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0 -- 1951 Wertheim Memorial -- under construction -- missing games submitted 1/16/13 Held 3-17 Jun 1951 at the Manhattan Chess Club to honor former Manhattan Chess Club president Maurice Wertheim, who had died the previous year. There were problems; a number of masters were unavailable for one reason or another, Guimard's plane was held over a day in Puerto Rico, Euwe had to leave on the 18th, Fine, Horowitz, Shainswit, and Kramer (who commuted in daily from Philadelphia!) could only play at night, and Reshevsky had to have four games rescheduled. To cut down on the number of adjournments, the time control was 50 moves in 2½ hours, giving some time to play off adjournments for players that finished early in the 5 hour session. This appears to have been successful; only five games were adjourned in the tournament. Reshevsky played well despite blundering in his game against Euwe (Reshevsky vs Euwe, 1951). Euwe did finish equal second, but his play was too uneven to capture first. Najdorf started slow by drawing his first four games. Had he beaten Reshevsky in the last round, Najdorf would have tied for first, but the game ended in a draw. The remaining grandmaster in the field, Fine, was one of the group carrying on with daily responsibilities in addition to playing in the tournament. Hans Kmoch wrote in <Chess Review>, "Fine's result is more of a miracle than a failure, for he played the entire tournament in a state of exhaustion." This was Fine's last professional tournament. At the closing ceremonies Al Bisno, new president of the Manhattan Chess Club, announced negotiations had been concluded for a match between Reshevsky and Najdorf, with games to be held in both the US and Argentina. table[ R N E F E H B G O B K S 1: Reshevsky, Samuel Herman X = 0 = 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 8 2: Najdorf, Miguel = X 1 1 = = = = = 1 = 1 7½ 3: Euwe, Max 1 0 X 1 0 = 1 1 = = 1 1 7½ 4: Fine, Reuben = 0 0 X = 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 7 5: Evans, Larry Melvyn 0 = 1 = X 1 1 0 = 0 1 1 6½ 6: Horowitz, Israel Albert = = = 0 0 X 1 1 = = 1 = 6 7: Byrne, Robert E 0 = 0 = 0 0 X 1 1 1 1 1 6 8: Guimard, Carlos Enrique 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 X 1 1 1 = 5 9: O'Kelly de Galway, Alberic = = = 0 = = 0 0 X = = 1 4½ 10: Bisguier, Arthur Bernard 0 0 = 0 1 = 0 0 = X = = 3½ 11: Kramer, George Mortimer 0 = 0 = 0 0 0 0 = = X 1 3 12: Shainswit, George 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 X 1½ ]table 66 games, 1951 0 -- 5th Correspondence World Championship Final --under construction-- The 5th ICCF Correspondence World Championship Final ran 1965-1968. Berliner won the 5th ICCF finals by a previously unseen three-point margin. He had won his qualifying section by a score of 6-0 and his semifinal section by a score of 11.5-.5. His win against Estrin (Estrin vs Berliner, 1965) was one of the most famous in ICCF competition. Estrin was a recognized expert in the Two Knight's Defense and would win the 7th Correspondence World Championship. **submitted games** Husak/Rokhlin Borisenko withdrew from the tournament. His games against Hybl, Rokhlin, Altshuler, and Stern are not available. table[ B H H Z D A E N R R A S E M E N B 01 USA Berliner,Hans . ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14 02 CSR Hybl,Jaroslav ½ . 1 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 11 03 CSR Husak,Karel ½ 0 . 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 04 URS Zagorovsky,Vladimir ½ 1 1 . ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 10 05 GER De Carbonnel,Heinz 0 ½ ½ ½ . ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 10 06 URS Abramson,M. 0 0 1 ½ ½ . 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 9.5 07 AUS Endzelins,Lucius ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 . ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 9 08 DEN Nielsen,Julius 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 9 09 CSR Richter,J. 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 7.5 10 URS Rokhlin,Yacob 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 7.5 11 URS Altshuler,Roman 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ . 0 1 1 0 1 1 7.5 12 DDR Stern,Werner 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 . 0 ½ 1 1 1 7 13 URS Estrin,Yacov 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 . 0 1 1 1 6 14 ENG Messere,Ken 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 . 0 1 1 5.5 15 SVE Ericson,Arne 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 1 . 0 1 5 16 SVE Nyman,Sture 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 . 1 4 17 URS Borisenko,Georgy 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 2.5 ]table 131 games, 1965-1967 0 -- 7th Correspondence World Championship Final -- under construction -- Estrin-Boey should be Boey-Estrin (correction slip submitted) table[ E B Z R K Y B E S T D C Z Z L N N 01 URS Estrin,Yacov . 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 12 02 BEL Boey,Josef 0 . ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 11½ 03 URS Zagorovsky,Vladimir 0 ½ . 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 11 04 ENG Richardson,Keith Bevan 1 ½ 0 . ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 11 05 POL Krzyszton,Jerzy ½ 0 ½ ½ . ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 0 9½ 06 URS Yudovich,Mikhail 0 1 ½ ½ ½ . ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 9½ 07 YUG Brglez,Frantisek 0 0 0 1 1 ½ . 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 9 08 SVE Ekstrom,Folke ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 . 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 9 09 SVE Sundin,Arvid ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 . ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8½ 10 DDR Thiele, Erich ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ . 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 8½ 11 URS Dubinin,Piotr ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 . ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 8½ 12 GER Cording,Harm ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ . ½ 0 1 ½ 1 7½ 13 URS Zagorovsky,Mikhail 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ . 1 ½ 1 1 7 14 CSR Zapletal,Jindrich 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 . ½ 1 1 5 15 YUG Letic,Stevan 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ . ½ 1 4½ 16 DEN Nielsen,Julius 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ . 1 3 17 CSR Necesany,Zdenek 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 1 ]table 136 games, 1972 000 -- 1900 Manhattan CC ** under construction ** A double round robin held at the Manhattan Chess Club 10/22/1900 - 11/13/1900. All of the participants except Lipschutz were members of the US cable match team. The big surprise was Marshall's collapse, especially after Marshall had done so well in Paris back in the spring, finishing equal third with Macrozy behind Lasker and Pillsbury. table[ 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Lipschutz XX 11 0= 11 =1 11 8 2 Showalter 00 XX 1= 11 11 =1 7 3 Hodges 1= 0= XX 00 == 11 5 4 Hymes 00 00 11 XX == 11 5 5 Baird =0 00 == == XX 01 3.5 6 Marshall 00 =0 00 10 10 XX 2.5 ]table 30 games, 1900 000 -- 4th Correspondence World Championship F --under construction-- The 4th ICCF Correspondence Chess World Championship Final ran 1962-1965. table[ Z B A N D C T L A L B D S 01 URS Zagorovsky,Vladimir . ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 9.5 02 URS Borisenko,Georgy ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 8.5 03 AUS Arlauskas,Romanas ½ ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 7.5 04 SVE Nyman,Sture 0 ½ ½ . ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 7 05 URS Dubinin,Piotr 0 0 ½ ½ . 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 6.5 06 BEL Coolen,J. ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 . 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 5.5 07 URS Tolush,Aleksandr 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 . ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 5.5 08 SVE Lundqvist,Ake ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ . 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 5 09 PAK Ahmad,Iqbal 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 0 . 1 0 0 1 5 10 RIN Lim Hong,Gie 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 . 1 1 ½ 5 11 FRA Bergraser,Volf 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 . 0 1 4.5 12 HUN Dalko,Nandor 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 1 . ½ 4.5 13 AUS Salm,Max ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ . 4 ]table 77 games, 1962 000 --- Reshevsky's first tournament ** under construction ** submitted 2/8/13 Bigelow-Lasker 0-1 These games appear to be unavailable: Round 1 Bernstein/Janowski Round 2 Bernstein/Bigelow Round 4 Jaffe/Bigelow table[ 1 Lasker, Edward X 1 1 1 0 1 4 2 Jaffe, Charles 0 X 1 1 ½ ½ 3 3 Bernstein, Jacob 0 0 X ½ ½ 1 2 4 Bigelow, Horace 0 0 ½ X 1 ½ 2 5 Janowski, Dawid 1 ½ ½ 0 X 0 2 6 Reshevsky, Samuel 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 X 2 ]table 11 games, 1922 1911 New York Masters Organized by American Chess Bulletin, the 1911 New York Masters was designed as both a strong national tournament as well as a warmup for Marshall and Capablanca prior to the 1911 San Sebastian tournament. The dates of 1/22/1911 - 2/3/1911 were chosen and no rest days scheduled with this in mind. Capablanca could not arrive from Havana to play any sooner than 1/22 and both Capablanca and Marshall had to leave on 2/4. Most games were played at the Cafe Boulevard, but Rounds 8-11 were played at New York chess clubs that helped sponsor the tournament (Manhattan CC, Staten Island CC, Brooklyn CC, and Rice CC). The time control was 36 moves in 2 hours and 18 moves per hour after that. Games began at 11:30 AM with a meal break at 5:30 PM and resumed at 7:30 PM. Marshall played solidly, losing no games and giving up four draws. In Round 4, Capablanca played a dubious gambit against Black (Capablanca vs R T Black, 1911) and could not recover from a poor opening. Despite a strong finish (7 wins and one draw in his last 8 games), Capablanca could not quite catch Marshall, and finished second. Of course Capablanca would have his revenge at San Sebastian (1911), winning a much stronger tournament in his European debut. table[ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 1: Marshall, Frank James X = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 10 2: Capablanca, Jose Raul = X = = 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 9.5 3: Chajes, Oscar = = X 1 0 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 9 4: Jaffe, Charles 0 = 0 X 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 9 5: Johner, Paul F = 0 1 0 X 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 6.5 6: Walcott, George H 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 1 0 = 1 1 1 6.5 7: Black, Roy Turnbull 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 1 0 0 1 1 1 5 8: Smith, Magnus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1 1 1 1 5 9: Hodges, Albert Beauregard 0 0 = 0 1 1 1 0 X = = 0 0 4.5 10: Tennenwurzel, Edward 0 0 0 = 1 = 1 0 = X 0 = = 4.5 11: Kreymbourg, Alfred = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 X 0 1 3 12: Baird, David Graham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 X = 3 13: Morris, William G 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 = X 2.5 ]table 78 games, 1911 1932 Pasadena -- under construction -- The California Chess Congress was held at the Hotel Maryland in Pasadena. table[ A K D R S B B F F R A F 1 Alekine X 1 0 1 1 1 1 = = = 1 1 8½ 2 Kashdan 0 X = 1 1 = = 1 = = 1 1 7½ 3 Dake 1 = X 0 = = = 1 = 1 0 = 6 4 Reshevsky 0 0 1 X = 0 1 = 1 0 1 1 6 5 Steiner 0 0 = = X 1 = 1 1 = 1 0 6 6 Borochow 0 = = 1 0 X 0 0 1 1 1 = 5½ 7 Bernstein 0 = = 0 = 1 X 0 = = = 1 5 8 Factor = 0 0 = 0 1 1 X = 0 = 1 5 9 Fine = = = 0 0 0 = = X 1 = 1 5 10 Reinfeld = = 0 1 = 0 = 1 0 X 0 1 5 11 Araiza Munoz 0 0 1 0 0 0 = = = 1 X 0 3½ 12 Fink 0 0 = 0 1 = 0 0 0 0 1 X 3 ]table 47 games, 1932 1936 US Championship For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). I have not found these four games, despite rounding up the usual suspects: Round 8 -- Denker-Treysman 0-1 Round 10 -- Horowitz-Kupchik draw Round 13 -- Morton-Hanauer draw Round 13 -- Bernstein-Horowitz draw This was the first USCF-sponsored tournament for the US championship. Frank James Marshall finally bowed to the inevitability of a transition from match play for the US championship to an invitational tournament. After he won the title from Showalter in 1909 (Game Collection: Marshall -- Showalter 1909 match), Marshall defended it only once, in 1923 (Game Collection: Marshall -- Ed. Lasker 1923 match). This lack of activity, due in part to the inability of potential challengers to raise sufficient funds to meet Marshall's conditions, fueled the demand for a championship tournament held on a regular basis. At first, Marshall said he would play, but as the tournament became less of an idea and more of a reality, Marshall formally