Reshevsky Traps Najdorf

     The 10th Olympiad took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland. It was especially notable because it was the debut of the Soviet team, who won the gold medal and went on to dominate the Olympiads for the next forty years. 

     Twenty-five teams were entered and were divided into three preliminary groups of eight or nine teams with the top three from each group advancing to the Final A. Fourth-sixth places played in the Final B and the rest in the Final C. 

     The Olympiad was a collection impressive talent that included nearly two dozen GMs, which was a lot in those days. Even without World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik who was missing due to illness, the Soviet team (Paul Keres, Vasily Smyslov, David Bronstein, Yefim Geller, Isaac Boleslavsky andf Alexander Kotov) dominated the event.

     The USA team (Samuel Reshevsky, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Arthur Bisguier, George Koltanowski and Hans Berliner) had no illusions about the nature of their task. 

     They got off to a promising by downing Argentina. Then in the second round they met the Russians. Byrne turned back Bronstein. Reshevsky (vs. Keres) and Bisguier (vs. Geller) drew and Evans lost (to Smyslov) and so the match was tied.

     The next two rounds (against Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia) were drawn. Thus, as far as the United States was concerned, it had met its strongest rivals and had every reason to be satisfied with the result. 

     The team's play in the later rounds was steady, but they started a slow slide as a result of missing a vital point here and there and gradually allowed other teams pass them in the standings. 

 

     The hero of the American team was Robert Byrne who scored +5 -0 =3. Reshevsky also did reasonably well scoring +3 -1 =3. Unfortunately, the play of Evans and Bisguier was not up to their usual standard especially when they were bumped up to a higher board. 

     Miguel Najdorf of Argentina finished with the best score on board one, so he clearly was in excellent form and yet in a routine position he fell into an obvious and elementary trap against Reshevsky.

ChessBase

Samuel Reshevsky–Miguel Najdorf1–0E95Olympiad Final A, HelsinkiHelsinki FIN21.08.1952Stockfish 14

King's Indian Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.e2 e5 7.0-0 bd7 8.e1 c6 9.f1 e8 10.b1 This move, which received extensive testing at Helsinki, was Reshevsky's improvement over 10.d5 which was common at the time. Today it is the only move played in this line. The advantage of 10.Rb1 is that it maintains the tension in the center. Additionally, the R move lessens the effect of black's flanchettoed B and may also serve as a preparation for b2-b4 expanding on the Q-side. exd4 11.xd4 c5 12.f3 a5 13.e3 fd7 14.d2 a4 15.c2 15.b4 The standard move today. axb3 16.axb3 e6 17.xe6 xe6 18.a4 c7 19.ed1 with an excellent position. Zakharevich,I (2463)-Andreikin,D (2532) Sochi 2007 15...e5 16.d4 16.e2 Was played earlier in Barcza,G-Eliskases,E Saltsjobaden 1952 which continued c7 17.f4 f8 18.b4 a5 19.bd3 xd2 20.xd2 xd3 21.xd3 with an equal position. 16...e6 17.f2 f6 18.e2 The position is equal and the purpose of this move is to support repositioning the N on c2 to d4. The fact that it also contains a trap that Najdorf falls into is an unexpected bonus! xb2 This loses. After either 18...Ndc5 or 18...Nf4 the position is equal, 19.xb2 xb2 20.c3 Trapping the Q. There is no defense to the threat of 21.Rb1 and so the game is over, but Najdorf plays a few more moves to avoid having been victim of a miniature. a3 21.b1 dc5 22.xb2 axb2 23.b4 a4 Played with the forlorn hope that white plays 24.Nxa4 or allows ...Nxc3 either of which remove the coverage from b1 so the P can queen. 24.b1 d7 25.d3 b5 26.cxb5 cxb5 27.xb2 Black resigned. 1–0

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