Herbert Seidman

 Herbert Seidman (17 October 1920 – 30 August 1995) was a US Senior Master born in New York City.  Seidman, who played several times in the US Championship and was a frequent competitor in open tournaments in the New York City area,  was known for his swashbuckling-style, playing risky or sacrificial openings, and offbeat openings like the Orangutan.  Al Horowitz, editor of Chess Review magazine, once published on of Seidman’s games under the title “Sideman Seidman.” Other than that it seems not much is known of him.

The only photo I managed to find shows him when he was in the Army in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s!

In 1961, Seidman won the most games in the U.S. Championship but only finished tied for third because of his three loses.

14th US Championship; 1961/2

December 17, 1961 - January 4, 1962

New York, NY

1. Evans       x ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1  = 7.5

2. Byrne, R.   ½ x ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1  = 7.0

3. Benko       ½ ½ x 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0  = 6.5

4. Mednis      ½ ½ 0 x 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 =  6.5

5. Seidman     ½ ½ 1 0 x 0 1 1 1 0 1 ½  = 6.5

6. Sherwin     ½ 0 0 ½ 1 x ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1  = 6.5

7. Hearst      0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ x ½ ½ 1 ½ 1  = 5.5

8. Byrne, D.   ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ x 1 ½ ½ 1 = 5.0

9. Weinstein   ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 x 1 0 1  = 4.5

10. Turner      0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 x ½ ½  = 4.0

11. Kramer      0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ x 0  = 3.5

12. Bernstein   0 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 x =  3.0

He played on board eight in the US vs. USSR Radio Match in 1945 and lost both games to Ragosin.  Seidman was prominent in cancer research and authored or co-authored several professional research papers.

Here are the highest rated players on the first USCF rating list dated July 31, 1950:

Reuben Fine 2817
Samuel Reshevsky 2770
Alexander Kevitz 2610
Arthur W. Dake 2598
A. C. Simonson 2596
Fred Reinfeld 2593
Arnold S. Denker 2575
Isaac Kashdan 2574
I. A. Horowitz 2558
Abraham Kupchik 2538
David S. Polland 2521
George N. Treysman 2521
Larry Evans 2484
Herbert Seidman 2451