resigned his title and announced he would not play in the tournament. The Marshall Chess Club donated a trophy for the US championship named the <Frank J. Marshall trophy>. Dake, Fine, Horowitz, Kashdan, Kevitz, Kupchik, Reshevsky, and H. Steiner were all seeded directly into the tournament. Edward Lasker was to be seeded as well, but he did not play. The remaining players had to earn a spot by finishing in one of the top two places in a 12-player qualifying section. Factor and Simonson qualified out of Section A, Adams and Denker qualified out of Section B, Bernstein and Treysman qualified out of Section C, and Hanauer and Morton qualified out of Section D. The finals were held at the Hotel Astor in New York 25 Apr - 16 May 1936. Marshall, Hermann Helms, and Fritz Brieger served as tournament directors. THE PLAYERS Winter's Chess Notes has this photo of the players from <Chess Review>: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... Samuel Reshevsky -- Reshevsky was a famous child prodigy who gave up competitive play for several years to focus on his education. After returning to active play in the 1930s, Reshevsky dominated the US championship until the ascendence of Robert James Fischer in the late 1950s. Reshevsky had an unusually long playing career. Reshevsky played on eight US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold, one team bronze, and one individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/mg...). Albert C Simonson -- Simonson was the reserve on the gold-medal US team at the 1933 Folkstone Olympiad (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/ks...). Reuben Fine -- Fine was a world-class player that never won the US championship. His best international result would be equal first with Paul Keres at AVRO 1938. He was invited to the world championship tournament organized in 1948 to pick a successor to Alexander Alekhine, who died while holding the title. Fine decided not to play. He was involved in his graduate work in psychology and only played competitive chess for a few more years after earning his degree. Fine played on three US Olympiad teams, winning three team and one individual gold medal and one individual silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/rn...). George N Treysman -- Treysman was known more for being a strong chess hustler in New York City than a tournament player, although he also played in the 1938 US championship. Isaac Kashdan -- Despite being a world-class player in his day, Kashdan was never able to negotiate a championship match with Marshall and once the tournament began he would never win the US championship. He was robbed of the title in 1942 by an incorrect ruling in a critical game between Reshevsky and Denker, which meant Reshevsky tied Kashdan for first instead of Kashdan winning the tournament outright. Kashdan lost the playoff match to Reshevsky, and that was as close as he would ever come to being US champion. Kashdan took over as chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times> after Steiner's death. Kashdan became an International Arbiter after his active playing days and directed both Game Collection: First Piatigorsky Cup 1963 and Game Collection: Second Piatigorsky Cup 1966. Kashdan played on five US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals, one team and one individual silver medal, and two individual bronze medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/vx...). Arthur William Dake -- Dake was on three gold-medal US Olympiad teams, winning one individual gold and one individual silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/u4...). Abraham Kupchik -- Two of Kupchik's best results were at Lake Hopatcong; 1923, where he tied with Marshall for first, and 1926, where he finished second behind Capablanca. He also drew a match (+1 -1 =4) with Carlos Torre Repetto in New York in 1924. Kupchik played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team gold and an individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/3z...). A brief summary of Kupchik's career along with a photo of him playing Capablanca at Lake Hopatcong is at: http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/... Alexander Kevitz -- Kevitz was Manhattan Chess Club champion numerous times and played on several US teams in international (non-Olympiad) matches. Israel Albert Horowitz -- Horowitz was long-time editor of <Chess Review>, chess editor of the <New York Times> for many years, author of a number of chess books, and a fixture in US tournaments, particularly those in the northeast. He won the US Open in 1936, 1938, and 1943. Horowitz played on four US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/sw...). Samuel D Factor -- Factor was active in Chicago-area chess and active in organizing precursors to the USCF. Factor was the nephew of cosmetics businessman <Max Factor>. Factor played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/2s...). Herman Steiner -- Steiner was long-time chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times>. He founded a chess club attended by various celebrity chessplayers. Steiner was the only US player to have a plus score in the 1945 USSR-USA radio match (Game Collection: 1945. USSR vs USA (Radio match)). Steiner won the 1948 US championship ahead of Kashdan. Steiner played on four US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold medal, and one team and one individual silver medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/53...). Arnold Denker -- Denker would win the 1944 US championship ahead of Fine, Horowitz and Steiner. He successfully defended his title in 1946 in a match with Herman Steiner. Later in life he became very active in chess organization in the US and the <Denker Tournament of High School Champions> is named in his honor. Sidney Norman Bernstein -- Bernstein was active in and around New York City and played in eight US championship tournaments. Milton Loeb Hanauer -- Hanauer played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/7x...). Weaver Warren Adams -- Although a strong US master of his day, Adams is most remembered for his controversial ideas about White's opening advantage. He won the 1946 US Open and played in five US championships. Harold Morton -- Morton was New England champion several times and was also Horowitz's business partner at <Chess Review> at the time of his death. The two were on an exhibition and promotional tour in the midwest in 1940 when they were involved in an automobile accident in Iowa. Morton was killed and Horowitz seriously injured. THE CROSSTABLE table[ R S F T K D K K H F S D B H A M Reshevsky X = = 1 1 1 = 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 11.5 Simonson = X 1 1 1 0 = = = 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 11 Fine = 0 X 1 1 = = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 10.5 Treysman 0 0 0 X 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 10.5 Kashdan 0 1 0 0 X = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 10 Dake 0 = = 0 = X 1 = = 1 0 1 = 1 1 1 9 Kupchik = = = = 0 0 X 1 = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 9 Kevitz 0 = = 0 = = 0 X 1 0 0 1 1 = 1 1 7.5 Horowitz 1 0 = = 0 = = 0 X 1 1 0 = 1 0 = 7 Factor 0 1 = 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 1 = 0 1 1 = 6.5 Steiner 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 0 0 X 0 1 = 1 1 6 Denker 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 X = 1 1 = 6 Bernstein 1 0 0 = 0 = = 0 = 1 0 = X = 0 0 5 Hanauer 0 0 0 0 1 0 = = 0 0 = 0 = X 1 = 4.5 Adams 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 X 1 3 Morton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = 1 = 0 X 3 ]table THE RACE Reshevsky would dominate this early period of US championship tournaments, but he had a difficult time of it in this first one, losing two games and drawing three, winning by a half point with a strong finish. Even then, he needed a bit of last minute help from a couple of opponents. ROUND 1 Denker and Fine drew. Reshevsky, Horowitz, Kashdan, Steiner, Bernstein, Dake, and Treysman all won. ROUND 2 Dake, Horowitz, Kashdan, and Treysman all won to lead with 2-0. Denker and Fine won to join Reshevsky and Steiner, who drew Simonson and Kupchik, respectively, at 1.5-.5. Reshevsky was lucky to not have lost and this would have made a huge difference in the tournament had he done so. ROUND 3 Kashdan beat Horowitz to take sole possesion of the lead at 3-0. Dake, Fine, and Steiner all won to keep within a half point of the lead. Reshevsky lost to Bernstein, which put him a game and a half behind Kashdan. ROUND 4 Kashdan won again, staying alone in the lead at 4-0. Treysman won, keeping him a half point behind Kashdan. Fine and Dake both drew, so they dropped to a full point behind Kashdan. Reshevsky lost another game, this time to Horowitz. He was now two and a half games behind Kashdan. ROUND 5 Kashdan lost to Hanauer and Treysman lost to Simonson. This allowed Dake, Fine, Horowitz, and Steiner to close within a half point of the lead. Reshevsky again had a close call against Denker, but managed to win. ROUND 6 Kashdan won again, as did Dake and Horowitz, maintaining their positions among the leaders. However Fine drew to drop to a full point off the lead and Steiner lost, dropping to a game and a half behind Kashdan. Reshevsky won, maintaining his position a game and a half behind Kashdan. ROUND 7 Kashdan lost again, this time to Fine. When Dake won, he took sole possession of the lead. Horowitz drew, which put him with Fine and Kashdan, a half point behind Dake. Reshevsky won, bringing him to one point off the lead. ROUND 8 Reshevsky beat Kashdan, and this is probably where Kashdan missed his best chance to win the tournament. Dake and Fine both won, so Dake kept the lead and Fine was the only player within a half point, but Reshevsky and Treysman were both one point behind Dake. ROUND 9 Reshevsky drew with Fine and Dake drew with Kashdan. Treysman won, so he was the only player among the leaders to move up, closing to a half point behind Dake. Simonson won, although Morton had the better game. ROUND 10 A pivotal round where Reshevsky beat Dake and Simonson beat Fine. Treysman won, putting himself in the lead for the first time, with Dake, Reshevsky, and Simonson a half game behind. ROUND 11 Treysman won against Kashdan, putting Kashdan out of contention. Dake and Fine drew. Reshevsky and Simonson both won, so they still trailed Treysman by a half game. ROUND 12 Reshevsky beat Treysman to take the lead. Simonson managed to get a win out of a probable draw against Horowitz to share the lead with Reshevsky. Fine won, but Dake lost to Steiner in a long, three-session game, so Dake's hopes began to fade. ROUND 13 Reshevsky, Simonson, Treysman, and Fine all won, so the relative positions remained unchanged with only two rounds remaining. ROUND 14 Reshevsky, Simonson, and Treysman all won, but Fine could only draw against Horowitz, so Fine fell out of the running for first. ROUND 15 Reshevsky's fate depended on Simonson and Treysman. Treysman lost to Fine and Simonson tried too hard to force the issue against Factor and lost. With losses by both of his closest competitors in the final round, Reshevsky was able to take a draw in a better position and won the first USCF-sponsored tournament for the US championship. Even so, Soltis and McCormick quote Reshevsky that, for him, "the tournament will long remain something of a nightmare." 