<45th US Open
Boston, Massachusetts
July 29-August 10, 1944>

Samuel Reshevsky showed up on a whim. Seventeen other players wished he hadn't been so whimsical.

He won the tournament by three full points, clinching first well before the last round in which Reshevsky, for once in his life, decided to enjoy himself and channel his inner Morphy. The result was Reshevsky vs A Vasconcellos, 1944, which left future opponents worried that he might grow to like this enjoyment thing.

There seems to be some confusion about Reshevsky's participation in this event. In <My Best Games of Chess>, this passage appears:

...during the summer of 1944, I happened to be in Boston on a vacation just at the time the U.S.C.F Open Championship was being held. There didn't seem to be any harm in competing in this one tournament so, after a brief argument with my conscience concerning the wisdom of spending a vacation playing chess, I entered."

Contemporary reports in the <Brooklyn Daily Eagle> first had him considering the vacation tournament, but then this appeared on July 27, two days before the start:

"Because of the death of Jacob Reshevsky, father of the former United States champion, the latter will not be able to play."

And yet veni vidi, vici, and all that.

                               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1  Samuel Reshevsky            X = 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 15.5
2  Anthony Santasiere          = X 1 = 0 1 1 1 = = = 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.5
3  Edward S Jackson            0 0 X = 0 0 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.0
4  Robert Henry Steinmeyer     0 = = X 0 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 = = 1 1 12.0
5  Roger B Johnson             0 1 1 1 X 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 11.0
6  Weaver Warren Adams         0 0 1 0 1 X 0 1 1 0 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.5
7  Walter Bradford Suesman     1 0 0 = 1 1 X 0 = = = 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 10.5
8  Marcel Barzin               0 0 0 = 0 0 1 X 0 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.0
9  Harlow Bussey Daly          0 = 0 0 0 0 = 1 X 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.0
10 Morton Hamermesh            0 = = 0 1 1 = 0 0 X = 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 10.0
11 Arnaldo Vasconcellos        0 = 0 0 1 1 = 0 1 = X = 1 1 1 1 0 1 10.0
12 Milton Kagan                0 1 0 0 0 = 1 = 0 0 = X 1 1 1 1 1 1  9.5
13 Neil Bernstein              0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 X 1 1 0 1 1  6.0
14 Llewellyn Walter Stephens   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1 1 1  4.0
15 Arthur J Bellaire           0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1 1  3.5
16 Ward Mayhew Parker Mitchell 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 1 1  3.5
17 Peter Magri                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 1  2.5
18 James Bennett McCord        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  0.0

Round 1 (Saturday, July 29); Steinmeyer 1/2 Mitchell*; McCord 0 Magri; Vasconcellos 1/2 Santasiere; Bernstein 0 Reshevsky postponed to 7/30*; Johnson 1 Kagan; Barzin 1 Suesman ; Hamermesh 0 Daly; Jackson 1 Stephens; Bellaire 0 Adams*

Round 2 (Sunday, July 30):Mitchell 0 Adams, Stephens 1 Bellaire, Daly 0 Jackson, Suesman 1/2 Hamermesh, Kagan 1/2 Barzin, Reshevsky 1 Johnson*, Santasiere 1 Bernstein*, Magri 1 Vasconcellos, Steinmeyer 1 McCord

Round 3 (Monday, July 31): McCord 0 Mitchell, Vasconcellos 0 Steinmeyer, Bernstein 1 Magri, Johnson 1 Santasiere*, Barzin 0 Reshevsky*, Hamermesh 1 Kagan, Jackson 1 Suesman*, Bellaire 0 Daly, Adams 1 Stephens

Round 4 (Monday, July 31): Mitchell 0 Stephens, Daly 0 Adams, Suesman 1 Bellaire, Kagan 0 Jackson, Reshevsky 1 Hamermesh, Santasiere 1 Barzin, Magri 0 Johnson, Steinmeyer 1 Bernstein, McCord 0 Vasconcellos

Round 5 (TUesday, August 1): Vasconcellos 1 Mitchell, Bernstein 1 McCord, Johnson 1 Steinmeyer*, Barzin 1 Magri, Hamermesh 1/2 Santasiere, Jackson 0 Reshevsky*, Bellaire 0 Kagan, Adams 0 Suesman*, Stephens 0 Daly

Round 6 (Wednesday, August 2): Mitchell 0 Daly, Suesman 1 Stephens, Kagan 1/2 Adams, Reshevsky 1 Bellaire, Santasiere 1 Jackson, Magri 1/2 Hamermesh, Steinmeyer 1/2 Barzin, McCord 0 Johnson, Vasconcellos 1 Bernstein

