Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

United States Championship (1972) 1972 US Championship New York, NY April 23-May 14, 1972 The 1972 US Championship was attractive on two counts. With Fischer no longer playing in these events, everybody else had a better chance to win. More importantly this was a Zonal year, so the top two finishers would qualify for the Interzonals beginning in 1973. These fellows took advantage of the opportunity: Pal Benko, Arthur Bisguier, Robert Byrne, Gregory DeFotis, Larry Evans, Arthur Feuerstein, Israel Albert Horowitz, Larry Kaufman, Lubomir Kavalek, William Lombardy, William Martz, Edmar Mednis, Orest Popovych, Samuel Reshevsky. Featured were former champions in Reshevsky, Evans, and Bisguier, plus perpetual contenders Benko, Lombardy, and Robert Byrne who had always fallen just a bit short. There was also the usual mixture of also-rans and young contenders, plus a sentimental choice in Al Horowitz, a near-champion back in the 1930s and 1940s, who was actually older than Reshevsky. Finally, there was GM Lubomir Kavalek, recently arrived from Czechoslovakia and playing in his first US Championship. Reshevsky took the early lead with 5.5/6, but a round 7 loss to Kavalek left them tied, a point ahead of Byrne, Kaufman, and Lombardy. Reshevsky went out in front again, but a round 9 loss to Byrne left them tied for second place a half-point behind Kavalek. Lombardy continued to shadow the leaders, while Kaufman sank without a trace after meeting Reshevsky, Kavalek and Byrne in successive rounds. By the end of round 12 Byrne, Kavalek and Reshevsky sat at the top, a full point ahead of Benko, Evans, and Lombardy. Lombardy should have been only a half-point behind, but had thrown away a simple perpetual check against Evans in round 11 due to time pressure, which he later blamed on not being told his clock was running while he was away from the board. The three leaders all had Black in the last round, and all drew with neither danger nor serious chances to win. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 Pts 1 Byrne * = 1 = = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 = 9.0 2 Kavalek = * 1 = = = = 1 = = 1 = 1 1 9.0 3 Reshevsky 0 0 * = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 9.0 4 Evans = = = * = = 1 = 0 1 = 1 1 1 8.5 5 Benko = = = = * = = = = = 1 = 1 1 8.0 6 DeFotis = = = = = * = 0 1 = 1 = 1 = 7.5 7 Lombardy = = 0 0 = = * = 1 1 1 1 0 1 7.5 8 Mednis 0 0 0 = = 1 = * = 1 = 1 = 1 7.0 9 Bisguier = = 0 1 = 0 0 = * = = 1 1 = 6.5 10 Martz = = = 0 = = 0 0 = * = 1 1 1 6.5 11 Kaufman 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = = = * 1 1 1 5.0 12 Feuerstein 0 = 0 0 = = 0 0 0 0 0 * 1 = 3.0 13 Horowitz 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 0 0 * 1 2.5 14 Popovych = 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 * 2.0 The playoff for the two Interzonal spots was held in early 1973. Kavalek was eliminated, sending Byrne to the Leningrad Interzonal (1973) (from which he qualified for the Candidates) and Reshevsky to the Petropolis Interzonal (1973) (where he gave Vladimir Savon the surprise of his life). Prizes 1st-3rd: Byrne, Kavalek, Reshevsky $1316.67 4th: Evans $ 650.00 5th: Benko $ 500.00 6th-7th: DeFotis, Lombardy $ 350.00 8th: Mednis $ 200.00 9th-10th: Bisguier, Martz $ 142.50 11th: Kaufman $ 115.00 12th: Feuerstein $ 100.00 13th: Horowitz $ 100.00 14th: Popovych $ 100.00 The US Championship (1973) followed the next year. SOURCE: Title Chess: an account of the 1972 United States Chess Championship and Zonal Qualifier, by Burt Hochberg.  page 2 of 4; games 26-50 of 91  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. W Martz vs G DeFotis   ½-½ 18 1972 United States Championship A10 English 27. L Evans vs R Byrne   ½-½ 23 1972 United States Championship E80 King's Indian, Samisch Variation 28. Reshevsky vs Lombardy 1-0 40 1972 United States Championship A14 English 29. Benko vs L Evans   ½-½ 17 1972 United States Championship A04 Reti Opening 30. E Mednis vs W Martz 1-0 40 1972 United States Championship B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 31. R Byrne vs Lombardy   ½-½ 34 1972 United States Championship B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack 32. L Kaufman vs I A Horowitz   1-0 73 1972 United States Championship C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 33. G DeFotis vs A Bisguier 1-0 31 1972 United States Championship A00 Uncommon