Held 18 Dec 1955 - 2 Jan 1956 at the Marshall Chess Club. As with the first Rosenwald tournament, this was a six-player double round robin.

Larry Evans Evans won the Marshall Chess Club championship at age 15, played in his first US championship at age 16, and his first Olympiad at 18. He would play for the US team in eight Olympiads from 1950-1976 (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/a4...). Evans had already won a US championship in 1951 ahead of Reshevsky. Evans served as second to Bobby Fischer for the candidate matches leading up to the 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky, but Lombardy replaced Evans for the Spassky match. Evans is best remembered for his columns and books.

Arthur Bisguier Bisguier won the US Championship in 1954. Bisguier would play for the US team in five Olympiads (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/yy...), but is known more for his results in major domestic tournaments than for international events.

Samuel Reshevsky Reshevsky dominated US championship tournaments from its inception in 1936 until Bobby Fischer took over in 1957, with Reshevsky winning every championship he entered, with the exception of the 1951 event, which was won by Evans. Reshevsky played on eight US Olympiad teams from 1937-1974, winning one individual bronze and one gold and one bronze team medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/mg...). With both Isaac Kashdan and Reuben Fine both retired from active play and Fischer yet to emerge as a force, Reshevsky was clearly the dominant player in US chess at the time. This would be a somewhat disappointing result for Reshevsky, losing two games and finishing a half point behind Evans and Bisguier.

Israel Albert Horowitz Horowitz is best known today as the author of numerous chess books. He was longtime owner and editor of <Chess Review> before it was merged with <Chess Life> to become the official US federation magazine. Not remembered much today for his play, he could be a dangerous opponent for anyone. One of Reshevsky's two losses in this tournament was to Horowitz. Horowitz played on four US Olympiad teams, winning two individual and three team gold medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/sw...). Horowitz had an even score against Salomon Flohr in the 1945 and against Isaac Boleslavsky in the 1946 USA vs USSR radio matches. Horowitz generally had modest results in the US championship, but fared better in US Opens, winning in 1936, 1938, 1943.

William Lombardy Lombardy would lose a close match to Reshevsky (2.5-3.5) later in 1956. In 1957 Lombardy would win the World Junior Championship with a perfect 11-0 score. He would also play first board on the US team that won the World Student Team Championship in 1960. Lombardy would play for the US team at seven Olympiads (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/p9...). Lombardy served as second for Bobby Fischer in the 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky.

In his typical time-trouble, Reshevsky missed a mate in one against Evans in Round 4, but won the game eventually anyway. Halfway through the tournament Reshevsky led with 4, followed by Evans at 3½ and Bisguier at 3. Things began to go sideways for Reshevsky in the second half of the tournament, starting with a loss to Horowitz in Round 6 (Reshevsky vs I A Horowitz, 1955). Reshevsky dropped another game in Round 8, this time to Shipman, who played, of all things, a Budapest (Reshevsky vs W Shipman, 1955). This probably should have ended Reshevsky's chances at first, but neither Evans nor Bisguier were setting a blistering pace; Evans drew all of his last five games and Bisguier drew four and won one. Going into the last round Evans and Bisguier were at 5½, with Reshevsky at 5. In the last round Evans drew against Horowitz and Bisguier drew with Shipman. Reshevsky needed to win against Lombardy to tie for first. Despite a long struggle, Reshevsky finally had to fight to hold a draw (Reshevsky vs Lombardy, 1956). It had been Reshevsky's tournament to win, and he almost tied for first despite two unexpected losses.

          Ev Bi Re Ho Lo Sh
Evans     XX == 0= 1= 1= 1= 6
Bisguier  == XX == =1 1= == 6 
Reshevsky 1= == XX 10 == 10 5½
Horowitz  0= =0 01 XX == =1 4½
Lombardy  0= 0= == == XX == 4
Shipman   0= == 01 =0 == XX 4