1941 New York State Congress, continued

     As mentioned in the previous post, the Masters Section of the 1941 New York State Congress had some exciting games and Reshevsky was in poor form. Here is his last round game against Harold Evans that cost him second place. 

 

 

 

 

 

Samuel Reshevsky - Harold Evans

Result: 1/2-1/2

Site: New York State Championship, Hamilton

Date: 1941.08.23

Slav Defense

[...] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Today the theory of the Slav is very extensive. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be explored extensively. It was exhaustively tested during the two Alekhine-Euwe World Championship matches in 1935 and 1937. In recent time the Slav has been adopted by Anand, Ivanchuk, Lautier, Short, Kramnik and other top GMs. 3.♘f3 ♘f6 4.♘c3 ♗f5 Usually seen are 4...e6, 4.. .dxc4 or less frequently 4...a6. The value of 4...Bf5 is open to question because of 5.Qb3 5.cxd5

5.♕b3 ♕b6 6.c5 ♕xb3 7.axb3 g6 8.♗f4 ♘bd7 9.b4 and white stands slightly better.

5.e3 is almost always played here, but Reshevsky's move is by no means bad. 5...e6 6.♘h4 ♗g6 7.♘xg6 hxg6 is the main line and at this point white has tried every reasonable move.

5...♘xd5 6.g3 e6 7.♗g2 ♘d7

7...♘xc3 8.bxc3 ♗e4 9.O-O ♘d7 10.♖e1 ♗e7 11.♗f1 ♗xf3 12.exf3 ♘f6 13.f4 O-O with few prospects for either side. Kroll,O (2295)-Knudsen,P (2345)/ Aarhus 1985

8.O-O ♗e7 9.♖e1

9.♘d2 ♗g4 10.♘c4 O-O 11.f3 ♗h5 12.e4 with equal chances. Estremera Panos,S (2365)-Bohnstorff,M (2073)/Bad Woerishofen 2013

9...h6

9...O-O 10.e4 ♘xc3 11.bxc3 ♗g4 White's greater space and the semi-open b-file combine to give him slightly the better game. Saucey,M-Ferry,R (2250)/France 1989

9...♘xc3 Playing this first in an effort to prevent white from playing e4 was somewhat better. 10.bxc3 ♗e4 11.♕b3 ♕b6 and white's advantage is minimal.

10.e4 ♘xc3 11.bxc3 ♗h7 12.♖b1 Reshevsky has managed to come out of the opening with the advantage. 12...b6 13.c4 O-O 14.♖b3 ♘f6 15.e5 ♘e8 16.♗b2 ♘c7 17.♘d2 ♕d7 18.♘e4 ♖ad8 19.♖d3 ♕c8 20.♕a4 ♘a6 After this white's game gets even better.

20...♕a6 21.♕b3 b5 22.c5 ♘d5 In this blocked position white's prospects are better...in Shootouts white scored +2 -0 =3

21.♖dd1 ♖d7 22.a3 ♖fd8 23.♕b3 ♘c7 24.♖e2 ♗f8 25.♖ed2±25...♗e7 26.♕e3 This move turns out to be a subtle positional mistake in that it removes one of the defenders of d5 and so allows black to equalize with 26...c5!

26.♗c3 c5 is not playable with the Q on b3. 27.d5 exd5 28.cxd5 with a significant advantage.

26...♕a6 Black equalizes with 26...c5! 27.♕b3 ♕c8 28.♘c3 ♘a6 29.♘e2 ♗g5 30.f4 ♗e7 31.♕f3 ♘b8

31...b5 was a more active defense. 32.♕xc6 bxc4 33.♗c3 ♕xc6 34.♗xc6 ♖c7 35.d5

32.♘c3 ♕a6 33.♗f1 ♕c8 Once again, a more active defense would have been 33...b5 34.♔h1 ♔h8 35.d5 cxd5 36.cxd5 exd5 37.♘xd5

37.♗h3 was an even harder blow. 37...f5 38.exf6 ♗xf6 39.♗xd7 ♘xd7 40.♘xd5 and white is practically winning.

37...♗c5 Evans has a completely lost position.

37...♕c6 offers some hope. 38.♗g2 ♗f5 39.h3 ♗e6 40.f5 White has a strong attack, but black still has some faint hope of saving himself. 40...♗xd5 41.♖xd5 ♖xd5 42.♖xd5 ♖xd5 43.♕xd5 ♕xd5 44.♗xd5 And for Reshevsky the ending should be a routine win..

38.f5 ♖e8 39.g4 ♗f8 40.♗b5 White's position is crushing. 40...♕b7 41.e6 fxe6 42.fxe6 ♖de7 43.♗xe8 ♖xe8 44.♖f2 Good enough, but 44.g5 was the knockout punch.

44.g5 hxg5

44...♕c6 45.gxh6 ♗g6 46.hxg7+ ♗xg7 47.♗xg7+ ♔xg7 48.♕f6+ ♔h7 49.♖d4 ♕xd5+ 50.♖xd5 ♗e4+ 51.♔g1 ♖g8+ 52.♔f1 ♗g2+ 53.♔f2 ♗xd5 54.♖xd5 ♖g2+ 55.♔xg2 b5 56.♖h5+ ♔g8 57.♖h8#

45.♖g2 ♘c6 46.♖xg5 ♘d8 47.♖e1 ♘f7 48.♖h5 ♗c5 49.e7 It's mate in 9 49...♔g8 50.♕g2 ♗d4 51.♗xd4 ♘e5 52.♗xe5 ♗g6 53.♗xg7 ♕c6 54.♗b2 ♔f7 55.♕f3+ ♗f5 56.♕xf5+ ♕f6 57.♕xf6+ ♔g8 58.♖h8#

44...♗c5 45.♖e2 As before, 45.g5 was stronger still. 45...♖f8 46.♕xf8+ White has plenty of ways to win, but this Q sacrifice is quite sound and completes black's destruction in a spectacular fashion. 46...♗xf8 47.e7 ♗xe7 48.♖xe7 ♕c6 Now Reshevsky can wrap it up with the correct capture on g7. 49.♖xg7 But, this isn't it!

49.♗xg7+ ♔g8 50.♗b2 ♕c2 as in the game is met by 51.♘e3 and the threat of Rd8 mate forces black to surrender his Q. 51...♔f8 52.♘xc2 ♔xe7 White is a R ahead and should win without difficulty.

49...♕c2 Alert play by Evans as this move saves the game. 50.♖b7+ ♕xb2 51.♖xb8+ White has avoided material loss, but back has the draw. 51...♔g7 52.♖b7+ ♔h8 Now it's black who has a mate threat with ...Be4+

52...♔g6 Would lose. 53.♖f1 ♕d2 54.♘f4+ ♔f6 55.♖xh7 a6 56.♖xh6+ etc.

53.♖b8+ Reshevsky realized he had to take the draw.

53.♖e7 Stops ...Be4+ from giving mate but runs into 53...♕f2 54.♘e3 ♗e4+ 55.♖xe4 ♕f3+ 56.♔g1 ♕xe4 and black wins.

53...♔g7 54.♖b7+ ♔h8 55.♖b8+ ♔g7 56.♖b7+ Draw.

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