Opening 34. Reshevsky vs O Popovych   1-0 41 1972 United States Championship E62 King's Indian, Fianchetto 35. A Feuerstein vs Kavalek   ½-½ 40 1972 United States Championship A67 Benoni, Taimanov Variation 36. Lombardy vs Benko   ½-½ 22 1972 United States Championship B50 Sicilian 37. Kavalek vs W Martz   ½-½ 54 1972 United States Championship B03 Alekhine's Defense 38. A Bisguier vs E Mednis   ½-½ 20 1972 United States Championship B50 Sicilian 39. I A Horowitz vs R Byrne   0-1 33 1972 United States Championship E63 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Panno Variation 40. O Popovych vs L Kaufman   0-1 64 1972 United States Championship C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham 41. A Feuerstein vs Reshevsky 0-1 33 1972 United States Championship A07 King's Indian Attack 42. L Evans vs G DeFotis   ½-½ 41 1972 United States Championship A58 Benko Gambit 43. G DeFotis vs Lombardy ½-½ 43 1972 United States Championship A45 Queen's Pawn Game 44. W Martz vs A Bisguier   ½-½ 19 1972 United States Championship D06 Queen's Gambit Declined 45. Reshevsky vs Kavalek 0-1 42 1972 United States Championship D76 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O Nb6 46. L Kaufman vs A Feuerstein 1-0 54 1972 United States Championship E97 King's Indian 47. R Byrne vs O Popovych ½-½ 51 1972 United States Championship B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 48. Benko vs I A Horowitz   1-0 40 1972 United States Championship A08 King's Indian Attack 49. E Mednis vs L Evans   ½-½ 41 1972 United States Championship B42 Sicilian, Kan 50. L Evans vs W Martz   1-0 41 1972 United States Championship B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern  page 2 of 4; games 26-50 of 91    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Feb-04-18    RookFile: The top 5 players would need no introduction in any strong event. Feb-04-18    zborris8: I missed the fact that Larry Evans got second place. That's fantastic! Feb-04-18    Fusilli: <zborris8> Excuse us? That comment would deeply offend Larry Evans, who had already been US champion 4 times. And, by the way, he got fourth place, not second place. Feb-04-18    zborris8: <Fusilli> I think it's your English. You cannot be "tied" for a place. You are "tied' with a "person" meaning you have the same points as that person. That is why prizes are not awarded separately for same point receivers. They are grouped together and divided equally among players with the same points. First place wins the first prize. If the next nine players have the same points, they are "tied" with each other for second place and the money is grouped together and divided equally among them. Anyway, what it is to you? Feb-04-18    Fusilli: <zborris8> Byrne, Kavalek and Reshevsky shared first place. Evans got fourth place. Evans, Kavalek and Reshevsky shared the money for the sum of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Evans got whatever fourth place paid. Are you thinking that B, K, and R shared the money for the first place and E got all the money for 2nd place? Regardless, Evans was fourth here, not second. Count the number of players that did better than him, and you get he ended up fourth. Feb-04-18    zborris8: <Fusilli> Nope. That's not how it works anymore. See: Wesley So Feb-04-18    rogge: he he he :) Feb-04-18    Marmot PFL: Whenever Fischer played ties were a moot point. Feb-04-18    Fusilli: <zborris8> That doesn't make any sense. At Tata Steel, So tied for fifth place. If his ego makes him say that he tied for third place, that doesn't change the facts. Think about it: (Made up example) 1st place: $10,000 2nd place: $8,000 3rd place: $6,000 4th place: $4,000 If three players tie first place, each receives $24,000/3 = $8,000. The player in fourth place gets $4,000. But you seem to be saying that the top three receive $10K/3= $3,333, while the player in fourth place gets $4,000. That is obviously absurd. And So knows it. At Tata Steel, he shared the money for 5th and 6th place with Anand. Feb-04-18    Fusilli: Editing myself. I think you are actually saying that the player who ended up fourth takes all the money for second place. In my example, $8,000. So, the first three, who did better in the tournament, get $3,333 each, but the fourth one gets $8,000. That's not how it works. Feb-04-18    Fusilli: Oh, I see now that that Wesley So post is considered suspicious: chessgames.com chessforum Feb-04-18    moronovich: <Whenever Fischer played ties were a moot point.