116 games, 1936 1938 US Championship -- under construction -- For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). We are still missing games from this tournament. <insert missing list here> Round 1 Shainswit-Treysman 0-1 Suesman-Morton Dake-Bernstein draw Round 2 Bernstein-Santasiere draw Round 3 Dake-Simonson Santasiere-Morton Horowitz-Polland Round 4 Hanauer-Morton Round 5 Polland-Bernstein draw Shainswit-Santasiere draw Kupchik-Horowitz draw Round 6 Simonson-Cohen Morton-Dake 0-1 Polland-Santasiere Treysman-Suesman Shainswit-Kupchik draw Round 7 Suesman-Hanauer 1-0 Horowitz-Treysman 1-0 Dake-Polland 1-0 Cohen-Morton 1-0 Round 8 Santasiere-Kupchik draw Cohen-Hanauer draw Round 9 Polland/Morton Cohen-Kupchik 0-1 Round 10 Treysman-Simonson 0-1 Dake/Suesman Round 11 Suesman-Kupchik 0-1 Horowitz-Shainswit Bernstein-Morton Round 12 Cohen-Suesman Bernstein-Kupchik Morton-Treysman Round 13 Treysman-Bernstein 0-1 Reinfeld/Hanauer Shainswit-Cohen draw Polland-Simonson Round 14 Dake/Cohen draw Horowtiz/Bernstein Shainswit-Polland Round 15 Bernstein-Suesman Morton-Shainswit Polland-Hanauer Round 16 Shainswit-Suesman draw Polland-Cohen 1-0 Simonson/Bernstein Round 17 Bernstein-Cohen draw Simonson-Santasiere draw Morton-Horowitz draw Polland-Suesman 1-0 Treysman-Kupchik draw Hanauer-Shainswit 1-0 The second USCF-sponsored tournament for the US championship, held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center, New York, 2-24 Apr 1938. After such a long interval between championship matches in 1909 and 1923 and another to the first USCF tournament in 1936, to have the second championship tournament only two years later must have seemed like real progress. As in 1936, some players were seeded directly into the finals and others had to earn a spot by playing in qualifying sections. Dake, Fine, Horowitz, Kashdan, Kupchik, Morton, Polland, Reshevsky, Simonson, and Treysman were all seeded directly into the finals. Hanauer, Cohen and Santasiere qualified out of Section A. Barnie Frank Winkelman withdrew after Round 4 and his three completed games were cancelled. Santasiere had beaten him, and so it was decided to advance three players out of the section instead of two as planned. Bernstein and Sueseman qualified out of Section B. Reinfeld and Shainswit qualified out of Section C. THE PLAYERS Samuel Reshevsky -- Reshevsky was a famous child prodigy who gave up competitive play for several years to focus on his education. After returning to active play in the 1930s, Reshevsky dominated the US championship until the ascendence of Robert James Fischer in the late 1950s. Reshevsky had an unusually long playing career. Reshevsky played on eight US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold, one team bronze, and one individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/mg...). Reuben Fine -- Fine was a world-class player that never won the US championship. His best international result would be equal first with Paul Keres at AVRO 1938. He was invited to the world championship tournament organized in 1948 to pick a successor to Alexander Alekhine, who died while holding the title. Fine decided not to play. He was involved in his graduate work in psychology and only played competitive chess for a few more years after earning his degree. Fine played on three US Olympiad teams, winning three team and one individual gold medal and one individual silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/rn...). Albert C Simonson -- Simonson was the reserve on the gold-medal US team at the 1933 Folkstone Olympiad (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/ks...). Simonson also finished second in the 1936 US championship, a half point behind Reshevsky and a half point ahead of Fine. Israel Albert Horowitz -- Horowitz was long-time editor of <Chess Review>, chess editor of the <New York Times> for many years, author of a number of chess books, and a fixture in US tournaments, particularly those in the northeast. He won the US Open in 1936, 1938, and 1943. Horowitz played on four US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/sw...). Isaac Kashdan -- Despite being a world-class player in his day, Kashdan was never able to negotiate a championship match with Marshall and once the tournament began he would never win the US championship. He was robbed of the title in 1942 by an incorrect ruling in a critical game between Reshevsky and Denker, which meant Reshevsky tied Kashdan for first instead of Kashdan winning the tournament outright. Kashdan lost the playoff match to Reshevsky, and that was as close as he would ever come to being US champion. Kashdan took over as chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times> after Steiner's death. Kashdan became an International Arbiter after his active playing days and directed both Game Collection: First Piatigorsky Cup 1963 and Game Collection: Second Piatigorsky Cup 1966. Kashdan played on five US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals, one team and one individual silver medal, and two individual bronze medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/vx...). Arthur William Dake -- Dake was on three gold-medal US Olympiad teams, winning one individual gold and one individual silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/u4...). David S Polland -- Polland won both the NY state championship and the US Open (4th American Chess Federation) in 1937. In 1938, he tied for 1st with Frank Marshall in the Marshall Chess Club championship. Abraham Kupchik -- Two of Kupchik's best results were at Lake Hopatcong; 1923, where he tied with Marshall for first, and 1926, where he finished second behind Capablanca. He also drew a match (+1 -1 =4) with Carlos Torre Repetto in New York in 1924. Kupchik played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team gold and an individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/3z...). A brief summary of Kupchik's career along with a photo of him playing Capablanca at Lake Hopatcong is at: http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/... Sidney Norman Bernstein -- Bernstein was active in and around New York City and played in eight US championship tournaments. Anthony Santasiere -- Santasiere would win the NY state championship several times and the 1945 US Open. George N Treysman -- Treysman was known more for being a strong chess hustler in New York City than a tournament player, although he also played in the 1936 US championship. S S Cohen -- Samuel S. Cohen was an editor at <Chess Review> for a number of years in the 1930s. Milton Loeb Hanauer -- Hanauer played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/7x...). Fred Reinfeld -- Reinfeld is mostly remembered today for his numerous beginner's books, but he won the NY state championship twice and played in several US championships. George Shainswit -- Shainswit played in five US championships and was a member of the 1950 US Olympiad team (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/b7...). Harold Morton -- Morton was New England champion several times and was also Horowitz's business partner at <Chess Review> at the time of his death. The two were on an exhibition and promotional tour in the midwest in 1940 when they were involved in an automobile accident in Iowa. Morton was killed and Horowitz seriously injured. Walter Bradford Suesman -- Suesman was Rhode Island champion numerous times and New England champion several times. He played in two US championships. THE CROSSTABLE table[ R F S H K D P K B S T C H R S M S Reshevsky X = 1 = 1 1 1 = = 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 13 Fine = X = 1 1 1 = 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 12.5 Simonson 0 = X 1 = = = 0 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 11 Horowitz = 0 0 X = 1 = = 1 0 1 1 1 1 = = 1 10 Kashdan 0 0 = = X 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 = 1 1 1 0 9.5 Dake 0 0 = 0 1 X 1 0 = 1 = = = = 1 1 1 9 Polland 0 = = = 0 0 X 1 = = 0 1 1 = 1 1 1 9 Kupchik = 0 1 = 0 1 0 X = = = 1 = 1 = 0 1 8.5 Bernstein = 0 0 0 0 = = = X = 1 = 1 = 0 1 1 7.5 Santasiere 0 1 = 1 0 0 = = = X 0 0 = = = = 1 7 Treysman 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 = 0 1 X 1 1 = 1 0 = 7 Cohen = 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 1 0 X = 0 = 1 1 6.5 Hanauer 0 1 = 0 = = 0 = 0 = 0 = X 0 1 = 1 6.5 Reinfeld = 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = = = 1 1 X 0 = 1 6.5 Shainswit 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 1 = 0 = 0 1 X 1 = 5.5 Morton 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 0 = 1 0 = = 0 X 1 5 Suesman 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 X 2 ]table THE RACE ROUND 1 Hanauer had the bye. Reshevsky beat Polland, Fine won against Kupchik, Simonson beat Horowitz, Kashdan won against Santasiere, Treysman beat Shainswit, and Reinfeld won against Cohen. Dake and Bernstein had the only draw of the round. ROUND 2 Cohen had the bye. Reshevsky won against Morton, Fine beat Shainswit, Simonson won against Suesman, and Treysman beat Hanauer, so they all shared the lead at 2. Kashdan drew against Horowitz, so he dropped a half point off the pace, now in the second point group with Reinfeld, who drew with Dake. ROUND 3 Shainswit had the bye. Reshevsky beat Treysman, while Fine won against Suesman, so Reshevsky and Fine were now in the lead with 3 points. Simonson drew with Dake, so both were in third with 2.5. In the first surprising result of the tournament, Kashdan lost to Cohen (S Cohen vs Kashdan, 1938), a difficult marathon 102-move game, dropping Kashdan to a point and a half behind the leaders. ROUND 4 Fine had the bye. Reshevsky drew with Bernstein. Simonson beat Shainswit, so now Reshevsky and Simonson were leading with 3.5. Treysman won against Polland, and Reinfeld beat Suesman, so Treysman and Reinfeld now joined Fine tied for third with 3.0. Kashdan won against Kupchik and Dake beat Santasiere, so now Kashdan, Dake, and Bernstein were a point off the lead with 2.5. ROUND 5 Simonson had the bye. Reshevsky beat Suesman, Fine won against Reinfeld, and Treysman beat Cohen. Kashdan won against Morton, but Bernstein drew against Polland and Dake drew with Hanauer. Reshevsky was now alone in first with 4.5, with Fine and Treysman tied for second at 4. Kashdan and Simonson were tied for fourth with 3.5. Dake and Reinfeld were at 3. ROUND 6 Bernstein had the bye. Reshevsky beat Hanauer, Fine won against Horowitz, Kashdan beat Reinfeld, and Simonson won against Cohen. Treysman could only draw with the tailender Suesman, and this is where Treysman began to drop out of the race. Dake beat Morton. Reshevsky and Fine were still the leaders, with 5.5 and 5 points, respectively. Kashdan, Simonson, and Treysman were still a point behind Reshevsky, with Dake a half point behind them. Fine and Simonson had already taken their byes, but Reshevsky and Kashdan had not. ROUND 7 Kupchik had the bye. Reshevsky won against Shainswit, Simonson beat Reinfeld, Kashdan won against Bernstein, and Dake beat Polland. It was now Fine's turn to lose a game, this round to Santasiere. Reshevsky was still in alone in first at 6.5, followed by Kashdan and Simonson at 5.5, and Fine and Dake at 5. ROUND 8 Suesman had the bye. Reshevsky drew with Horowitz, giving the others a chance to make up some ground. Fine won against Bernstein, Simonson beat Morton, Kashdan won against Polland, and Dake beat Shainswit. Reshevsky still lead at 7, but now Kashdan and Fine were only a half point back at 6.5, with Fine and Dake at 6. ROUND 9 Horowitz had the bye. Reshevsky won against Dake. Kashdan beat Treysman and Fine drew with Simonson. Reshevsky was at 8, Kashdan at 7.5, Simonson at 7, Fine at 6.5, and Dake at 6. ROUND 10 Polland had the bye. Reshevsky gave up another draw, this round to Cohen. Fine beat Morton and Simonson won against Treysman. Kashdan drew against Hanauer, so he missed an opportunity to pull even with Reshevsky. Dake beat Suesman. Reshevsky was still leading with 8.5, followed by Kashdan and Simonson at 8, Fine at 7.5, and Dake at 7. ROUND 11 Reshevsky had the bye. Fine won against Cohen, while Dake-Treysman and Kashdan-Simonson were both draws. There was now a four-way tie for first at 8.5 between Reshevsky, Fine, Simonson, and Kashdan, although Kashdan had not yet taken his bye, so he had one less game to play compared to the other frontrunners. Dake was a half point behind with 8. ROUND 12 Santasiere had the bye. Reshevsky drew with Reinfeld, Simonson drew with Hanauer, and Fine drew with Polland, but Kashdan beat Shainswit, giving Kashdan a half point lead over Reshevsky, Fine, and Simonson. Dake lost to Horowitz, which dropped him two points off the pace. Horowitz, who had a poor start with only 4.5 points by the end of Round 11, began a strong finish (5.5/6) by beating Dake. ROUND 13 Morton had the bye. Reshevsky beat Santasiere and Fine won against Kashdan (Fine vs Kashdan, 1938). This was the start of a horrible finish for Kashdan, who would lose his remaining three games and drop from temporary possession of first to fourth place. Simonson drew with Polland and Dake lost to Kupchik. That left Reshevsky and Fine at 10, with Simonson and Kashdan at 9.5. Horowitz beat Suesman, so began to creep back on to the radar with 6.5. ROUND 14 Treysman had the bye. Reshevsky won against Simonson. The other contenders also lost; Fine lost to Hanauer in a critical game he could ill afford to lose (M L Hanauer vs Fine, 1938), while Kashdan continued his freefall by losing to tailender Suesman (W Suesman vs Kashdan, 1938). This was Suesman's only win in the tournament. Reshevsky, again getting late-round help from his nearest competitors, was back in the lead with 11, followed by Fine at 10, and Simonson and Kashdan at 9.5. Horowitz won again, this time against Bernstein. ROUND 15 Dake had the bye. Reshevsky beat Kashdan and Fine won against Treysman, but Simonson lost to Kupchik. Horowitz beat Reinfeld. Reshevsky was first with 12, Fine second with 11, Simonson and Kashdan were tied for third with 9.5, and Horowitz was fifth with 8.5. ROUND 16 Kashdan had the bye. Fine won against Dake and Simonson beat Bernstein. Reshevsky would play Fine in the last round (17), so Reshevsky only needed to draw his last two games to win the tournament. Reshevsky drew with Kupchik, which meant Fine would have to play for a win in Round 17 against Reshevsky in order to tie for first. Horowitz won his fourth straight game, this time against Hanauer. Reshevsky was first with 12.5, Fine second with 12, Simonson third with 10.5, and Kashdan and Horowitz tied for fourth with 9.5. ROUND 17 Reinfeld had the bye. Fine was unable to achieve any more than a draw against Reshevsky (Fine vs Reshevsky, 1938), so Reshevsky won his second US championship tournament. Fine finished clear second. Simonson drew with Santasiere, so Simonson finished third. Horowitz drew with Morton, but Kashdan lost yet again, this time to Dake, so Horowitz managed to finish fourth, just ahead of Kashdan. 