The 1959-60 US Championship

     The US Championship tournament was held in New York City from December 18th, 1959 to January 1st, 1960. It was Fischer's third consecutive appearance and his third consecutive win. By the time this tournament was over it was quite clear that Fischer had surpassed Reshevsky as the country's top player. 

     This tournament also marked the end of the automatic seed for Junior Champions because of Robin Ault's 0-11 score.

     Not surprisingly, Fischer voiced complaints about procedures which he said could unfairly deprive him of his chances of winning the tournament. In this one he bellyached about the lots for pairings being drawn without the players being present and he threatened to forfeit his games if the pairings were not redrawn publicly. 

     The tournament officials, lead by Hans Kmoch who had once double-forfeited Eliot Hearst and Edmar Mednis in the 1956 Rosenwald tournament because neither player had kept an accurate scoresheet, sympathized, but felt it was unfair to the other players because the pairings had already been publicized. They were prepared in case Fischer carried out his threat; a 22-year-old pre-med student named Anthony Saidy was ready to play if needed. Fischer finally decided to play. His explanation: "I just changed my mind." 

     This tournament produced a first. Fischer showed up in a suit with a white shirt and a white tie. On their return from Yugoslavia Pal Benko had convinced Fischer to start dressing better. As a result, Fischer bought some suits in London and had Benko's Hungarian tailor in New York make him some. 

     Fischer got off to a slow start. In round 1 he adjourned against Bisguier and then adjourned in round 2 having a lost position against Byrne. Then he adjourned his 3rd round game against Weinstein. Finally, in round 4 he defeated Denker. In the adjourned playoffs he swindled Bisguier out of a draw and won. Next Byrne, in severe time pressure, inadvertently allowed a three-fold repetition. His game against Weinstein was drawn. 

     As it turned out, Reshevsky's unexpected loss to Herbert Seidman in round 4 was fateful because the tournament was really a race for second place which was not decided until the last round when Byrne defeated Ault and Reshevsky accepted Fischer's draw offer. This was the first time in 9 championships that Reshevsky had finished lower than second. Weinstein's result was something of a surprise because the previous year he had tied for the last two places. 

 

Of interest is the August rating list. 

 

     The following game has a nifty finish. The winner, Sidney Bernstein (1911 - 1992) was a Senior Master who participated in eight US Championship (1936, 1938, 1940, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1959 and 1961). 

     Herbert Seidman (1920 – 1995) was also a Senior Master who played several US Championships. He was known for his swashbuckling-style and defeated many notable players. In the 1961 Championship Seidman won the most games of any player (6 wins and 3 draws) but did not win the tournament because he suffered 3 defeats. He tied with Benko, Mednis and Sherwin behind Evans and Robert Byrne.

Sidney Bernstein - Herbert Seidman

Result: 1-0

Site: US Championship, New York

Date: 1959.12.29

Polish Opening

[...] 1.b4 Bernstein played 1.b4 four times in this tournament scoring 2.5-1.5. 1...♘f6 2.♗b2 e6 3.b5 Hindering ...Nc6. 3...a6 4.a4 axb5 5.axb5 ♖xa1 6.♗xa1 d5

6...c5 7.bxc6 bxc6 8.e3 d5 9.♘f3 ♘bd7 10.♗e2 ♗d6 11.c4 O-O 12.O-O ♗a6 13.cxd5 AGreed draw. Lorenc,T (2102)-Skliba,M (2233)/Vsetin CZE 2015

7.♘f3 ♗e7

7...c5 8.e3 ♘bd7 9.c4 b6 10.♗e2 ♗b7 with equal chances. Tkachiev,V (2575) -Karpov,A (2765)/Alma Ata 1995

7...♘bd7 8.e3 ♗d6 9.c4 c6 10.bxc6 bxc6 with equal chances. Haralambof, V-Haygarth,M/Tel Aviv 1964

8.e3 ♘bd7 9.♗e2 O-O 10.O-O ♘e8 11.c4 ♗f6

11...dxc4 was better as after 12.♗xc4 c5 13.bxc6 bxc6 white has the more active pieces, but black's defensive resources should be adequate.

12.♘c3 dxc4 13.♗xc4 ♘d6 14.♗e2 b6 After this black has a backward P, but there wasn't much else he could have done. (14...c5 15.bxc6 bxc6 Still leaves him with a weak P.) 15.♘a2 ♗b7 16.♗xf6 ♕xf6 17.♘b4 ♘e5 18.♘d4 ♕g5 19.g3 ♕h6 20.♕c2 At the this point the game is equal but curiously the Q delivers the coup de grace from this square. 20...♕h3 21.♘bc6 ♔h8

21...♖e8 Preparing the advance of the e-Pawn would have maintained equal chances. 22.f3 ♘xc6 23.bxc6 ♗c8 24.f4 e5

22.♖a1 ♘g4 23.♘f3 ♕h5 This threatens both the b-Pawn and the h-Pawn, but it's tactically faulty.

23...e5 Keeps the balance. For example 24.d3 ♘xb5 25.♗f1 ♕h5 26.♗g2 f6 From this position 5 Shootouts ended in draws.

24.♖a4 Objectively not the best, but it baits a trap into which Seidman promptly falls. Black's best course was to move his Q out of the line of fire of white's B and at the same time keep an eye in the h-Pawn with 24...Qh3 and then defend his c-Pawn with ...Rc8. Then the chances would have remained about equal. (24.♘h4 ♕g5 25.♘d4 ♘f6 26.♕xc7 ♕c5 and white is better.) 24...♘xh2 Barking up the wrong tree. 25.♘fe5 ♕xe2 (25...♕f5 doesn't help one whit. 26.♕xf5 exf5 27.♔xh2) 26.♕xh7+ The move Seidman overlooked.

26.♔xh2 The expected move after which black is winning. 26...♕xf2+ 27.♔h3 ♘f5 28.♖g4 ♕f1+ 29.♔h2 f6 30.♘c4 ♕f2+ 31.♔h3 ♗xc6 32.bxc6 h5 33.♖g6 (33.♖e4 ♕xg3#) 33...♔h7 and wins

(26.♕xh7+ ♔xh7 27.♖h4+ ♕h5 28.♖xh5+ ♔g8 29.♘e7#)

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