> Anand never ties. He prefers just a shirt. Feb-05-18    Petrosianic: <zborris8>: <I think it's your English. You cannot be "tied" for a place.> Yes you can. "Tied for First Place" is in perfectly common parlance. In a tournament if three people finish tied for 1st, the top three prizes are pooled together and split among them. Evans finished 4th, hence the little number 4 next to his name. Popovych finished 14th, not 10th. Feb-05-18    rogge: Well, not according to Wesley So... Feb-05-18    Fusilli: <Petrosianic>: <rogge> is referring to this post by <Wesley So>: Wesley So <zborris8> copied and pasted it on this page without clarifying where it was coming from. Of course, <rogge> and I agree with you. But, really, there is nothing to agree with. People don't have to agree with reality. Some of us suspected that the <Wesley So> account had been hacked or something. There was some discussion to this effect on User: chessgames.com Feb-06-18    chancho: <zborris8> Well played! Feb-06-18    perfidious: The leader of the <So-bot> cabal would have us believe that Byrne and Kavalek finished ahead of Reshevsky because they lost no game, whereas Reshevsky lost two. Feb-07-18    Howard: Keep in mind, everyone, that the top-three finishers had a subsequent playoff to determine who'd get the two interzonal spots in the 1973 interzonals. Kavalek was the one eliminated. By the way, Fusilli remarked that Evans had already won the US championship "4 times". By my count, he'd won it three times previously, not four. His match against Steiner doesn't count as a "title" win, in my view. Feb-07-18    Petrosianic: The Playoff was held 9 months later, in 1973. All three players were co-US champions during that time, but if you check the books, they claim retroactively that Robert Byrne was the one and only US Champion for 1972. In fact Byrne only held the title by himself for a few months before Kavalek and Grefe won the 1973 Championship. Evans had won the Championship 4 times at this point. The one you're missing is when he defended the title in a match against Herman Steiner. Feb-07-18    Petrosianic: It also means that this was Reshevsky's 8th US Championship win, tying him for the record. It wasn't as good as Fischer's 8, of course, since it involved two ties for first and one Match Defense, while Fischer's were 8 clear first places. But it was Reshevsky's 8th. Feb-07-18    Howard: No, I wasn't "missing" the Evans-Steiner match. It's just that in my view, that match hardly qualified as wining a "US title". Evans won the "title" four times, by my count, including his tie with Browne and Christiansen, in 1980. Feb-07-18    Petrosianic: It's tricky the way they count championships. For example, did Fischer "win" the US Title 8 times? Or did he win it twice and defend it 6 times? All sources say he won it 8 times. With a tournament championship, they tend to count each victorious event as winning the title one time. With matches it's the opposite. "Winning" a title means defeating a defending a champion, and defending the title is something separate. The US Championship has been a tournament championship since 1936. Even though it's been defended in a match 3 times, it's still a tournament championship and counted that way. For years Larry Evan's column called him a 5-time US Champion, which meant 4 tournament wins and one match. Recently there's been a trend to mistakenly count match championships the same way as tournament ones. You can see several people (including Susan Polgar) claim that Karpov is a 7 time world champion. They reach that number by counting defenses as wins and by counting the FIDE Championship as the World Championship. Not so. Karpov is a 1-time champion, 1975-1985. Feb-07-18    MissScarlett: < It's tricky the way they count championships.> Just use your fingers. It's real easy, at least until you get to number ten. Feb-07-18    Petrosianic: <Just use your fingers. It's real easy, at least until you get to number ten.> You stopped reading after the first sentence, didn't you? How embarrassing for you. Had you continued, you'd have seen that the question was about methodology rather than arithmetic. Didn't you even <wonder> what all those other words were? Feb-07-18    MissScarlett: <You stopped reading after the first sentence, didn't you?> Just your posts. search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC