Bisguier Throws Caution To The Wind

     In 1957, the year of the Reshevsky-Bisguier match, it appears that political correctness was not a "thing" because in February that year the world was hit with a new influenza that emerged in East Asia and triggered a pandemic called Asian Flu. By mid-summer it had reached the United States and how the outbreak was handled is an interesting story in itself. Read more HERE. 

     In the 1950s Reshevsky was one of the best players in the world and he had a superb match record. In his career to date he had defeated Horowitz, Kashdan, Najdorf (twice), Gligoric and now Bisguier. 

     At the time Bisguier was under the handicap of having to work a full time job at IBM and after work he would take a cab across Manhattan where he would then play the in the evenings. He got off to a miserable start, but displayed great fighting spirit, refused to give up, and fought hard in all the games. 

     The first game of any match is important because the psychological effect of the result can decide the final outcome. In the first game of the match Reshevsky endeavored to feel out his opponent as to choice of openings, the extent of his aggressiveness and his general ability. 

     As a portent of things to come, in the first game of the match Bisguier, who was well known for his tactical ability and aggressive style, showed himself to be willing to grab the first opportunity to sacrifice something...in this case a piece. Reshevsky was somewhat surprised at the sacrifice, but saw how it could be tempting because it gave his opponent two Ps and what looked to be a promising attack against his unprotected King. 

     The game is also interesting because it says something about the myth that Reshevsky never studied openings. He did, but as attested to by Pal Benko, Reshevsky had, oddly, a poor memory for them! 

     Writing in Chess Life, Reshevsky stated that in the first game, in a well known line in the Nimzo-Indian, he experimented with 9.Bd2 in order to "test Bisguier's ability to meet a new move." As it was, Bisguier was up to the task and found the right continuation, but on move 21 he threw caution to the wind and made a sacrifice which turned out to be unsound.

Samuel Reshevsky - Arthur Bisguier

Result: 1-0

Site: Match, New York

Date: 1957.07.09

Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4 4.e3 O-O Black has a plethora of possibilities here and the choice is a matter of personal preference. 5.♘ge2 d5 6.a3 ♗e7 7.cxd5 ♘xd5 Black usually plays 7...exd5, but the text is also good. 8.♕c2 ♘d7 9.♗d2 Nowadays white usually plays either 9.e4 (probably best) or 9.g3 9...♘5f6

9...c5 as played in Petrosian,T (2615)-Korchnoi,V (2695)/Velden 1980/Candidates looks promising. 10.♘xd5 exd5 11.♘f4 cxd4 12.♘xd5 dxe3 13.♘xe3 ♘f6 14.♗d3 ♗e6 15.O-O ♗d6 16.♗c3 ♕c7 and a draw was agreed.

10.♘g3 The main alternative here is 10.g3 10...c5 11.dxc5 ♘xc5 Bisguier avoids taking with the B because it would allow white to gain a tempo by playing a N to e4 and forcing the retreat of the B. 12.♗e2 b6 13.O-O ♗b7 Bisguier has played the opening well and achieved equality. All of his minor pieces are well placed and his position has no weaknesses. 14.♖fd1 ♖c8 15.♖ac1 ♕c7 White could now play 16.b4, but it would result in a position where neither side has much to boast about. Instead, with his next move Reshevsky invites 16...Nb3. 16.♕b1 ♕b8

16...♘b3 Tempting, but it gives white the upper hand after 17.♘d5 ♕d7 18.♘xe7+ ♕xe7 19.♗b4 ♘c5 20.♖d4 This was Reshevsky's intended move. The idea is that after Rh4 he has excellent attacking chances.

17.b4 A good, but double-edged move. It somewhat weakens the Q-side, especially the square c4...if black can post a N there it would be extremely uncomfortable. As much as Reshevsky disliked making this move he felt there was no choice because now 17...Nb3 is a real threat and stopping it with 17.Qa2 was unsatisfactory.

17.♕a2 h5 Best! 18.b4 h4 19.bxc5 hxg3 20.hxg3 ♖xc5 with a good game.

17.♕a2 ♘fe4 Reshevsky 18.♗e1 ♘xc3 19.♗xc3 ♗d5 20.♕b1

20.♖xd5 This move was missed by Reshevsky. 20...exd5 21.♘f5 ♗d6 22.♕xd5 ♖fd8 23.♕f3 White has a slight initiative. Note the trap here...the offer of the h-Pawn with a check. 23...♗xh2+ 24.♔h1 ♗e5 25.♘e7+

20...♘b3 with the initiative.