Round 7 (Wednesday, August 2): Bernstein 0 Mitchell, Johnson 0 Vasconcellos, Barzin 1 McCord, Hamermesh 0 Steinmeyer, Jackson 1 Magri, Bellaire 0 Santasiere, Adams 0 Reshevsky*, Stephens 0 Kagan, Daly 1/2 Suesman

Round 8 (Thursday, August 3): Mitchell 0 Suesman, Kagan 0 Daly*, Reshevsky 1 Stephens, Santasiere 1 Adams, Magri 0 Bellaire, Steinmeyer 1/2 Jackson, McCord 0 Hamermesh, Vasconcellos 0 Barzin*, Bernstein 1 Johnson

Round 9 (Friday, August 4): Johnson 1 Mitchell, Barzin 1 Bernstein, Hamermesh 1/2 Vasconcellos, Jackson 1 McCord, Bellaire 1/2 Steinmeyer, Adams 1 Magri, Stephens 0 Santasiere, Daly 0 Reshevsky*, Suesman 0 Kagan

Round 10 (Friday, August 4): Mitchell 0 Kagan, Reshevsky 0 Suesman postponed to 8/7*, Santasiere 1/2 Daly, Magri 0 Stephens, Steinmeyer 1 Adams, McCord 0 Bellaire, Vasconcellos 0 Jackson*, Bernstein 1/2 Hamermesh, Johnson 1 Barzin

Round 11 (Sunday, August 6): Barzin 1 Mitchell, Hamermesh 1 Johnson, Jackson 1 Bernstein, Bellaire 0 Vasconcellos, Adams 1 McCord, Stephens 0 Steinmeyer, Daly 1 Magri, Suesman 0 Santasiere, Kagan 0 Reshevsky

Round 12 (Monday, August 7): Mitchell 0 Reshevsky*, Santasiere 0 Kagan*, Magri 0 Suesman, Steinmeyer 1 Daly, McCord 0 Stephens, Vasconcellos 1 Adams, Bernstein 1 Bellaire, Johnson 1 Jackson, Barzin 1 Hamermesh

Round 13 (Tuesday, August 8): Hamermesh 1 Mitchell, Jackson 1 Barzin, Bellaire 0 Johnson, Adams 1 Bernstein, Stephens 0 Vasconcellos, Daly 1 McCord, Suesman 1/2 Steinmeyer, Kagan 1 Magri, Reshevsky 1/2 Santasiere*

Round 14 (Tuesday, August 8): Mitchell 0 Santasiere, Magri 0 Reshevsky*, Steinmeyer 1 Kagan, McCord 0 Suesman, Vasconcellos 1 Daly*, Bernstein 1 Stephens, Johnson 0 Adams, Barzin 1 Bellaire, Hamermesh 1/2 Jackson

Round 15 (Wednesday, August 9): Jackson 1 Mitchell, Bellaire 0 Hamermesh, Adams 1 Barzin, Stephens 0 Johnson, Daly 1 Bernstein*, Suesman 1/2 Vasconcellos, Kagan 1 McCord, Reshevsky 1 Steinmeyer*, Santasiere 1 Magri

Round 16 (Wedesday, August 9): Mitchell 1 Magri, Steinmeyer 1/2 Santasiere*, McCord 0 Reshevsky*, Vasconcellos 1/2 Kagan, Bernstein 1/2 Suesman, Johnson 1 Daly, Barzin 1 Stephens, Hamermesh 1 Adams, Jackson 1 Bellaire

Round 17 (Thursday, August 10): Bellaire 1 Mitchell, Adams 1 Jackson*, Stephens 0 Hamermesh, Daly 1 Barzin, Suesman 1 Johnson, Kagan 1 Bernstein, Reshevsky 1 Vasconcellos*, Santasiere 1 McCord, Magri 0 Steinmeyer

A couple of side notes: the 1945 Open was again scheduled for California, which now had the most USCF members of any state. Whether this is because one of their USCF directors happened to be <Humphrey Bogart> is uncertain.

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Sources:

American Chess Bulletin, July/August 1944, p.73-74; September/October 1944, p.105-113. ACB

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, daily reports August 1 - August 11; also, columns of August 3, August 10, August 17, August 24, September 7, September 21, 1944. BDE

Chess Results 1941-1946 / Gino di Felice, p.136.

Chess Review, October 1944, p.10-14. CR

>Los Angeles Times>, August 13, 20, 27, September 17, 24, October 22, 1944; January 28, 1945

New York Times, daily reports, July 30-August 11, 1944

Reshevsky, Samuel. "Reshevsky's best games of chess". New York: Dover, 1948. See collection by <suenteus po 147>, Game Collection: Reshevsky's Best Games of Chess, Vol. I.

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