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United States Championship (1974) The US Championship came to the Windy City in 1974, continuing the Any Place But New York trend which began at El Paso the previous year. In the absence of Bobby Fischer, the players represented the usual mix of Old Guard and Impudent Youngsters, to wit: Pal Benko, Arthur Bisguier, Walter Browne, Kim Commons, Larry Evans, Lawrence Gilden, John Grefe, Andrew Karklins, Samuel Reshevsky, Kenneth Rogoff, Anthony Saidy, Andrew Soltis, Norman Weinstein, Bernard Zuckerman. The story here was Old Six-Time, Walter Browne, winning his first US Championship in commanding fashion. He led from the start, never even sharing the top spot after the first round. The famous game Browne vs A Bisguier, 1974 in round 9 gave him a 1.5 point lead with four rounds to go, and when nobody showed an inclination to make up ground he coasted home with four draws. Benko tied Evans for second place by beating him in the last round. Saidy was clear fourth, his best result in a U.S. Championship. A last round win would have allowed him to join the tie for second, but he took a short draw instead. That tendency was endemic throughout the tournament. While 55% draws wasn't that bad, having nearly half of them last 20 moves or fewer shows a certain lack of enterprise, or perhaps boredom. Some of these guys had been playing against each other in the US Championship for fifteen or twenty years. Thing was, the youngsters caught Draw Fever as well. The Fischer boom was bringing in some new blood, but can close with a quick mention of the old blood of Samuel Reshevsky. Aged sixty-two, he showed there was still a little fire in the tank. He started +1 -1 =6, then lost two in a row. Instead of limping home, he won his last three games to finish with a plus score. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 Pts 1 Browne * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 9.5 2 Benko ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 8.0 3 Evans ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 8.0 4 Saidy ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 7.5 5 Reshevsky 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 7.0 6 Bisguier 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7.0 7 Grefe 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7.0 8 Rogoff 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 7.0 9 Weinstein ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 0 0 1 6.0 10 Zuckerman ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 0 1 0 5.5 11 Soltis 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 5.5 12 Commons ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 * 1 0 5.0 13 Karklins ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 * 1 4.5 14 Gilden 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 * 3.5 There were a number of mistaken results in the database, and the biographers have hoped to have caught them all, but if you spot one, please use Error Correction Form or let them know. The US Championship (1973) was the previous tournament. Original collection: Game Collection: US Championship 1974 by User: Phony Benoni.  page 4 of 4; games 76-91 of 91  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 76. L Gilden vs K Commons 1-0 45 1974 United States Championship B56 Sicilian 77. A Saidy vs K Rogoff 0-1 36 1974 United States Championship D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 78. A Karklins vs A Saidy   0-1 36 1974 United States Championship B60 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer 79. N Weinstein vs Browne   ½-½ 21 1974 United States Championship B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 80. B Zuckerman vs Benko   ½-½ 16 1974 United States Championship B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer 81. K Commons vs A Soltis 0-1 39 1974 United States Championship B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 82. L Evans vs A Bisguier   ½-½ 33 1974 United States Championship A22 English 83. J Grefe vs L Gilden 1-0 40 1974 United States Championship C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 84. K Rogoff vs Reshevsky 0-1 28 1974 United States Championship C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 85. Reshevsky vs A Karklins   1-0 40 1974 United States Championship E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 86. Benko vs L Evans 1-0 64 1974 United States Championship A12 English with b3 87. L Gilden vs K Rogoff   0-1 42 1974 United States Championship C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation 88. A Bisguier vs N Weinstein   ½-½ 33 1974 United States Championship D02 Queen's Pawn Game 89. A Saidy vs B Zuckerman   ½-½ 13 1974 United States Championship A14 English 90. A Soltis vs J Grefe   ½-½ 21 1974 United States Championship B87 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin with ...a6 and ...b5 91. Browne vs K Commons   ½-½ 14 1974 United States Championship B18 Caro-Kann, Classical  page 4 of 4; games 76-91 of 91    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Feb-25-14    optimal play: <<<<Chess title to Browne> CHICAGO, Sunday (AAP). — > Walter Browne, 25, an international grandmaster and twice Australian champion, won the title of US Chess Champion on Friday when he finished with a draw in his 13th and final round of the national tournament, Associated Press reported. He was competing against the 13 top players in the nation, excluding Bobby Fischer who declined to enter. Browne's attitude about beating Fischer? "I wouldn't beat him right now", he said. "I think I could beat him in an odd match, but he's better".> - The Canberra Times (ACT) issue Monday 5 August 1974> Nov-22-22    Ninas Husband: It's not mentioned above, but this was the first US Championship for both Ken Rogoff (BOO!!!) and Andy Soltis (YAY!!!!). 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. 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