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For this tournament the secretary of the Israeli Chess Organization, Eliyahu Fascher, was given the task of bringing well known Jewish players to the tournament.
As part of the assignment he traveled by ship with the Israeli team to Munich where the Olympiad was taking place to recruit players. There he managed to recruit Samuel Reshevsky and a few players of lesser rank.
While sailing back to Israel Israeli master Yosef Proat was strolling on deck where he chanced to meet the Dutch master Carel van den Berg who informed him that Reshevsky had thrown him out of their cabin because the moment Reshevsky boarded a ship named "Jerusalem" he could not stay in the same room with a Gentile! There were only two Gentiles aboard the ship, van den Berg and the English master Robert Wade.
When Fascher visited Reshevsky's cabin he found him the Talmud and he was forced to wait a long time for him to finish. The problem was that all the players were in cabins for 4 or 6 and only the two most important players had a dual cabin.
After talks that lasted into the wee hours of the morning, Reshevsky finally agreed to accept a Gentile, but only on the condition that he leave the cabin during prayer times. By the end of the trip van den Berg had gotten a few lessons about Judaism and they parted as friends.
Earlier, in the 1934 international tournament at Syracuse, New York, Arnold Denker had agreed to room with Reshevsky and the very first morning, Reshevsky awakened Denker with "the loudest wailing and lamentations that I had ever heard." He was praying. When Denker complained Reshevsky mumbled, "Don't you realize we've lost the Temple?" Denker moved into Herman Steiner's room.
In the following game against Arie Rosenberg, at the time one of Israel's most promising young players, obtained approximate equality in the opening. Then on move 17 Reshevsky could have chosen to slowly build up his position but instead decided to win a Pawn. As a result his King was slightly exposed and Rosenberg's pieces became quite active and a long struggle ensued.
On his 42nd move in order to avoid the exchange of Queens Rosenberg sacrificed the exchange resulting in an ending that was theoretically won for Reshevsky, but Rosenberg held out tenaciously until the 60th move.
Samuel Reshevsky - Arie Rosenberg
Result: 1-0
Site: Haifa/Tel Aviv
Date: 1958
King's Indian: Fianchetto Variation
[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 ♗g7 4.♗g2 d6 5.♘f3 ♘bd7 Better was 5...0-0 retaining the option of playing either 6...c5 or 6...Nc6 6.O-O O-O 7.♕c2 Reshevsky played this so he could answer 7...e5 with 8.Rd1 (7.♘c3 e5 8.e4 c6 9.h3 is the main line.) 7...c6
7...e5 is also perfectly acceptable. 8.♖d1 ♖e8 9.dxe5 (9.♘c3 c6 is the main line.) 9...dxe5 10.e4 was possibly Reshevsky's intention, but white has no more than equality in this line. Black will play 10...c6 and 7...Qc7 getting his Q off the line of the R.
8.e4 e5 9.♘c3 ♖e8 10.h3 Nowadays white usually continues with 10.Rd1, but at the time this move was the normal continuation. 10...♕c7 This is a a less committing move than than 10...exd4 which was the normal move at the time although 10...Qe2 had been experimented with, but it had little success. 11.♗e3 ♘f8 12.♖fd1 It's obvious that a R belongs on d1, but which one? Reshevsky thought the action would be mainly concentrated on the Q-side and so he kept a R on a1. 12...♘h5 Intending an eventual ...f5 13.c5 exd4
13...dxc5 14.dxe5 threatens to win a piece with g4 14...♘e6 15.♖d2 b6 16.♖ad1 White has an excellent position.