85 games, 1938 1939 Leningrad/Moscow The Leningrad/Moscow tournament appears to have been pulled together on fairly short notice. <Chess Review> wrote: "The Soviet press spoke of the event as a <training tournament>. They considered it a preliminary to the regular Russian Championship Tournament!" The first half was held in Leningrad and the second half was held in Moscow. Gordon's book on Reshevsky gives the tournament dates as 3 Jan - 1 Feb 1939, but no dates for individual rounds. The surprising news was that Flohr won so convincingly over a very strong field, especially after finishing last at AVRO in Nov 1938, and being virtually "written off" as a top-flight player. Panov had a missing game against Flohr in Round 2, and missing games against Kan, Goglidze, Reshevsky, Tolush, and Romanowsky in Rounds 13-17, suggesting an early forfeit and eventual withdrawal. table[ F R L M L R R B A K K S K G T R B P Flohr X = = = 1 = 1 0 1 1 = = = = 1 1 1 1 12.0 Reshevsky = X = 0 = 0 = 1 = = 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 10.5 Lilienthal = = X = = 1 = = = 1 1 = = = 0 = 1 = 10.0 Makogonov = 1 = X = 1 0 = = = = = 1 = = = = 1 10.0 Levenfish 0 = = = X 1 1 = = = 1 = 0 = 1 = 1 = 10.0 Ragozin = 1 0 0 0 X 0 = 1 0 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 10.0 Rabinovich 0 = = 1 0 1 X = = 1 0 = = 1 0 1 1 = 9.5 Belavenets 1 0 = = = = = X = 0 1 0 = = 1 1 = 1 9.5 Alatortsev 0 = = = = 0 = = X = = 0 1 1 1 1 = = 9.0 Kan 0 = 0 = = 1 0 1 = X = = = 0 = 1 1 1 9.0 Konstantinopolsky = 1 0 = 0 0 1 0 = = X 0 1 1 = = = 1 8.5 Smyslov = 0 = = = 0 = 1 1 = 1 X 0 1 0 = 0 = 8.0 Keres = = = 0 1 0 = = 0 = 0 1 X = 1 = = = 8.0 Goglidze = 0 = = = = 0 = 0 1 0 0 = X = 1 = 1 7.5 Tolush 0 0 1 = 0 0 1 0 0 = = 1 0 = X 0 1 1 7.0 Romanovsky 0 0 = = = 0 0 0 0 0 = = = 0 1 X 1 1 6.0 Bondarevsky 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = = 0 = 1 = = 0 0 X 1 5.0 Panov 0 0 = 0 = = = 0 = 0 0 = = 0 0 0 0 X 3.5 ]table 147 games, 1939 1940 US Championship For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). Round 5 Kashdan-Woliston was a unplayed forfeit. Held in New York, 27 Apr - 19 May 1940 at the Hotel Astor. Time control was 36 moves in 2 hours and 18 moves per hour thereafter. Play was scheduled for two sessions per day, five days a week. L. Walter Stephens directed. As in 1936 and 1938, some players were directly seeded into the tournament and others had to earn a spot by finishing in the top two places in qualifying sections. Reshevsky, Fine, Kashdan, Simonson, Polland, Adams, Hanauer, Woliston, and Littman were directly seeded into the tournament. The preliminary events were more closely contested than in prior years. Shainswit won Section A, but Pinkus tied with Hallman for second and had to win a two-game tiebreaker match to advance to the finals. Bernstein won Section B, but Green and Soudakoff tied for second and decided on a coin toss to determine who advanced. Green won the toss and advanced to the finals. Seidman won Section C, and Reinfeld and Olaf Ulvestad tied for second and also decided on a coin toss, which Reinfeld won. Denker found at the last minute that he was available to play after all and the players voted to allow him to be seeded in as an entry. THE PLAYERS Samuel Reshevsky -- Reshevsky was a famous child prodigy who gave up competitive play for several years to focus on his education. After returning to active play in the 1930s, Reshevsky dominated the US championship until the ascendence of Robert James Fischer in the late 1950s. Reshevsky had an unusually long playing career. Reshevsky played on eight US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold, one team bronze, and one individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/mg...). Reuben Fine -- Fine was a world-class player that never won the US championship. His best international result would be equal first with Paul Keres at AVRO 1938. He was invited to the world championship tournament organized in 1948 to pick a successor to Alexander Alekhine, who died while holding the title. Fine decided not to play. He was involved in his graduate work in psychology and only played competitive chess for a few more years after earning his degree. Fine played on three US Olympiad teams, winning three team and one individual gold medal and one individual silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/rn...). Isaac Kashdan -- Despite being a world-class player in his day, Kashdan was never able to negotiate a championship match with Marshall and once the tournament began he would never win the US championship. He was robbed of the title in 1942 by an incorrect ruling in a critical game between Reshevsky and Denker, which meant Reshevsky tied Kashdan for first instead of Kashdan winning the tournament outright. Kashdan lost the playoff match to Reshevsky, and that was as close as he would ever come to being US champion. Kashdan took over as chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times> after Steiner's death. Kashdan became an International Arbiter after his active playing days and directed both Game Collection: First Piatigorsky Cup 1963 and Game Collection: Second Piatigorsky Cup 1966. Kashdan played on five US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals, one team and one individual silver medal, and two individual bronze medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/vx...). Albert Pinkus -- Pinkus was Manhattan Chess club champion twice, and NY state champion once. Pinkus played in the 1945 USA v USSR radio match. He played in five US championships. Albert C Simonson -- Simonson was the reserve on the gold-medal US team at the 1933 Folkstone Olympiad (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/ks...). Simonson also finished second in the 1936 US championship, a half point behind Reshevsky and a half point ahead of Fine. Abraham Kupchik -- Two of Kupchik's best results were at Lake Hopatcong; 1923, where he tied with Marshall for first, and 1926, where he finished second behind Capablanca. He also drew a match (+1 -1 =4) with Carlos Torre Repetto in New York in 1924. Kupchik played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team gold and an individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/3z...). A brief summary of Kupchik's career along with a photo of him playing Capablanca at Lake Hopatcong is at: http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/... Arnold Denker -- Denker would win the 1944 US championship ahead of Fine, Horowitz and Steiner. He successfully defended his title in 1946 in a match with Herman Steiner. Later in life he became very active in chess organization in the US and the <Denker Tournament of High School Champions> is named in his honor. Sidney Norman Bernstein -- Bernstein was active in and around New York City and played in eight US championship tournaments. David S Polland -- Polland won both the NY state championship and the US Open (4th American Chess Federation) in 1937. In 1938, he tied for 1st with Frank Marshall in the Marshall Chess Club championship. Fred Reinfeld -- Reinfeld is mostly remembered today for his numerous beginner's books, but he won the NY state championship twice and played in several US championships. George Shainswit -- Shainswit played in five US championships and was a member of the 1950 US Olympiad team (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/b7...). Weaver Warren Adams -- Although a strong US master of his day, Adams is most remembered for his controversial ideas about White's opening advantage. He won the 1946 US Open and played in five US championships. Herbert Seidman -- Seidman played in several US championships. He was NY state champion twice and played in the 1945 USA v USSR radio match (board 8). Matthew Green -- Green Milton Loeb Hanauer -- Hanauer played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/7x...). Philip Woliston --Woliston was California state champion. He later changed his name to Philip Geffe. Gustav Littman -- Littman was seeded into the tournament by virtue of being the Southern Chess Association champion. He later changed his name to Gustave Drexel. THE CROSSTABLE table[ R F K P S K D B P R S A S G H W L Reshevsky X = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 = = 1 = = 1 1 1 13 Fine = X = = 1 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.5 Kashdan 0 = X = 1 1 1 = = = 1 0 1 = 1 1 = 10.5 Pinkus 0 = = X 1 = 0 = = = 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 10 Simonson = 0 0 0 X 1 = 0 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 Kupchik 0 1 0 = 0 X = = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 9.5 Denker 0 = 0 1 = = X 1 0 = 0 1 1 1 = 1 1 9.5 Bernstein 0 0 = = 1 = 0 X 1 = = 0 0 1 0 1 1 7.5 Polland 0 = = = 0 = 1 0 X 1 = 1 = 0 1 0 = 7.5 Reinfeld = 0 = = = = = = 0 X = = = = = = 1 7.5 Shainswit = 0 0 0 = = 1 = = = X = = = = 1 = 7.5 Adams 0 0 1 = 0 0 0 1 0 = = X 0 1 = 1 1 7 Seidman = 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = = = 1 X = = 1 1 7 Green = 0 = = 0 0 0 0 1 = = 0 = X = 1 = 6 Hanauer 0 0 0 0 0 = = 1 0 = = = = = X = 1 6 Woliston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 0 0 = X 1 3 Littman 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 X 2 ]table THE RACE ROUND 1 With an odd number of players, there was a bye each round. Bernstein drew the first bye. Fine won against Adams, Kashdan won against Kupchik, and Simonson won against Polland. The other four games were drawn, with Reshevsky starting slowly with a draw against Seidman, who would not have a particularly good tournament. ROUND 2 Reinfeld had the second round bye. Seidman won against Adams, Woliston beat Polland, and Denker won against Littman. Five of the eight games were drawn, the two most important being Fine-Kashdan and Simonson-Reshevsky. This put Fine, Kashdan, Simonson, Seidman, Woliston, and Shainswit in the lead at 1.5. Reshevsky, Pinkus, Denker, Green, and Hanauer trailed a half point back with 1.0. ROUND 3 Shainswit had the bye. Reshevsky scored his first win of the tournament by beating Woliston. Kashdan won against Seidman. Simonson scored against Adams when Adams overlooked a forced mate with a double Rook sacrifice (W Adams vs A Simonson, 1940 27. Rxg7+ Kf8 28. Rg8+ Kxg8 29. Rg1+ Kf8 30. Bg7+ Kg8 31. Bf6+ Kf8 32. Rg8+ Kxg8 33. Qg2+). Green won against Polland. Fine could only draw against Pinkus, so this left Kashdan and Simonson in the lead with 2.5 and Reshevsky, Fine, and Green in the second group with 2.0. ROUND 4 Kupchik had the bye. Kashdan won against Seidman, putting Kashdan alone in first place with 3.5. Fine won against Reinfeld, Pinkus beat Seidman, Hanauer won against Bernstein, Polland won against Denker, and Adams scored the quickest win of the tournament against Woliston in 14 moves. Reshevsky had to settle for another draw, this time against Green. Fine was now in second at 3.0 and Reshevsky, Simonson, Pinkus, Green and Hanauer were a full point behind Kashdan at 2.5. ROUND 5 Littman had the bye. Kashdan score a forfeit win when Woliston was mistakenly under the impression that no game was scheduled and did not appear. Reshevsky won against Denker and, in what would prove to be an important upset, Kupchik beat Fine. Pinkus won against Simonson. Kashdan was still in first with 4.5, followed by Reshevsky and Pinkus at 3.5, and Fine, Hanauer, and Green at 3.0. ROUND 6 Fine was the first front-runner with the bye, so he temporarily lost ground in the race for first. Reshevsky won against Bernstein but Kashdan could only draw against Green and Simonson drew against Reinfeld, who was to be the drawing master of the tournament, eventually drawing 13 of 16 games. Hanauer won against Littman. Kashdan still lead with 5.0, but now Reshevsky and Pinkus trailed by only a half point at 4.5, followed by Hanauer at 4.0. ROUND 7 Hanauer had the bye. Kashdan won against Denker, Simonson beat Kupchik, and Fine won against Seidman. Pinkus drew with Green. Kashdan was still alone in first at 6.0, with Reshevsky at 5.0, Pinkus at 4.5, and Fine, Simonson, and Hanauer at 4.0. ROUND 8 Seidman had the bye. Reshevsky won against Littman and Fine beat Simonson. Denker won against Pinkus. Kashdan could only draw against Bernstein. This was good enough to hold the lead at 6.5. Reshevsky remained close, a half point behind Kashdan at 6.0. While tied with Pinkus at 5.0, Fine was still within striking distance, as he was the only front-runner to have taken his bye. Seidman and Hanauer were tied at 4.0. ROUND 9 Polland had the bye. Kashdan won against Shainswit, Fine beat Woliston, Reshevsky won against Hanauer, and Simonson beat Seidman. Pinkus drew with Bernstein. Kashdan lead with 7.5, followed by Reshevsky at 7.0, Fine at 6.0, Pinkus at 5.5, and Simonson at 5.0. ROUND 10 Simonson had the bye. Fine won against Green, Reshevsky beat Polland, and Pinkus won against Shainswit. Kashdan slipped again, only drawing against the tailender Littman, who would not win a single game in the tournament. Kashdan was now tied for first with Reshevsky at 8.0, with Fine at 