17...♘cd7 18.♘b5 The position is equal and finding a plan for white is difficult. The text has a dual purpose: get the N to a better square and provoke black into playing ... a6 and ...b5 which gives white's N the square a5. 18...a6 19.♘d4 b5 20.♘b3 The square a5 is now available to the N, but the fact is, as Reshevsky pointed out, that square is of little value. In fact the N never visits the square, but it does eventually land on c5. 20...♖xc1 21.♖xc1 ♕a8 Bisguier is planning on complications involving the sacrifice of a piece instead of playing it safe with 21...Rc8. That's no surprise because that's the way Bisguier played. 22.f3 h5 Threatening to demolish white's K-side. 23.♘f1 Now he can meet 23... h4 with 24.h3 23...♘e5 Threatening to sacrifice his B on f3. 24.e4

24.♘c5 ♘xf3+ 25.♗xf3 ♗xf3 26.gxf3 ♕xf3 with sufficient compensation as long as white doesn't fall for 27.♘xa6 ♘e4 and wins. For example 28.♗e1 ♘g5 29.h3 ♘xh3+ 30.♔h2 ♕e2+ 31.♔xh3 ♕xf1+ 32.♔h2 ♗d6+ 33.♗g3 ♕f2+ 34.♔h1 ♕f3+ 35.♔g1 ♕xg3+ mates in 16 moves! 36.♔f1 ♕f3+ 37.♔g1 ♕xe3+ 38.♔g2 ♕g3+ 39.♔f1 ♕f3+ 40.♔g1 ♖d8 41.♕b2 ♗f4 42.♘c5 ♖d2 43.♕xd2 ♗xd2 44.♖c2 ♕g3+ 45.♔f1 ♕e1+ 46.♔g2 ♕e2+ 47.♔g3 h4+ 48.♔h3 ♕f3+ 49.♔h2 ♕f2+ 50.♔h1 ♕f1+ 51.♔h2 ♗f4#

24...♘xe4 Black can maintain equality with 24...h4 (or even 24...Ng6), but this is the move for which he was playing when he made his 21st move and it is what Reshevsky was trying to provoke when he played 24.e4! Superficially the sacrifice look promising but in fact it is unsound. 25.fxe4 ♗xe4 26.♕b2 ♗f6 Not good. He needed to keep up the pressure with 26...Ng6

26...♘g6 27.♗xh5 ♗xg2 28.♗xg6 ♗h3 Threatening mate. 29.♗h7+ ♔xh7 30.♕c2+ f5 31.♕c6 ♕xc6 32.♖xc6 Complications have set in and the win for white cannot be considered a forgone conclusion! In Shootouts white scored +2 -0 =3, but the games were long ones...it took over 100 moves at 17 plies for Stockfish to secure the point.

27.♗c3 ♗xg2 Desperation, but there was nothing else. (27...♘g4 28.♗xg4 ♗xc3 29.♖xc3 hxg4 30.♖g3 f5 31.h3 wins) 28.♗xe5 ♗h3 White is up two pieces, but he still has to be careful! Not only is mate threatened on the move, but he must be careful to find the best way to meet it or else he could let black back into the game. 29.♔f2 This keeps the two pieces and brings his K to a safer square.

29.♘e3 ♕e4 30.♕d4 ♕xe5 31.♕xe5 ♗xe5 32.♖c5 ♗f4 and white is better, but black's position is not devoid of hope.

29...♕g2+ 30.♔e1 ♗h4+ 31.♗g3 ♗f6 Hoping Reshevsky will take the draw with 32.Be5, but of course he has no such intentions. 32.♕d2 ♖d8 33.♕f4 Reshevsky wants to force an exchange of Qs with Qf3. 33...♕d5 34.♗h4 Forcing the trade of Bs after which black's chances fade completely. 34...♗xf1 35.♗xf6 Alert to the end!!

35.♗xf1 loses after 35...e5 36.♕e3 ♗xh4+ 37.♔e2 f5 38.♕h3 ♕e4+ 39.♕e3 ♕xe3+ 40.♔xe3 ♗g5+

35.♔xf1 is not so clear as the move played. 35...♕xb3 36.♗xf6 gxf6 37.♕xf6 ♕d5

35...♗xe2 36.♗xd8 ♗g4 37.♗f6 Reshevsky was playing for a pretty finish, but Bisguier wouldn't oblige. 37...gxf6 (37...♕xb3 38.♖c8+ ♔h7 39.♖h8+ ♔xh8 40.♕h6+ mates next move.) 38.♕xf6 e5 39.♘c5 ♕h1+ 40.♔d2 ♕d5+ 41.♔c3 ♕d4+ After playing this move Bisguier resigned as white easily avoids a perpetual check. Against a lesser mortal Bisguier's plucky attack may have succeeded. (41...♕d4+ 42.♔c2 ♕c4+ 43.♔b1)

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