14.cxd6 ♕xd6 15.♗xd4 ♕e7
15...♗xd4 wasn't any better. 16.♘xd4 ♕e5 17.f4 ♕c5 18.♕f2 ♘e6 19.♘xe6 ♕xf2+ 20.♔xf2 ♗xe6 white manages to squeeze out a win in Vul,A (2332)-Parak,D (2133)/Tatranske Zruby SVK 2008
16.e5 ♗e6 17.♘e2 ♗h6 18.♗c5 ♕c7 19.♗d6 The B is now excellently posted and it hinders the mobility of black's Rs. 19...♕c8 20.♔h2 ♘d7 White's position is, by far, better because his pieces are well placed. 21.g4 Here Reshevsky decided to win a P, but in doing so he allows his opponent's pieces a lot freedom. Reshevsky wrote that had he realized realized this, he would have chosen the logical, positional continuation of 23.Nf3d4 21...♘f4 The only move as 21...Ng7 22.g5 wins a piece. 22.♕d2 g5
22...♘xe2 23.♕xh6 and the threat of Ng5 winning forces black to weaken his position even more with 23...f6 24.♖d2 ♗c4 25.♖ad1 ♖e6 26.♗a3 ♘b6 27.♗f1 winning the N on e2
23.♘xf4 gxf4 24.g5 ♗g7 25.♕xf4 ♘b6 26.♗f1 ♘d5 27.♕h4 ♗f5 28.♖e1 ♘e7 29.♗c4
29.♗xe7 is also good. 29...♖xe7 30.g6 attacking the R on e7. After 30...♕c7 31.gxf7+ ♔h8 32.♗c4 and white is winning.
29...♘g6 30.♕g3 White is a P ahead, but it is still very difficult to make progress. The principal reason is the fact that the position of white's K is somewhat exposed. 30...♗e6 31.♗d3 Exchanging Bs would only free black's Q from its passive position. 31...♗f5 32.♗f1 ♘e7 33.h4 ♗e6 34.♕f4 ♘d5 35.♕d4 ♗g4 Black's plan is to keep his opponent busy defendinghis pieces. 36.♕e4 ♗f5 37.♕d4 ♗g4
37...♖e6 would have made white's task more difficult. 38.♕d2 ♗g4 39.♘d4 ♖xd6 40.exd6 ♕d8 41.♔g1 ♕xd6
38.♔g3 To quote Reshevsky, "The King is also a piece!" 38...♗xf3 39.♔xf3 ♕f5+
39...h6 is not much help 40.♔g3 hxg5 41.hxg5 ♕e6 42.♕e4 ♕g6 43.♕xg6 fxg6 44.♗d3 ♖e6 and white is better.
40.♔g3 ♖ad8 41.♗d3 ♕e6 42.♕g4 The adjourned position. After the exchange of Qs black's chances in the endgame would have been very poor. The other alternative, which was chosen by Rosenberg, was the sacrifice of the exchange. 42...♖xd6 43.exd6 ♕xd6+ 44.♔f3 ♖d8 45.♖ad1 ♗xb2 46.h5 ♗g7 47.h6 ♗c3 48.♖e2 ♕h2 This leads to the exchange of Qs and a lost ending, but there was no better choice.
48...b5 Hoping for play on the Q-side. 49.♗f5 a5 50.♕e4 and black loses the h-Pawn.
49.♕g3 Forced. For if black attempts to avoid the exchange of Qs he loses quickly. 49...♕xg3+ (49...♕h5+ 50.♔g2 ♗a5 51.♖h1 ♗c7 52.♖xh5 ♗xg3 53.fxg3) 50.♔xg3 ♗b4 51.♗c4 This pin eventually leads to black's downfall, 51...b5 52.♗b3 ♔f8 53.♔g4 ♗c3 54.♔f3 a5 55.♖e3 b4 (55...♘xe3 56.♖xd8+ ♔e7 57.♖d3 wins) 56.♖ed3 ♔e7
56...♖e8 does not help much 57.♗a4 ♘e7 58.♖d8 ♘g6 59.♖xe8+ ♔xe8 60.♗xc6+ ♔e7 61.♔e4 white has a won ending.
57.♗xd5 cxd5 58.♖xd5 ♖xd5
58...♖c8 keeping the R on is no better because after 59.♖xa5 ♖c7 (59...f6 60.♖a7+ ♔e6 61.g6 wins) 60.♖a6 ♖b7 61.♔g4 ♗b2 62.f4 ♖c7 63.f5 f6 (63...♖c4+ 64.♔h5 ♖c5 65.f6+ wins) 64.g6 wins
59.♖xd5 a4 60.♖a5 Facing the loss of a P, black resigned. Nice endgame play by Reshevsky. Powered by Aquarium
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