7.0, Pinkus at 6.5, and Simonson and Adams at 5.0. ROUND 11 Reshevsky had the bye. Kashdan won against Hanauer, but Fine could only draw against Denker, so Kashdan regained his one and a half point lead over Fine. With no played game, Reshevsky temporarily dropped a point off the pace. Polland beat Adams, Pinkus won against Littman, and Simonson beat Woliston. Kashdan was at 9.0, Reshevsky at 8.0, Fine and Pinkus at 7.5, and Simonson at 6.0. ROUND 12 Woliston had the bye. Fine won against Bernstein and Reshevsky beat Adams. Kashdan gave up another draw, this time to Polland. Simonson beat Green and Pinkus won against Hanauer. Kashdan was still first by a point at 9.5, but he had yet to sit out a round for his bye. Reshevsky was second at 9.0. Fine and Pinkus were third, at 8.5. Simonson was fourth, at 7.0. ROUND 13 Adams had the bye. In one of the most important games of the tournament, Reshevsky beat Kashdan (Kashdan vs Reshevsky, 1940). Fine won against Shainswit. Simonson drew against Denker and Pinkus drew with Polland. Reshevsky was now first at 10.0. Fine and Kashdan were tied for second at 9.5, but both Reshevsky and Fine had taken their byes while Kashdan's bye was not scheduled until Round 15. Pinkus was at 9.0 and Simonson was at 7.5. ROUND 14 Green had the bye. Reshevsky won against Pinkus, Fine beat Littman, but in a critical upset, Adams beat Kashdan (W Adams vs Kashdan, 1940). As Kashdan would take his bye in the next round, this loss ended Kashdan's hopes for first. Simonson lost on time to Bernstein. Reshevsky was first with 11, Fine was second with 10.5, and Kashdan and Pinkus were third with 9.5. Simonson and Denker were at 7.5. ROUND 15 Kashdan had the bye. Fine won against Hanauer, while Reshevsky could only draw against Reinfeld. Simonson drew with Shainswit and Pinkus drew with Adams. Denker won against Green. Reshevsky was tied for first with Fine at 11.5, while Kashdan and Pinkus were tied for third with 9.5. Simonson was at 8.0. ROUND 16 Denker had the bye. Reshevsky won against Kupchik. Fine drew with Polland and Kashdan drew with Pinkus. Simonson beat Littman. Reshevsky was first with 12.5, Fine was second with 12.0, Kashdan and Pinkus were still tied for third with 10.0. Simonson closed to a half point behind at 9.0. ROUND 17 Pinkus had the bye. Reshevsky needed only a draw against Fine to take clear first and drew the game (Fine vs Reshevsky, 1940), winning yet another US championship. As fate would have it, Fine was winning, but threw away most of his advantage with 27. Bf4? instead of 27. Rf4. Fine would come close in various US championships but never take first. This was probably his high-water mark in the championship tournaments in which Reshevsky competed. Reshevsky was the beneficiary of more of these last-round twists of fate in US championships than probably any other player. Kashdan drew against Reinfeld to finish a disappointing third. Simonson won against Hanauer to finish tied for fourth with Pinkus at 10.0. 135 games, 1940 1942 US Championship -- under construction -- For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). We are missing a <lot> of games. Green developed an eye problem that required medical attention and he formally withdrew after Round 12, but he had at least five unplayed games and probably never finished his adjourned game with Horowitz from Round 6. The crosstable from <Chess Review> says he forfeited seven games. Seidman forfeited an unplayed game to Steiner in Round 12. That leaves approximately 112 played games. This was the tournament of the infamous "clock forfeit" incident where director L. Walter Stephens blew the call and refused to reverse his decision (see some of the kibitzing for Reshevsky vs Denker, 1942). Kashdan's report in Chess Review read <"Round 6: Here is the first big break of the tournament. Reshevsky beats Denker in a drawn position when Denker oversteps the time limit. This causes commotion and a near-riot. The spectators and officials all get a look at the clock, which is carried about and handled by all and sundry. There is a wide divergence of opinion, but the referee has ruled and is later upheld by the tournament committee. I beat Altman and leave early, only learning of the excitement the next day."> This more or less cost Kashdan a clear first, and so he was co-champion with Reshevsky until he lost the playoff match some six months later (Game Collection: 1942 US championship playoff match). 44 games, 1942 1942 US championship playoff match For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). The 1942 US championship tournament (Game Collection: 1942 US Championship) saw the first co-winners. Reshevsky and Kashdan tied for first, and it was decided to hold a playoff match. Held about six months after the tournament and planned as a 14-game match, it was ended after 11 games once Reshevsky secured a winning 4-point margin. The first three games were held at Army facilities under the sponsorship of the USO. Games 4 and 6 were held at the Marshall Chess Club and Game 5 was at the Queens Chess Club. The final five games were held at the Henry Hudson Hotel under the sponsorship of <Chess Review>. Kenneth Harkness was the match referee. The time control was 45 moves in 2 hours and 15 minutes. table[ Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Reshevsky 1 0 1 0 1 = 1 = = 1 1 7.5 Kashdan 0 1 0 1 0 = 0 = = 0 0 3.5 Reshevsky +1 0 +1 0 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +4 ]table The first five games were all won by White. In <Game 1>, Fine claimed 26...Qd8?? was the losing move <"The fatal mistake, after he might as well just give up."> and 26...Qxa3 was the only chance. Houdini thinks 26...Qd8 is perfectly fine to keep a rough balance, but 26...Qxa3 27. Nd5 Qa2 28. Rc5 leads to a big advantage for White. Both Fine and Houdini agree that 27...g4? was bad, but Houdini thinks Black still has a playable game after 27...Qxd6 28. Bc5 Qh6 29. Bxf8 Rxf8, whereas Fine thought Black is already lost no matter what. In <Game 2>, Kashdan thought Black began to go wrong with 18...fxe4? when 18...Qxe4 leads to an even ending. While 18...fxe4 was not the best, 20...dxe5 was truly bad, and Black's game completely unraveled from there. In <Game 3>, Reshevsky wrote of 28...Nf8? <"Losing at once, but Black's position was untenable."> Houdini agrees with the assessment of 28...Nf8, but thinks Black still has play after 28...Rdc8. Fine thought <Game 4> to be the best of the match to date. After 20...f6, Fine wrote, <"Black is already strategically lost: his pieces have little mobility, he has no counterplay, the prospects of freeing himself are slight. But Reshevsky can handle such positions with astounding virtuosity. Kashdan deserves all the more credit for pushing his advantage home relentlessly."> After 28...Ne5? things began to go wrong for Black; 28...h6 was the toughest defense. Houdini thinks 31. Bxf6+ throws away most of White's advantage and prefers 31. Ng3 with 32. f5 to follow. Houdini also thinks Black is fine until 39...Be5? and 40...Qc8? at which point Black is lost. <Game 5> was yet another White win. Reshevsky played somewhat speculatively and eventually, with some help from Kashdan, succeeded in driving the Black King out to g6. In time trouble, Kashdan blundered badly with 36...Ne4? Reshevsky thought after 36...Rg1+ 37. Kf3 Rf1+ 38. Kg2 Rf5 39. Rh6+ Kg5 40. Re3 that <"White would still have excellent winning prospects as the Black King is terribly exposed and subject to attack."> Houdini rates the position as equal, but in the heat of battle, especially when time is short, Reshevsky may have a point. Kashdan had twice won against Reshevsky in the first five games and that was no mean feat, as Reshevsky rarely lost in US championship games. However, Kashdan slightly misplayed the opening in <Game 6> (Horowitz thought Kashdan transposed 11. h3 and 12. a4) and got the slightly worse game, but held the draw. <Game 7> (Reshevsky vs Kashdan, 1942) was the breaking point for Kashdan. Fine's introduction to his annotation of the game was, <"Not an outstanding performance by either side."> Reshevsky let a winning position slip to "an easy draw" with 43. b4 (either 43. Nc4 or 43. exf5+ is better, although Houdini thinks White is still winning after 43. b4 fxe4 44. b5) and then Kashdan a few moves later returns the favor with 50...h4? (Fine gave 50...e4 51. Ne3+ Kf6! <"and White can make no progress">), giving Reshevsky the win. This gave Reshevsky a 2 point lead, and Kashdan never recovered, drawing the next two games and losing the final two. <Game 8> and <Game 9> were fairly uneventful draws. While in a longer match they might have helped Kashdan get his bearings, they only served Reshevsky and his 2-game lead in a short 14-game match. In <Game 10>, Kashdan relied too much on a Knight tour (e5-g4-e3-d5) and pushing forward his pawns. Ultimately, he overextended and lost. Horowitz wrote of 28. f4, <"Feinting a faint counterattack. But White is at a loss for a good continuation. If 28. Rxa4 28...Nxc3 wins."> Houdini agrees that 28. f4 is not best, but thinks 28. Rxa4 Nxc3 29. Qb2 is better, temporarily pinning the Knight against the Queen. Kashdan had only the slightly worse game until 49...Ra1? instead of 49...Ra8, which would have been a tougher defense. Reshevsky could then get his passed pawn moving and forced an exchange of Rooks, resulting in a won Bishop ending. Reshevsky now had an insurmountable 4-point lead with only three games remaining, so the final games were cancelled. This is as close as Kashdan ever got to being US champion. 11 games, 1942 1944 US championship -- under construction -- We are missing many of the games. Held at the Park Central Hotel in New York, 17 Apr - 7 May 1944. The director was L. Walter Stephens. Reshevsky was unable to play because of preparations for his CPA exams. Kashdan decided not to play at the last minute on the advice of his doctor (Chess Review, Mar 1944, p. 3) or because he thought the schedule, with only one day for adjournments in the first eight rounds, was too strenuous (NY Times, 16 Apr 1944). Di Camillo was the reserve player admitted as a replacement. Fine was able to secure a leave of absence from his job at the last minute. The seeded players were Denker, Fine, Horowitz, Isaacs, Pinkus, and Steiner. Adams and Shainswit were added to replace Reshevsky and Kashdan. The remaining players were selected from qualifying events. Chernev, Gladstone, and Rothman quailified out of Section A. Almgren, Neidich, and Stromberg qualified out of Section B. Altman, Persinger, and Weinstock qualified out of Section C. With neither Reshevsky nor Kashdan participating, it was Fine's best chance at winning the US championship, but it was not to be. Denker caught fire, and by winning against Fine, took the championship over Fine by a full point. THE PLAYERS Arnold Denker -- After Denker won the 1944 US championship, he successfully defended his title in 1946 in a match with Herman Steiner. Later in life he became very active in chess organization in the US and the <Denker Tournament of High School Champions> is named in his honor. Reuben Fine -- Fine was a world-class player that never won the US championship. His best international result would be equal first with Paul Keres at AVRO 1938. He was invited to the world championship tournament organized in 1948 to pick a successor to Alexander Alekhine, who died while holding the title. Fine decided not to play. He was involved in his graduate work in psychology and only played competitive chess for a few more years after earning his degree. Fine played on three US Olympiad teams, winning three team and one individual gold medal and one individual silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/rn...). Israel Albert Horowitz -- Horowitz was long-time editor of <Chess Review>, chess editor of the <New York Times> for many years, author of a number of chess books, and a fixture in US tournaments, particularly those in the northeast. He won the US Open in 1936, 1938, and 1943. Horowitz played on four US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/sw...). Herman Steiner -- Steiner was long-time chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times>. He founded a chess club attended by various celebrity chessplayers. Steiner was the only US player to have a plus score in the 1945 USSR-USA radio match (Game Collection: 1945. USSR vs USA (Radio match)). Steiner won the 1948 US championship ahead of Kashdan. Steiner played on four US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold medal, and one team and one individual silver medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/53...). Albert Pinkus -- Pinkus was Manhattan Chess club champion twice, and NY state champion once. Pinkus played in the 1945 USA v USSR radio match. He played in five US championships. George Shainswit -- Shainswit played in five US championships and was a member of the 1950 US Olympiad team (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/b7...). Benjamin Altman -- Altman played in two US championships. Weaver Warren Adams -- Although a strong US master of his day, Adams is most remembered for his controversial