-7. The following year a rematch took place in Buenos Aires. Reshevsky again won, 9.5-8.5.
Reshevsky played on top board for the USA in the 1955 team match against the USSR, held in Moscow, and defeated world champion Botvinnik over four games, winning one and drawing three.
In 1961 in New York and Los Angeles, Reshevsky began a 16-game match with the then-current U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer. Despite Fischer's recent meteoric rise, consensus opinion favored Reshevsky. After 11 games and a tie score (2 wins apiece with 7 draws) the match ended due to a dispute between Fischer and match organizer Jacqueline Piatigorsky.
Reshevsky competed seriously at least semi-regularly, virtually until his death in 1992. He defeated old rival Vasily Smyslov in a tournament game in 1991.
Reshevsky was a devout Orthodox Jew who would never play on the Jewish Sabbath. His games were scheduled accordingly.
Reshevsky's books include Reshevsky on Chess (1948), How Chess Games Are Won (1962), and The Art of Positional Play (1978). He also authored columns in chess magazines and The New York Times.
Reshevsky was a tough and forceful player who was superb at positional play but could also play brilliant tactical chess when warranted. He used huge amounts of time in the opening, a dangerous tactic which sometimes forced him to play the rest of the game in a very short amount of time. That sometimes unsettled Reshevsky's opponents but at other times resulted in blunders on his part. Reshevsky's inadequate study of the opening and his related tendency to fall into time-pressure may have been the reasons that, despite his great talent, he was never able to become world champion.
[edit] Quotes
- "By playing slowly during the early phases of a game I am able to grasp the basic requirements of each position. Then, despite being in time pressure, I have no difficulty in finding the best continuation. Incidentally, it is an odd fact that more often than not it is my opponent who gets the jitters when I am compelled to make these hurried moves."
- His self-description, "My style is somewhere between that of Tal and Petrosian," is sometimes circulated as an ironic comment but makes more sense in its full context; from his book Great Chess Upsets: "I am essentially a positional player, although I can conduct an assault with precision and vigor, when the opportunity arises. My style lies between that of Tal and Petrosian. It is neither over-aggressive nor too passive. My strength consists of a fighting spirit, a great desire to win, and a stubborn defense whenever in trouble. I rarely become discouraged in an inferior situation, and I fear no one."
[edit] References
- ^ From Morphy to Fischer, Israel Horowitz, Batsford, 1973
[edit] External links
- Samuel Reshevsky at ChessGames.com
- 1991 Interview: Part 1 • Part 2
- Reshevsky in California
- New York Times obituary
| Preceded by Frank Marshall |
United States Chess Champion 1936–1944 |
Succeeded by Arnold Denker |
| Preceded by Arnold Denker |
United States Chess Champion 1946–1948 |
Succeeded by Herman Steiner |
| Preceded by Larry Evans |
United States Chess Champion 1969–1972 |
Succeeded by Robert Byrne |
