On television people were watching Bonanza (a sappy western), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (an idiotic show that did not remotely resemble the real Marine Corps in which I was serving) and The Lucy Show (silly slapstick).
In 1965, Apple Jacks cereal, Bar One candy bars, Bounty paper towels, Gatorade drink, Honeycomb cereal, ladies’ hair care product Nice ‘n Easy and SpaghettiOs all appeared in the marketplace for the first time.
The economy was good. It continued into its fifth consecutive year in what was the longest boom since the end of World War II.
A crass, vulgar man named Lyndon B. Johnson was president and he signed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965. The bill required cigarette makers to print health warnings on cigarette packages about the harmful effects of smoking. Those of us who smoked in those days ignored the warnings.
The first U.S. combat troops, two battalions of 3,500 Marines, arrived in South Vietnam to defend the American airbase at Da Nang from Viet Cong attacks. By the end of the year, U.S. troop levels in Vietnam reached 184,300.
Thanks in a large part to a bungling President Johnson it turned out to be a quagmire that cost
us more that 58,000 casualties, over 150,000 wounded and almost 2,000 missing.
To his credit, in what was probably the high point of his time in office, President Johnson did sign the Voting Rights Act into law which guaranteed African Americans the right to vote.
On February 13, 1965, Samuel Reshevsky won the first National Open in Las Vegas which boasted of a then record-breaking prize fund of $4500 (over $43,000 in today’s dollars).
Both Reshevsky and Robert Byrne yielded two draws each and were tied for with 7-1 each. They split the prize money and each got $700 (over $6.700 today), but the title was awarded to Reshevsky on tiebreaks.
Nobody knows if if Pal Benko won or lost at the gambling tables, but at the chess tables his luck was definitely bad when he made horrendous blunders in two consecutive games. Against Dr. Ariel Mengarini he overlooked a mate in a winning position and then against Paul Quillen he declined several draws by repetition and guess what? He stumbled into a mate. Rumor had that his problem was lack of sleep as the result of having spent long hours gambling.
In the following game Rershevsky dismantles a Class A (1800-1999) rated David C. Korts who finished with an even 4-4 score.
Samuel Reshevsky–David Korts1–0C74National Open, Las Vegas1Las Vegas, NV USA08.02.1965ShashChess 32
Ruy Lopez: Deferred Steinitz 1.e4 Reshevsky rarely played 1.e4 except when
he was anticipating a quick kill. Against an 1800 player that was a reasonable
expectation. e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 d6 5.c3 f5 What should this
opening be called? A Deferred Steinitz or a Deferred Schliemann? I am not
really sure, but this move is very sharp. Statistically, in my database it
gives black better results than the musch more usual 5...Bd7 6.exf5 xf5 7.d4 e4 Black is booked up...this is his best move. 7...b5 allows white to
get the advantage after 8.c2 xc2 8...e4 9.g5 d5 10.f3 e7 11.fxe4 xg5 12.h5+ g6 13.xg5 White is better. 9.xc2 f6 10.a4 White is
slightly better. 8.g5 d5 8...e7 is another possibility. 9.d5 b5 10.c2 xg5 11.h5+ g6 12.xg5 ce7 Mista,A (2561)-Krasenkow,M (2608) Germany
2011 Black has a position similar to the one in the note to move 7. 9.f3 9.c4 dxc4 10.xc6+ bxc6 11.a4 d7 12.c3 Chances are equal. Shamkovich,
L-Shianovsky,V Baku 1961 9.h3 f6 10.f4 g4 11.c2 d6 12.e3
Black stands well. Koepke,E (2271)-Osmanodja,F (2348) Germany GER 2018 9.xc6+ bxc6 10.f3 exf3 11.xf3 h6 12.e3+ The chances are equal. Malofeev,
A (2233)-Silivanov,S (2325) St Petersburg 2009 9...e7 Black should play 9...h6 10.fxe4 hxg5 11.exf5 d6 with about equal chances. 9...exf3
turns out badly after 10.0-0 g4 11.xf3 f6 12.h3 xf3 13.xf3 and the
position of black's K is rather precarious. 10.fxe4 White is better. dxe4 After this black;s position rapidly deteriorates. 10...xg5 is a better
defense. 11.h5+ g6 12.xg5 dxe4 13.0-0 with a position similar to those
previously mentioned, but here white is clearly better. f6 14.e5+ e7 15.xe7+ xe7 11.0-0 It's clear that black is facing some serious
difficulties. His K is stuck in the center and danger is lurking on the f- and
e-files. h6 11...xg5 12.xf5 xc1 13.xc1 b5 14.c2 is also very
precarious for black. 12.d5 A surprising lapse by Reshevsky! 12.h5+ g6 13.h3 d6 14.e6 f5 15.d5 and white has an overwhelming positional
advantage. 12...xg5 12...b5 This is much more tenacious. 13.h5+ g6 14.h3 xg5 14...bxa4 leads to a slaughter. 15.e6 c5+ 16.h1 d7 17.dxc6 xc6 18.xg7+ d8 19.g5+ e7 20.d1+ 15.e6+ e7 16.xg5 bxa4 17.xe7 d7 17...xe7 18.c6+ wins 18.c5+ xe6 19.dxe6 f5 and black
has nery nearly equalized. 13.dxc6 Once again 13.Qh5+ was better, but even
after the text white has a significant advantage. b5 Threatens to win with ..
.Bxc1. 14.xd8+ 14.h5+ is still playable, but it is now less effective
than had it been played earlier. For example... g6 15.xg5 xg5 16.xg5 bxa4 and with the reduced material black can be considered to have equalized. 14...xd8 15.xh6 gxh6 Only lightly better would have been 15...Bg6 16.xf5+- bxa4 17.d2 Reshevsky has avoided any serious calculating of
variations and has played for what amounts to an easily won ending. e3 18.e5+ e7 19.c4 Maintaining the pin on the B and repositioning the N is the
easiest way to victory. Much less strong is 19.xe3 0-0-0± 20.xe7
White is better, but double R endings can be difficult to play. xd2 19...f8 20.xe3 f7 21.d5 d8 21...f8 22.xc7 c5+ 23.xc5 xc7 24.f1+ e7 25.e5+ d6 26.a5 xc6 27.xa4 Black is down too many Ps to have any
hope of saving the game. 22.ae1 c5+ Black is out of the pin, but white's
position is just crushing. 23.h1 f8 This allows a mate in 4, but the
alternative only prolonged the mate. 23...e7 24.xe7 e8 25.xc5 d8 26.d5+ f7 27.xc7 a3 28.bxa3 c8 29.d5 h5 30.c7 h4 31.e7+ g8 32.f6+ f8 33.xh7 h3 34.g5 hxg2+ 35.xg2 a5 36.g8# 24.f6 Black
resigned. All in all, black put up a decent fight against his famous opponent. 24.f6 e3 25.5xe3 a5 26.e8+ xe8 27.xe8# 1–0
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