Since 1936 the championship had been decided by biennial tournaments that had not been interrupted even by World War II. However, in 1951, the USCF had organizational problems that put an end to those tournaments.
In 1948 the USCF was on the verge of bankruptcy and the tournament that year, which was held in South Fallsburg, New York, had turned out to be an organizational mess that included 20 players. That event was won by Herman Steiner who edged Isaac Kashdan by a half point. Reshevsky wasn't playing.
As a result, the USCF reorganized the championship into a three-year cycle of elimination events consisting of regional preliminaries the first year, a candidates tournament the second year and then a final the third year.
The snag was that the USCF couldn't put the plan into effect and in 1950 they hadn't organized anything. In an effort to fix things, they decided to hold a giant invitational event in 1951 that would consist of 50 players from across the country.
It turned out that that was too many players so the list was cut to 24, but there was little interest in it by the top players. Current champion Herman Steiner, Arnold Denker, Reubern Fine and Isaac Kashdan all turned down their invitations!
When sending out invitations the USCF noted that while they used the rating list as a guide, they did not feel bound by it. In the end twenty-four players showed up in New York in June of 1951 and they all, even Samuel Reshevsky, had to go through an elimination tournament to get the final 12-players who would play for the championship.
Except for his 1942 playoff against Kashdan, Reshevsky had not lost a game in a championship tournament in over 70 games stretching over 15 years. But, this year his streak come to an end. In the 7th round, a young psychiatrist named Dr. A.A. Mengarini played the wild Levenfish Variation against Reshevsky's Dragon Sicilian and scored an upset win in an exciting game. Mengarini's win effectively put an end to Reshevsky's chances and Reshevsky finished a full point behind Larry Evans who was undefeated and had only three draws. Max Pavey was a distant third 2.5 points behind Evans.
The next championship tournament was scheduled for 1954. In the meantime, in 1952, Herman Steiner was able to arrange a match with Evans for the championship title with a $3,000 prize fund (in today's dollars, over $31,000).
The match was supposed to consist of ten games in Los Angeles and six others to be played in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Reno and New York. The games in New York were canceled when Evans took a six game lead after 14 games.
The first 10 games were played in Los Angeles where Evans pretty much clinched the match scoring +6 -1 =3. San Francisco was the scene of the 11th game, also won by Evans, while the 12th, won by Steiner, was played in Reno, Nevada. In Las Vegas, Nevada, Evans won the 13th and drew the 14th, bringing the score to 10-4 and so the two games scheduled for New York City were canceled.
Herman Steiner - Larry Evans
Result: 0-1
Site: US Champ Match, Los Angeles
Date: 1952.06.23
Sicilian Dragon
[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 d6 6.♗e2 This line is nowhere near as popular as either 6.Bg5 or 6. Bc4 and statistically gives black better chances than he gets against those two moves. 6...g6 7.O-O ♗g7 8.♘b3 If Steiner wanted to play f2-f4 he might have done better by preparing it with 8.Bd3. (8.♗e3 O-O 9.f4 ♕b6 etc.) 8...O-O 9.f4 Here white should probably have played either 9.Be3 or 9.Bg5 9...b5 Evans' tactical point is that the b-Pawn can't be taken and he will now be able to play ... b4 undermining the e-Pawn and prompting white to make an uncomfortable exchange of Ns. 10.♗f3 Defending the e-Pawn, but this falls in with black's desires. While not entirely satisfactory 10.a3 is better. (10.♘xb5 ♕b6+ 11.♔h1 ♘xe4 wins the e-Pawn.)
10.a3 ♕b6+ (10...♗b7 11.♗e3 a6 12.♕d2 with approximate equality.) 11.♔h1 a5 Black is slightly better.
10...b4 11.♘d5 ♘xd5 12.exd5 ♘a5 13.♘xa5 Played because in this position he can't keep his N on c6 after Nd4-c6.
13.♔h1 ♘c4 14.♘d4 ♗b7 15.f5 ♕b6 16.c3 bxc3 17.bxc3 ♕a5 is to black's advantage. Torrado Quintela,J (2184) -Martinez Martin,D (2403)/Cartagena 2007
13...♕xa5 Normally this P-structure would favor white because he can attack e7, but white needs a N to get the most out of the position (Nd4-c6). As played, the c-file is more useful to black than the e-file is to white. 14.♖e1 ♖e8
14...♕c5+ allowed white to equalize after 15.♗e3 ♕c4 16.♗e2 ♕e4 17.♗f3 ♕c4 18.♗e2 ♕e4 19.♗f3 ♕c4 20.♗e2 1/2-1/2 Hracek,Z (2630)-Georgiev,K (2645)/GER 1997
14...♗f5 Is also good. 15.g4 ♗d7 16.♖xe7 and black is better, but in Kindermann,S (2490)-Haik,A (2455)/Luzern 1985 he erred and ended up losing. The correct continuation is 16...♗b5 17.a3 ♖ae8 18.♖xe8 ♖xe8 19.♔f2 ♕a6 with an excellent position.
14...♗f5 15.♖xe7 is very bad! 15...♖fe8 16.♖xe8+ ♖xe8 17.g4 ♕c5+ 18.♔g2 ♗xc2 wins
15.♔h1 This gets the K away from the Q check on c5 and avoids the loss of the c-Pawn. 15...♗f5 16.g4 ♗d7 17.a3 ♖ac8 It's clear that black's attack in the c-file is working out very well while white's e-file chances have amounted to nothing. 18.♖e4 ♕c7 19.♖e2 ♗b5 20.♖g2 a5 21.axb4 axb4 22.h4 e5 Well played. Black now takes over the center files and gradually pushes white off the board. 23.dxe6
23.fxe5 is even less desirable. 23...♗xe5 24.♖b1 ♗a4 25.b3 ♗b5 with a dominating position.
23...♖xe6 24.f5 ♖ee8 25.h5 ♕e7 26.♗d2 g5 A slip that loses most of his advantage.
26...♗xb2 and all white can do is mark time while black slowly ensconces himself into white's position. 27.♖b1 ♗e5 28.♖xb4 ♕h4+ 29.♔g1 ♖c4 30.♖xc4 ♗xc4 31.♗e3 g5 32.♗c6 ♖b8 33.♗f2 ♕h3 34.♗a7 ♖b2 35.♗f2 ♗a2
27.♗xb4 ♗xb2 28.♖b1 ♗e5 29.♗a5 Missing his last chance.
29.♗xd6 would make black's win much, much more difficult. 29...♗xd6 30.♖xb5 ♕e3 31.♕xd6 ♕xf3 32.♖b3 ♖e1+ 33.♔h2 ♕f1 34.♔h3 Black has excellent winning chances. In Shootouts white only scored two draws and lost three.
29...♗c6 30.♗b4 ♕b7 31.♗xc6 (31.♖b3 cannot change destiny 31...h6−+) 31...♕xc6 32.♗d2 h6 33.♗e3 ♖e7 34.♗d4 ♗xd4 35.♕xd4 ♖e2 36.♖bg1 ♕f3 37.♕xd6 ♖cxc2 38.♕b8+ ♔h7 Facing mate, white resigned.
38...♔h7 39.♕h2 ♖ed2 40.f6 ♖f2 41.♕e5 ♖xg2 42.♕e4+ ♕xe4 43.♖f1 ♖xg4+ 44.♖f3 ♕xf3#
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