Reshevsky Wins 1943 Metropolitan Speed Championship

     The weather was cool with occasional rain in New York City on Sunday, September 5th, 1943. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page headline read that Allied troops had seized 140 miles of Italian coast and the Italian Army troops had hightailed it into the mountains. 

     Hawks were creating problems in Brooklyn. A ten year old boy was hospitalized when he climbed a ladder carrying a .22 caliber rifle and accidentally shot himself in the foot; his nine year old brother on the ladder behind him was uninjured. The boys were going up onto the roof of their home to shoot hawks that had been killing pigeons on the roof. In another hawk related incident, a 22-year-old was given a suspended sentence for firing gun in the city. He had shot at a hawk that had been killing his father's chickens. 

     Frank D. March, the city's Salvage Director, announced that 1,185 women had responded to the waste fats day the previous week at Playland in Rockaway Beach, admission to which was a pound of fat. During World War II, the US government urged Americans to save excess fat rendered from cooking and donate it to the Army to produce explosives. 

     It was also announced that the Brooklyn Navy Yard and factories producing war related products would be ignoring the upcoming Monday Labor Day holiday and workers would not be given the day off. 

     There was plenty of work available in the city, mostly because of the war. The Pickwick Company in Brooklyn ran the following ad: 

 

BOYS OR MEN 

Essential war industry: 60 cents per hour 

plus plenty of overtime at time and a half. 

Apply Tuesday between 10 and 4 ready for work. 

Pickwick Co, 585 Dean St., Brooklyn. 

 

     I don't know what the company produced or the nature of the work, but 60 cents per was worth $9.97 today. Another ad asking for boys and men age 17-45 to perform light factory work was only paying 45 cents per hour, but they promised rapid advancement. Also, as long as she was not over 35 years old an experienced female file clerk could make 58 cents an hour. They did not have any equal opportunity laws in those days! 

     At the home of L. Walter Stephens on that Sunday, U.S. Champ Samuel Reshevsky won the Metropolitan Speed Championship ahead of a galaxy of stars. Playing with poise and equanimity, only Weaver Adams, Isaac Kashdan and Al Horowitz were able to nick him for draws. 

     The event was a double round robin and the moves were played at the sound of a gong which was struck every ten seconds. Play began at two o'clock in the afternoon and continued until the intermission at 7 p.m.; at eight o'clock play resumed and at midnight Reshevsky pocketed the $40 first prize which amounts to the princely sum of $664.75 in today's dollars. Prizes were also awarded to Kashdan, Horowitz, Shainswit and Adams. 

 

 

     Because the war was going on some entrants were in the Army: PFC George Shainswit, Sgt. Jack Soudakoff and PFC Stanley Weinstein. 

     Tartakower was right when he wrote that victory goes to the player making the next to last mistake. In the following see-saw battle Adams got swindled. At the time Al Horowitz was the National Open title holder and the New York State Champion.