ideas about White's opening advantage. He won the 1946 US Open and played in five US championships. Sven Elias Almgren -- Almgren played in two US championships. Attilio Di Camillo -- Di Camillo had just won the championship tournament from one of the two Pennsylvania organizations claiming rights to award it. He played in two US championships. Solomon Weinstock -- Weinstock Neidich played in one US championship. Aaron Rothman -- Rothman played in two US championships. Stromberg played in one US championship. Irving Chernev -- Chernev is best known today for his various chess books. He was very active in the New York area and played in two US championships. David Gladstone -- Gladstone played in one US championship. Louis Persinger -- Best known as an infulential violin teacher at Juilliard for many years (http://www.juilliard.edu/library/pd...), Persinger played in one US championship. THE CROSSTABLE table[ D F H S P S A A A D W I N R S C G P Denker X 1 1 = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 15.5 Fine 0 X = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 14.5 Horowitz 0 = X 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14 Steiner = 0 1 X = = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14 Pinkus 0 = = = X = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13.5 Shainswit = 0 0 = = X 1 = 0 1 = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 10.5 Altman = 0 0 0 0 0 X = 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 Adams 0 0 0 0 0 = = X 1 0 1 1 = 0 1 = 1 1 8 Almgren 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 X 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 8 Di Camillo 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 1 X = = = 0 0 1 1 1 7 Weinstock 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 1 = X 0 0 = 1 0 1 1 7 Isaacs 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 1 X 1 = 0 1 1 1 6.5 Neidich 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 = 1 0 X 0 1 1 = = 6.5 Rothman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 = = 1 X 1 = 0 1 6.5 Stromberg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 X 1 1 1 5 Chernev 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 = 0 X 1 1 4.5 Gladstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 0 0 X 1 2.5 Persinger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 X 0.5 ]table THE RACE ROUND 1 Fine drew with Pinkus and Adams drew with Neidich. The remaining seven games were decisive. Denker, Horowitz, Steiner, Altman, Di Camillo, Isaacs, and Rothman beat Weinstock, Shainswit, Chernev, Persinger, Almgren, Gladstone, and Stromberg, respectively. ROUND 2 Denker won against Stromberg, Horowitz beat Gladstone, and Altman won against Chernev for a three-way tie for first. Fine beat Adams, Neidich won against Almgren, while Isaacs drew with Rothman and Steiner drew with Pinkus, for a five-way tie for fourth between Fine, Steiner, Neidich, Isaacs, and Rothman. ROUND 3 Denker beat Isaacs, Horowitz won against Rothman, Steiner beat Altman, and Pinkus won against Adams. Denker and Horowitz were tied for first with 3, followed by Fine and Steiner at 2.5. Pinkus, Shainswit, Altman, and Di Camillo were at 2. ROUND 4 In an early key game, Denker won against Horowitz when Horowitz made a weak move which cost him a probable draw. Fine beat Shainswit and Pinkus won against Altman. Steiner drew with Weinstock. Denker was now alone in first with a perfect score. Fine was a half point behind in second. Horowitz, Steiner, and Pinkus were tied for third, a half point behind Fine. ROUND 5 Denker beat Di Camillo, Fine won against Gladstone, Horowitz beat Persinger, Steiner won against Stromberg, and Pinkus beat Almgren. Denker led with 5, Fine followed with 4.5, and Horowitz, Steiner, and Pinkus remained in range at 4. ROUND 6 Denker won against Neidich, Fine beat Rothman, Horowitz won against Chernev, Steiner beat Isaacs, and Pinkus won against Weinstock. Again, the standings did not change: Denker at 6, Fine at 5.5, and Horowitz, Steiner, and Pinkus at 5. ROUND 7 In Round 7 the frontrunners began to play each other. In the pivotal game of the tournament, Denker beat Fine. Steiner won against Horowitz, while Pinkus could only draw with Shainswit. At the bottom of the field, Persinger scored his only draw this round with Neidich. He would lose his other 16 games. Denker now had a full point lead at 7, with Steiner in second at 6, Fine and Pinkus tied for third with 5.5, and Horowitz at 5. ROUND 8 Denker won against Adams, Fine beat Persinger, Steiner won against Di Camillo, Horowitz beat Altman, and Pinkus won by forfeit against Stromberg. Standings remained steady, with Denker at 8, Steiner at 7, Fine and Pinkus at 6.5, and Horowitz at 6. ROUND 9 Denker beat Almgren, Fine won against Chernev, Steiner beat Neidich, Horowitz won against Weinstock, and Pinkus beat Weinstock. Denker was still on course with a perfect 9, followed by Steiner with 8, Fine and Pinkus with 7.5, and Horowitz with 7. ROUND 10 Denker gave up his first draw in Round 10 against Shainswit. Fine beat Steiner in an important game to pick up a half point on Denker and go ahead of Steiner. Pinkus won against Isaacs, while Horowitz beat Stromberg. Denker lead with 9.5, followed by Fine and Pinkus at 8.5, and Horowitz and Steiner at 8. ROUND 11 Denker beat Gladstone, Fine won against Altman, Horowitz beat Isaacs, Steiner won against Adams, and Pinkus beat Rothman. The standings remained unchanged with Denker at 10.5, Fine and Pinkus at 9.5, and Horowitz and Steiner at 9. ROUND 12 Denker won against Rothman, Fine beat Weinstock, and Steiner won against Almgren. Horowitz and Pinkus drew, which dropped both an additional half point off the pace. Denker led with 11.5, Fine was second with 10.5, Steiner and Pinkus third with 10, and Horowitz at 9.5. ROUND 13 Denker beat Pinkus, Fine won against Stromberg, and Horowitz beat Di Camillo. Steiner drew with Shainswit, so Steiner slipped a half point in the race. Denker was in first with 12.5, Fine second with 11.5, Horowitz and Steiner tied for third at 10.5, and Pinkus at 10. ROUND 14 Denker won against Persinger, Fine beat Isaacs, Horowitz won against Neidich, and Steiner beat Gladstone. Pinkus drew with Di Camillo. The standings were then: Denker 13.5, Fine 12.5, Horowitz and Steiner 11.5, and Pinkus 10.5. ROUND 15 Denker beat Chernev, Steiner won against Rothman, and Pinkus beat Persinger. In an key result, Fine and Horowitz drew, probably costing Fine his last realistic chance of catching Denker. Denker now led by a point and a half with 14.5. Fine was second at 13, Steiner third with 12.5, Horowitz fourth with 12, and Pinkus fifth at 11.5. ROUND 16 All Denker needed to win the tournament was to score one point out of the final two games. In Round 16, he drew with Steiner. Fine won against Di Camillo, and Horowitz beat Adams. Denker had a full point lead at 15, Fine was second at 14, Horowitz and Steiner were tied for third at 13. ROUND 17 In the final round, Denker only needed to avoid losing in order to win the tournament, so he played a quick, short draw with Altman. Today such a game is commonplace and it is assumed a player needing only a draw will accept a short one if his opponent is agreeable. However the <Chess Review> coverage of the time was critical of Denker. <"...the agreed draw between Denker and Altman was a highly unsatisfactory conclusion...It is regrettable that Denker's splendid showing and courageous fight for the title should have been marred by this unfortunate conclusion to the deciding game."> With Fine no longer having a chance to tie for first, he took a draw with Neidich. Horowitz won against Almgren, Steiner beat Persinger. Denker finished first with 15.5, Fine was second with 14.5, and Horowitz and Steiner tied for third with 14. 35 games, 1944 1945 Hollywood -- under construction -- submitted 2/8/13 Round 10 Steiner-Broderman 1-0 These 5 games appear to be unavailable: Round 4 Pilnik/Rossetto Round 12 Horowitz/Araiza Munoz Round 12 Fine/Rossetto Round 13 Fine/Horowitz Round 13 Araiza Munoz/Broderman The Pan-American Chess Championship was played 29 July - 12 Aug 1945 at the Hollywood Athletic Club. Adams and Cruz were several days late due to transportation delays and Pilnik was in an accident on the way, so a number of early round games had to be played at a later date. Seidman forfeited several of his last games due to his having to return to military service. Newspaper coverage I was able to find was incomplete, so I had to piece together round-by-round pairings through multiple sources and process of elimination. If anyone finds any errors, let me know and I will correct them. 69 games, 1945 1946 Denker-Steiner match -- under construction -- For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). Although this is listed as a <playoff> match in all the online sources I have consulted (including this one), it was played months <before> the 1946 US championship tournament, which Reshevsky won. Denker finished 5-6th and Steiner finished 7th. Held at the Griffith Park Auditorium in Los Angeles 5-19 May 1946. Time limit was 40 moves in two and a half hours and 16 moves per hour thereafter. Reuben Fine served as match referee. The prize fund was $2000 with 60% to the winner and 40% to the loser. Denker accumulated a nearly insurmountable lead at the start of the match, scoring 3.5 out of the first four games. Steiner won Game 5, but the remaining five games were all drawn, giving Denker a 6-4 win. table[ Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Denker 1 1 = 1 0 = = = = = 6 Steiner 0 0 = 0 1 = = = = = 4 Denker +1 +2 +2 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 ]table 10 games, 1946 1946 US Championship -- under construction -- For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). Held at the Chanin Building, New York, 26 Oct - 16 Nov 1946. Directed by Kenneth Harkness. Time control was 40 moves in 2.5 hours, then 20 moves per hour after that. Started as a 20-player tournament, Lewis J Isaacs withdrew about halfway through the tournament. He missed his Round 10 game with Denker due to his misunderstanding when the game was to be played. He was forfeited and appealed to the director, who suggested the matter be handled by the tournament committee. At that point Isaacs decided he would rather withdraw from the tournament. Because he had played fewer than half of his games, it was decided to eliminate his game results for the purposes of determining final placement, so I am not including any of his games here either. Denker was directly seeded into the tournament by virtue of being US closed champion. Steiner was seeded as US Open winner. Reshevsky, Kashdan, Horowitz, and Pinkus were also seeded. It was decided to seed Adams into the tournament because he was unable to compete in a qualifying tournament because of his participation in the USA-USSR match. All other players qualified in one of six area events held around the country. correction slip submitted 27 Oct 2011 for <Di Camillo-Drexel>, which should be <Drexel-Di Camillo>. I have been unable to find Suesman-Rothman 1-0 from Round 10 in any of my sources. It appears to be unavailable. Steiner-Kowalski (1-0) from Round 17 was an unplayed forfeit. Kowalski was sick and missed the game. THE PLAYERS Samuel Reshevsky -- Reshevsky was a famous child prodigy who gave up competitive play for several years to focus on his education. After returning to active play in the 1930s, Reshevsky dominated the US championship until the ascendence of Robert James Fischer in the late 1950s. Reshevsky had an unusually long playing career. Reshevsky played on eight US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold, one team bronze, and one individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/mg...). Isaac Kashdan -- Despite being a world-class player in his day, Kashdan was never able to negotiate a championship match with Marshall and once the tournament began he would never win the US championship. He was robbed of the title in 1942 by an incorrect ruling in a critical game between Reshevsky and Denker, which meant Reshevsky tied Kashdan for first instead of Kashdan winning the tournament outright. Kashdan lost the playoff match to Reshevsky, and that was as close as he would ever come to being US champion. Kashdan took over as chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times> after Steiner's death. Kashdan became an International Arbiter after his active playing days and directed both Game Collection: First Piatigorsky Cup 1963 and Game Collection: Second Piatigorsky Cup 1966. Kashdan played on five US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals, one team and one individual silver medal, and two individual bronze medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/vx...). Anthony Santasiere -- Santasiere won the NY state championship several times and the 1945 US Open. Jacob Levin -- Levin was Pennsylvania state champion in 1939 and won the Ventnor invitational tournament in 1941 and 1944. Arnold Denker -- Denker won the 1944 US championship ahead of Fine, Horowitz and Steiner. He successfully defended his title in 1946 in a match with Herman Steiner. Later in life he became very active in chess organization in the US and the <Denker Tournament of High School Champions> is named in his honor. Israel Albert Horowitz -- Horowitz was long-time editor of <Chess Review>, chess editor of the <New York Times> for many years, author of a number of chess books, and a fixture in US tournaments, particularly those in the northeast. He won the US Open in 1936, 1938, and 1943. Horowitz played on four US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/sw...). Herman Steiner -- Steiner was long-time chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times>. He founded a chess club attended by various celebrity chessplayers. Steiner was the only US player to have a plus score in the 1945 USSR-USA radio match (Game Collection: 1945. USSR vs USA (Radio match)). Steiner won the 1948 US championship ahead of Kashdan. Steiner played on four US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold medal, and one team and one individual silver medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/53...). Albert Pinkus -- Pinkus was Manhattan Chess club champion twice, and NY state champion once. Pinkus played in the 1945 USA v USSR radio match. He played in five US championships. George Mortimer Kramer -- Kramer was New York State champion in 1945 and tied for first with Robert Eugene Byrne in the Master Reserve section of the 1946 US Open. Albert Sandrin -- Sandrin was Illinois state champion in 1944. Olaf Ulvestad -- Ulvestad tied for fourth with Donald Byrne in the championship section of the 1946 US Open. Sol Isaac Rubinow -- Rubinow placed fourth in the 1943 US Amateur. Weaver Warren Adams -- Although a strong US master of his day, Adams is most remembered for his controversial ideas about White's opening advantage. He won the 1946 US Open and played in five US championships. Attilio Di Camillo -- In 1944, Di Camillo won the championship tournament from one of the two Pennsylvania organizations claiming rights to award it. He played in two US championships. Aaron Rothman -- Rothman played in two US championships. Walter Bradford Suesman -- Suesman was Rhode Island champion numerous times and New England champion several times. He played in two US championships. Gustave Drexel -- Drexel placed first in the 1945 and second in the 1946 Southern Chess Association Tournament. Adolf Jay Fink -- Fink was a well-known problem composer, and a top player at the Mechanics' Institute club who was California state champion three times, tied for first once, and finished no lower than tied for second four times (http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/...). Stephen Kowalski -- Kowalski was New Jersey state champion in 1946. THE CROSSTABLE table[ R K S L D H S P K S U R A D R S D F K Reshevsky X 1 = = 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16 Kashdan 0 X = = = 0 1 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 13.5 Santasiere = = X 1 = 0 1 = = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 13 Levin = = 0 X = = 1 = 1 1 1 = = 0 1 1 1 1 1 12.5 Denker 0 = = = X 0 = 1 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 12 Horowitz = 1 1 = 1 X 0 1 0 = 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 = 1 12 Steiner 0 0 0 0 = 1 X 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 = 1 11 Pinkus 0 0 = = 0 0 1 X = = 1 1 1 1 = = = 1 1 10.5 Kramer = 0 = 0 1 1 0 = X 1 = = 0 0 1 = 1 = 1 9.5 Sandrin 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 X 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 8 Ulvestad 0 = = 0 = 1 0 0 = 0 X 0 1 0 = 1 = = 1 7.5 Rubinow 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 X 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 7 Adams 0 = = = 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 0 0 1 1 1 1 6.5 Di Camillo 0 0 = 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 X = 0 0 = 0 6.5 Rothman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 = 0 1 = X 0 1 1 1 6.5 Suesman 0 0 0 0 = 1 0 = = 1 0 0 0 1 1 X 0 = = 6.5 Drexel 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 0 0 1 0 1 X 1 0 5 Fink 0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = 0 = 0 0 = 0 = 0 X 1 4 Kowalski 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 = 1 0 X 3.5 ]table THE RACE Reshevsky would win yet another US championship. His closest rival, Kashdan, lost two games and drew five, while Reshevsky drew only four with no losses. ROUND 1 Kashdan won against Steiner, Levin beat Sandrin, Denker won against Adams, Horowitz beat Rubinow, Pinkus won against Kowalski, Kramer beat Rothman, and Ulvestad won against Suesman. Drexel beat Isaacs, but because Isaacs withdrew about halfway through the tournament, the results from all of Isaacs' games were cancelled. Players only received an actual unplayed bye if they were scheduled to play Isaacs after Round 9. Reshevsky drew with Santasiere and Fink drew with DiCamillo. ROUND 2 Kashdan beat Sandrin, Denker won against Rothman, and Pinkus beat Rubinow to lead the tournament with 2 points. Santasiere won against Steiner, Levin drew with Horowitz, Kramer drew with Reshevsky, and DiCamillo won against Ulvestad to round out the second point group at 1.5 with Santasiere, Levin, Horowitz, Kramer, and DiCamillo. Reshevsky, the eventual winner, had a slow start with two draws, leading the third point group at 1 point. ROUND 3 Things began to go Reshevsky's way very early. He beat Denker, making up the one game lead Denker held. Also, Kashdan lost to Horowitz in an early key game. Pinkus was the only player from the top point group after the first two rounds to avoid defeat in Round 3. He drew with Levin. Santasiere won against Sandrin. Santasiere, Horowitz, and Pinkus now led at 2.5 points, followed by Reshevsky, Kashdan, Levin, and Denker at 2 points. ROUND 4 Horowitz won against Santasiere. Kashdan beat Pinkus, so this left Horowitz in sole possession of the lead with 3.5 points. Reshevsky won against Adams, Kashdan beat Pinkus, and Levin won against Suesman. Reshevsky, Kashdan, and Levin were now in second a half point behind Horowitz. ROUND 5 Horowitz lost to Kramer, dropping out of first. Horowitz, who often had disappointing results in US championships, would score reasonably well this year, but could not quite keep up with the leaders. Reshevsky beat Rothman and Kashdan won against Suesman. Levin's loss to DiCamillo left Reshevsky and Kashdan in the lead with 4 points. Denker, Horowitz, and Kramer were in the second group with 3.5 points. Santasiere, Levin, and Pinkus were a point off the pace with 3 points. ROUND 6 Reshevsky won against Drexel and Kashdan beat DiCamillo, so they both remained in the lead with 5 points. Horowitz won against Denker to stay a half point behind the leaders. Santasiere beat Suesman and Kramer drew with Pinkus, so Santasiere and Kramer were in the third point group at 4 points. Levin's game with Isaacs was annulled, so Levin temporarily lost ground. The other leading contenders would have their annulled games with Isaacs or an actual unplayed bye in later rounds. ROUND 7 Reshevsky beat Steiner, while Kashdan's win against Isaacs was annulled, so Reshevsky temporarily picked up a one point lead. Reshevsky would not get the bye until Round 13. Horowitz won against Adams to remain a half point behind Reshevsky. Santasiere drew with DiCamillo and Kramer drew with Suesman. Denker beat Pinkus, so that left Santasiere, Kramer, and Denker together a point and a half behind Reshevsky. ROUND 8 Reshevsky won against Sandrin, Kashdan beat Fink, and Horowitz won against Rothman, so the relative positions of the three leaders did not change. Santasiere had his win against Isaacs annulled, Denker drew with Suesman, and Kramer lost to DiCamillo. Levin beat Ulvestad to stay close together with Denker at 5 points, 2 games behind Reshevsky. ROUND 9 Reshevsky took a short draw with Horowitz. Kashdan drew with Ulvestad, so Kashdan did not pick up any ground on Reshevsky. Levin won against Kowalski and Denker beat DiCamillo, so they both moved a half point closer to Reshevsky. ROUND 10 This was the round where Isaacs missed his game with Denker due to misunderstanding when it was to be played. It ultimately led to Isaacs withdrawing from the tournament and his results being cancelled. Reshevsky beat Pinkus, and Kashdan won against Kowalski, but Horowitz lost to Steiner. Levin drew with Rubinow. The leaders were: Reshevsky 8.5, Kashdan 7.5, Horowitz 7, Levin 6.5, Santasiere and DiCamillo 6. DiCamillo would draw his next game and lose the rest, so he ceased to be a contender for one of the top spots. Reshevsky was the only player among this group to not have already had his game with Isaacs/bye, so it was still possible to catch him. ROUND 11 Reshevsky won against Suesman and Kashdan beat Rubinow. Horowitz drew with Sandrin. Levin won against Drexel, Santasiere beat Kowalski, and Denker won against Fink. The leaders were now: Reshevsky 9.5, Kashdan 8.5, Levin and Horowitz 7.5, Santasiere and Denker 7. ROUND 12 Reshevsky beat DiCamillo, but Kashdan drew with Levin. Horowitz won against Drexel and Santasiere beat Rubinow. Denker drew with Ulvestad. Reshevsky led with 10.5, then Kashdan at 9, Horowitz with 8.5, and Santasiere and Levin at 8. ROUND 13 Reshevsky finally had his bye, so this was an opportunity for others to close the gap a bit. Kashdan beat Drexel, Horowitz won against Pinkus, Santasiere beat Levin, and Denker won against Kowalski. Reshevsky was at 10.5, Kashdan at 9, Horowitz at 8.5, and Santasiere and Levin at 8 points. ROUND 14 Reshevsky won against Fink, but Kashdan could only draw against Santasiere. Denker beat Rubinow, but Horowitz lost to Suesman. Levin won against Kramer. Reshevsky still held the lead with 11.5, Kashdan dropped a half point off the race for first to 10.5, Santasiere, Denker, and Horowitz were at 9.5, and Leven was at 9 points. ROUND 15 Reshevsky beat Ulvestad, Kashdan won against Kramer, Santasiere beat Drexel, Horowitz won against DiCamillo, while Denker and Levin drew. Reshevsky led at 12.5, Kashdan was at 11.5, Santasiere and Horowitz were at 10.5, Denker was at 10, and Levin was at 9.5. ROUND 16 Reshevsky won against Kowalski, but Kashdan drew with Denker. Santasiere drew with Kramer and Levin drew with Adams. Reshevsky led with 13.5, followed by Kashdan at 12, Santasiere at 11, and Denker at 10.5. ROUND 17 Reshevsky beat Rubinow, while Kashdan had another draw, this time with Adams. With only two rounds left in the tournament, Kashdan's hopes of catching Reshevsky were fading. To tie for first Kashdan would have to win his final two games, including his last-round game with Reshevsky, and Reshevsky would also have to lose his Round 18 game with Levin. Santasiere drew with Denker, Levin won against Rothman, and Horowitz drew with Fink. Reshevsky had a practically insurmountable lead with 14.5, followed by Kashdan with 12.5, Santasiere with 11.5, and Levin, Denker, and Horowitz with 11. ROUND 18 Reshevsky drew with Levin. Kashdan beat Rothman, but Reshevsky's draw clinched first place, making the last round game between Reshevsky and Kashdan anticlimatic. Santasiere drew with Adams. Both Denker and Horowitz lost, to Kramer and Ulvestad, respectively, which effectively ended their hopes for third place. Reshevsky now led with 15, Kashdan had 13.5, and Santasiere was in third with 12. ROUND 19 Reshevsky and Kashdan finally met for their game. Reshevsky won, although he would have still finished clear first even if he lost to Kashdan. Santasiere won against Rothman to take clear third. 169 games, 1946 1948 US Championship -- under construction -- For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). The 1948 US championship tournament was the first one held outside of New York City. It was held in South Fallsburg, NY in the Catskills "Borscht Belt" resort area 11-30 Aug 1948. The director was Richard Wayne, and the assistant director was Fred Reinfeld. Neither Reshevsky nor Fine played. According to Wayne, who was also chairman of the championship committee, negotiations broke down: <"Unfortunately Mr. Reshevsky saw fit to make certain financial stipulations which the committee was totally unable to meet..."