[Event "Metropolitan Speed Champ, New York City"] [Site "?"] [Date "1943.09.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Weaver W. Adams"] [Black "I.A. Horowitz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "1943.??.??"] {Vienna Game} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 {In 1939, Adams wrote White to Play and Win in which he advocated the Bishop’s Opening, but later gave up it and advocated the Vienna instead. Adams always played his published analysis which gave his opponents the advantage of knowing what he was going to play.} Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 ( 3... Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Nc6 6. d4 {is the Adams Gambit. The idea was to sacrifice another P for open lines and quick development.}) 4. d3 Na5 5. Qf3 Nxc4 6. dxc4 c6 (6... d6 7. Nge2 Bg4 8. Qg3 Bxe2 9. Kxe2 Be7 10. Rd1 O-O { is equal. Rogers,I (2575)-Beliavsky,A (2620) Polanica Zdroj 1996}) 7. Nge2 d6 8. h3 Be6 9. b3 d5 {This turns out to be premature.} (9... Be7 {remains equal.} 10. O-O h5 11. Rd1 Nd7 12. Ng3 g6 13. Nf5 Nc5 14. Ba3 gxf5 15. Bxc5 f4 { Rogers,I (2576) -Howell,D (2416) England 2005}) (9... a6 10. a4 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rd1 b5 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. cxb5 cxb5 {equals. Rogers, I (2569) -Hector,J (2570) Wijk aan Zee 2003}) (9... Nd7 10. O-O f6 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. a4 Be7 13. Ng3 O-O {White is slightly better. Jackson,S (2108)-Okhai,S (2090) St Clement Bay JCI 2018}) 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bg5 (11. exd5 {stays on course.} Nxd5 12. O-O Nxc3 13. Nxc3 {and white is slightly better.}) 11... dxe4 (11... d4 { gaining space was better.} 12. Nd1 h6 13. Bd2 Qd7 14. c3 (14. O-O {is a mistake.} Qc6 {attacking two Ps}) 14... d3 15. Nc1 Be7 16. Nxd3 Rd8 17. N1b2 Qc6 {and black is better.}) 12. Nxe4 Be7 (12... Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qd5 {with equal chances.}) 13. Bxf6 gxf6 {Black has two Bs and probably hoped to use the g-file to his advantage, but white's position is preferable.} 14. N4g3 { Adams wants to play a N to f5, but this is the wrong one!} (14. N2g3 {keeps the pressure on.} Qa5+ 15. c3 O-O-O 16. Nf5 {with a slight advantage.}) 14... Qa5+ 15. c3 O-O-O {[%cal Oe6b3]} (15... Bxb3 16. O-O Bd5 17. Qg4 {with equal chances mainly due to black's exposed K.}) 16. O-O (16. Nf5 Ba3 17. Nh6 (17. O-O e4 18. Qe3 Qxf5 {and wins.}) 17... e4 18. Qxf6 Qa6 19. Ng4 Bb2 20. Rb1 Qd3 21. O-O Qxe2 {Black is clearly better.}) 16... Rhg8 (16... Qd5 {[%cal Rd5f3] was better. After} 17. Qh5 Qd3 18. c4 Ba3 19. Rad1 Qc2 20. Nc1 f5 {Black is clearly better.}) 17. Nf5 {This gains white enough time to equalize.} Bf8 18. c4 {[%mdl 8192] This is a blunder because it leaves the N undefended after 18.. .e4, but Horowitz missed it.} (18. Neg3 {keeps the chances even after} Qd5 19. Qxd5 Rxd5 20. Rfd1) 18... Bc5 {Correct was 18...e4 attacking the Q and exposes the N on f5 to a double attack.} 19. Nfg3 Bd4 {After the quiet 19...Kb8 the position would have been equal. Now it's white who gets the advantage.} 20. Nxd4 Rxd4 21. Qxf6 Qc5 {Black is practically losing after this! But, at 10 seconds a move it's tricky.} (21... Rg6 {put up a tougher defense.} 22. Qf3 Rd8 23. Rae1 f6) 22. Rae1 {Here black's e-Pawn is doomed after which white would be left with a winning position. Horowitz' next move is a try at a swindle that should not have been successful.} Rxg3 23. Rxe5 {The refutation of black's attack.} (23. fxg3 Rf4+ 24. Kh2 Rxf6 25. Rxf6 {and black should win.}) 23... Qb6 {Unfortunately for Adams the refutation of Horowitz' attack initiated by 23.Rxe5 has only one continuation that doesn't lose and Adams missed it!} 24. c5 {[%mdl 8192] What a tragedy for Adams, but a triumph for Horowitz!} (24. fxg3 Rxc4+ (24... Rf4+ {fails to win the Q because of the riposte} 25. c5 Rxf6 26. cxb6 Rxf1+ 27. Kxf1 axb6 {and white has a won ending.} ) 25. Kh2 Rc2 26. Qh8+ Qd8 27. Qxh7 {Here, too, white should be able to win the ending.}) 24... Rxg2+ {[%mdl 512] Any other move leaves black with a lost game.} 25. Kh1 Qc6 26. f3 Rdd2 27. Qh8+ Kc7 {A see-saw battle.} (27... Kd7 $142 28. Qg8 Rxg8 29. h4 Bh3 30. Rg5 Rxg5 31. hxg5 Bxf1 32. Kg1 Qxc5+ 33. Kh1 Qxg5 34. b4 Qg2#) 0-1