> Negotiations with Fine had broken down "for a similar reason." Almost all of the players had qualified in preliminary events held throughout the country. Only Kashdan and Ulvestad (a last-minute replacement for Reshevsky) were directly seeded into the tournament. This was a deliberate attempt on the part of the US federation to make entry into the championship more "democratic," but with the strongest talent concentrated in the New York area and in a few other cities, it probably only served to weaken the field overall. In previous years, qualifying sections were held in New York right before the finals. As part of trying to broaden the scope of qualifying, various areas of the country were charged with holding their own qualifying events as long as they concluded no later than three months before the final. The New England event in Boston was won by Adams. The mid-Atlantic event in Philadelphia was won by Hesse. Whitaker qualified out of the southeast in Johnson City, TN and Janes qualified out of the southeast in Fort Worth. The midwest event in Chicago was allotted two spots, won by Poschel and Sandrin. The west coast event was also allowed two qualifiers and these places were won by Steiner and Almgren. The New York area qualified seven players: Santasiere, Evans, Heitner, Kramer, Platz, Shainswit, and Shipman. An added New England qualifier held in New Haven, CT was won in a playoff by Suraci. THE PLAYERS Herman Steiner -- Steiner was long-time chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times>. He founded a chess club attended by various celebrity chessplayers. Steiner was the only US player to have a plus score in the 1945 USSR-USA radio match (Game Collection: 1945. USSR vs USA (Radio match)). Steiner played on four US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold medal, and one team and one individual silver medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/53...). Isaac Kashdan -- Despite being a world-class player in his day, Kashdan was never able to negotiate a championship match with Marshall and once the tournament began he would never win the US championship. He was robbed of the title in 1942 by an incorrect ruling in a critical game between Reshevsky and Denker, which meant Reshevsky tied Kashdan for first instead of Kashdan winning the tournament outright. Kashdan lost the playoff match to Reshevsky, and that was as close as he would ever come to being US champion. Kashdan took over as chess editor for the <Los Angeles Times> after Steiner's death. Kashdan became an International Arbiter after his active playing days and directed both Game Collection: First Piatigorsky Cup 1963 and Game Collection: Second Piatigorsky Cup 1966. Kashdan played on five US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals, one team and one individual silver medal, and two individual bronze medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/vx...). George Mortimer Kramer -- Kramer Olaf Ulvestad -- Ulvestad Hermann Victor Hesse -- Hesse Sol Isaac Rubinow -- Rubinow George Shainswit -- Shainswit played in five US championships and was a member of the 1950 US Olympiad team (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/b7...). Weaver Warren Adams -- Although a strong US master of his day, Adams is most remembered for his controversial ideas about White's opening advantage. He won the 1946 US Open and played in five US championships. Larry Melvyn Evans -- While he did not score well in this championship, Evans would win the 1951 US championship at 19. He had won the Marshall Chess Club championship at 15, had tied for second in the US Junior championship one year and tied for first the following year. Evans would also win the 1951 US Open right before the 1951 US championship, as well as a gold medal as second reserve board at the 1950 Olympiad in Dubrovnik. Evans would play in eight Olympiads, winning three individual medals (gold, silver, bronze) and two team medals (gold, silver) over the years 1950-1976 (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/a4...). Walter Shipman -- Shipman Albert Sandrin -- Sandrin Anthony Santasiere -- Santasiere would win the NY state championship several times and the 1945 US Open. Paul Poschel -- Poschel Dr. Joseph Platz -- Platz Irving Heitner -- Heitner Norman Tweed Whitaker -- Whitaker Franklin Sandford Howard -- Howard Sven Elias Almgren -- Almgren played in two US championships. Anthony Suraci -- Suraci William H Janes -- Janes 190 games, 1948 1951 US Championship For links to other post-Marshall and pre-Fischer US championship collections, see Game Collection: US championship tournaments (meta). <missing Round 8 Hanauer-Shainswit draw> Held at the Hotel Empire in New York 5-19 Aug 1951 and directed by Hans Kmoch. No players were seeded directly into the finals, but competed in four six-player preliminary sections. Mengarini, Horowitz, and Shainswit qualified out of Group A, while in Group B, Bernstein and Reshevsky qualified and Santasiere advanced over Shipman by way of a coin toss tie breaker. Evans, Seidman, and Simonson qualified out of Group C, and Pinkus, Pavey, and Hanauer qualified out of Group D. This would be the only US championship prior to the emergence of Robert James Fischer in which Reshevsky would play but not place first. THE PLAYERS Larry Melvyn Evans -- Evans may have only been 19 when he won the 1951 US championship, but by that time he had accomplished quite a bit. He won the Marshall Chess Club championship at 15, had tied for second in the US Junior championship one year and tied for first the following year. Evans had just won the 1951 US Open right before the 1951 US championship. He had also won a gold medal as second reserve board at the 1950 Olympiad in Dubrovnik. Evans would play in eight Olympiads, winning three individual medals (gold, silver, bronze) and two team medals (gold, silver) over the years 1950-1976 (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/a4...). Samuel Reshevsky -- Reshevsky was a famous child prodigy who gave up competitive play for several years to focus on his education. After returning to active play in the 1930s, Reshevsky dominated the US championship until the ascendence of Robert James Fischer in the late 1950s. Reshevsky had an unusually long playing career. Reshevsky played on eight US Olympiad teams, winning one team gold, one team bronze, and one individual bronze medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/mg...). Max Pavey -- Pavey played in two USA v USSR matches (third board in 1954 and sixth board in 1955). He was NY state champion once and Manhattan Chess Club champion once. He finished high in several US Opens, but did not win one. 1951 would be his highest finish (3rd) in a US championship. Pavey is known for a couple of early wins against Fischer, a simul win and Fischer vs M Pavey, 1956. Herbert Seidman -- Seidman played in several US championships. He was NY state champion twice and played in the 1945 USA v USSR radio match (board 8). Israel Albert Horowitz -- Horowitz was long-time editor of <Chess Review>, chess editor of the <New York Times> for many years, author of a number of chess books, and a fixture in US tournaments, particularly those in the northeast. He won the US Open in 1936, 1938, and 1943. Horowitz played on four US Olympiad teams, winning three team and two individual gold medals (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/sw...). Sidney Norman Bernstein -- Bernstein was active in and around New York City and played in eight US championship tournaments. Anthony Santasiere -- Santasiere would win the NY state championship several times and the 1945 US Open. Ariel Mengarini -- Mengarini won the 1943 US Amateur championship with a perfect 11-0 score. George Shainswit -- Shainswit played in five US championships and was a member of the 1950 US Olympiad team (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/b7...). Milton Loeb Hanauer -- Hanauer played on one US Olympiad team, winning a team silver medal (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/7x...). Albert Pinkus -- Pinkus was Manhattan Chess club champion twice, and NY state champion once. Pinkus played in the 1945 USA v USSR radio match. He played in five US championships. Albert C Simonson -- Simonson was the reserve on the gold-medal US team at the 1933 Folkstone Olympiad (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/ks...). Simonson also finished second in the 1936 US championship, a half point behind Reshevsky and a half point ahead of Fine. THE CROSSTABLE table[ E R P S H B S M S H P S Evans X = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 9.5 Reshevsky = X = 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 = 1 8.5 Pavey = = X = = = 1 1 1 = 0 1 7 Seidman 0 0 = X 1 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 6.5 Horowitz 0 0 = 0 X 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 5.5 Bernstein 0 0 = 1 1 X = 1 = 0 = 0 5 Santasiere 0 0 0 = = = X = = 1 1 = 5 Mengarini 0 1 0 0 0 0 = X 1 = = 1 4.5 Shainswit 0 0 0 = = = = 0 X = = 1 4 Hanauer 0 0 = 0 0 1 0 = = X = = 3.5 Pinkus 0 = 1 0 0 = 0 = = = X 0 3.5 Simonson = 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 1 X 3.5 ]table THE RACE ROUND 1 The tournament started off with excitement, with all six games being decisive. Evans sacrificed a Rook against Santasiere (Larry Evans vs Santasiere, 1951) for an attack. In annotating the game later, Kmoch thought 24. Nh6+ was the wiser course, primarily because after 26. f6? Black missed the resource 26...Qa4! which leads to complications in a roughly equal game. However, according to Houdini, 26. Bh6! maintains a winning advantage. Reshevsky won a nice game from Horowitz (I A Horowitz vs Reshevsky, 1951) by trading his Queen for three minor pieces in the opening. Seidman, Shainswit, and Bernstein also won. Pinkus eventually beat Pavey, but it would take some time to complete the longest game of the tournament at 101 moves. ROUND 2 Evans beat Shainswit, Reshevsky won against Simonson, and Seidman beat Horowitz, so these three were now leading with 2-0. The three remaining games were drawn. ROUND 3 Evans and Reshevsky had a quick, quiet draw, but Seidman won against Simonson, putting Seidman alone in the lead with 3-0. Bernstein drew with Shainswit, keeping him a point behind Seidman, and a half point behind Evans and Reshevsky. ROUND 4 Evans beat Seidman and Reshevsky won against Bernstein, establishing Evans and Reshevsky as the front runners, with Seidman a half point behind. Pavey won against Santasiere, improving on the slow start Pavey had, with a loss and a draw in the first two rounds. He was now one point behind the leaders. Mengarini and Hanauer drew, their second in four rounds. Neither had yet won a game, although Simonson with four straight losses was having an even worse start. ROUND 5 Evans threw away a winning advantage against Horowitz with 35. b7? but Horowitz returned the favor with 40...Rg3??, allowing a nice finish (Larry Evans vs I A Horowitz, 1951). Reshevsky was lucky to escape with a draw against Pinkus (Pinkus vs Reshevsky, 1951). Houdini evaluates 25. hxg5 (instead of 25. exf6) hxg5 26. Qh3 as winning. This double stroke of good luck for Evans left him in sole possession of first place with 4.5-0.5. Pavey won against Shainswit, keeping him a point behind Evans. Bernstein won against Seidman, leaving both at 3-2. Simonson finally avoided a loss by drawing with Hanauer. ROUND 6 Evans had to fight for a draw against the tailender Simonson in the surprise game of the round (A Simonson vs Larry Evans, 1951). Reshevsky's game was postponed several days, but he only drew against Pavey, so Evans remained in the lead by a half point and Pavey remained a half point behind Reshevsky. Bernstein beat Horowitz, and Seidman won against Pinkus, so both joined Pavey at 4-2, a point off the pace. ROUND 7 Evans won against Hanauer, but in the surprise game of the tournament, Mengarini beat Reshevsky (A Mengarini vs Reshevsky, 1951)! This was the only game from the event published in the NY Times coverage (13 Aug 1951). Reshevsky's last loss in a US championship was in 1936 (although Reshevsky did lose two games to Kashdan in their 1942 playoff match Game Collection: 1942 US championship playoff match). More importantly, it game Evans a point and a half lead over Reshevsky with only four rounds remaining. Pavey and Seidman drew, which pulled them even with Reshevsky in second place with 4.5-1.5. Simonson won his first game, against Bernstein, which dropped Bernstein to fifth at 4-2. ROUND 8 Evans won against Bernstein and Reshevsky beat Santasiere to maintain a point and a half gap with only three rounds remaining. Bernstein's loss to Evans put him further behind, as Seidman won against Mengarini to remain tied with Reshevsky in second place. Pavey slipped against Horowitz in the tragi-comic game of the tournament (I A Horowitz vs M Pavey, 1951) by playing 79...Qxf3+?? in a winning position, allowing Horowitz a neat stalemate trick. ROUND 9 Evan won against Pinkus and Reshevsky beat Shainswit, so Evans maintained a point and a half lead with only two rounds to play. Seidman could only draw against Santasiere, so Pavey's win against Simonson pulled him even with Seidman at 6-3, tied for third place. Hanauer won against Bernstein, which ended any hopes Bernstein might have had for third place. ROUND 10 Evans drew against Pavey while Reshevsky closed the gap by beating Hanauer, but with only one remaining round, it was too little too late. Reshevsky would have to win in the last round and Evans would have to lose for Reshevsky to share first place. Seidman drew against Shainswit, so Seidman and Pavey remained tied for third place. ROUND 11 Reshevsky achieved the first half of his goal by winning against Seidman, but Evans won against Mengarini, so Evans took first by a full point with Reshevsky clear second. Pavey's draw with Bernstein pulled him ahead of Seidman, who had lost to Reshevsky, so Pavey finished as clear third. This was a good result given that Pavey was only 0.5-1.5 after the first two rounds. 65 games, 1951

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