Later the same year, Sammy was in the United States and on Tuesday, December 7, 1920, the weather was rainy and the temperature in the mid-40s when he played an exhibition game in the Manhattan apartment of Mischa Elaan (1891-1967), the great violin virtuoso who was also a keen chess devotee.
Elman's legacy spanned more than six decades. His first 78 rpm discs were made in Paris in 1906; his final LP sessions were in New York in 1967.
For his effort that evening Elman present Rzeschewski with a diamond ring. Among many prominent guests for the game were Fannie Hurst who was among the most popular and sought-after writers of the post-World War I era, Sammy’s father Jacob and chessmasters Herman Helms and Charles Jaffe. Also present was Hartwig Cassel, a prominent chess journalist, editor and promoter in Great Britain and the United States.
Sammy’s opponent for the exhibition game was the Russian-born Morris Schapiro (1903-1996), an investment banker and chess master. He came to the United States in 1907 and his family lived in the Brownsville and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn.
At 16, he entered Columbia University on a Pulitzer Scholarship and at the time of this game the 17-year old Schapiro was already an acknowledged first-class player and one of the brightest students at Columbia; he was also the university’s chess champion.
When asked as his opinion of Sammy Rzeschewski right after the game Schipiro exclaimed, "He is the greatest genius the world has
ever known.”
The game was played with a time limit of 30 moves an hour. It actually lasted just two hours and of those 120 minutes, Schapiro
used 79 minutes and Rzeschewski 41 minutes.
Schapiro’s play was conservative, but confident because he was on familiar ground as he was following a line the Brooklyn Chess Club had successfully adopted against Boston in a match.
After an hour's play and 27 moves, with the position about equal, a brief adjournment was taken. After resumption of play Rzeschewski gradually improved his prospects, but even so he could only claim the initiative, but not more. Things remained in that condition until move 36. when Schapiro made a catastrophic blunder when he moved his K forward instead of retreating.
With few exceptions when he would consider his move for two or three minutes, Rzeschewski made his moves very quickly which, no doubt, had to be very disconcerting to Schapiro!
[Event "Exhibition game, New York City"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1920.12.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morris A Schapiro"]
[Black "Sammy Rzeszewski"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C14"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "1920.??.??"]
{French: Classical System} 1. e4 {[%mdl 32]} e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 {This is the classical variation and white now has two
main continuations: 7.f4 and 7.Qd2} 7. Qd2 a6 (7... O-O 8. f4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 {
is a more solid continuation.}) 8. Nd1 c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. f4 Nb6 (10... f5 11.
Nf3 O-O {in this non-game Kasimdzhanov,R (2672)-Morozevich,A (2731) Mainz 2006
agreed to a draw}) (10... O-O 11. Nf3 f6 12. Nf2 b5 13. Bd3 b4 14. O-O Nb6 {
as in Bartel,M (2627)-Karas,M (2240) Katowice POL 2022. White is better and
went on to win.}) 11. Nf3 Bd7 12. Be2 (12. Bd3 f6 13. O-O O-O-O 14. Ne3 g5 {
This lead to a quick loss in Sirkova,D (1804)-Boneva,Z (1949) Sofia 2008.
Black should have played 14...cxd4when white is only slightly better.}) 12...
O-O 13. O-O f5 14. dxc5 Qxc5+ 15. Qe3 Qxe3+ 16. Nxe3 Na4 17. c4 d4 (17... Nxb2
{would be a losing move because after} 18. cxd5 exd5 19. Nxd5 Na4 20. Bd1 b5
21. Rc1 Nb2 (21... Rfc8 22. Bb3 Kh8 23. Bxa4 bxa4 24. Nb6 {wins}) 22. Rxc6 Bxc6
23. Ne7+ Kh8 24. Nxc6 {wins}) 18. Nc2 d3 19. Bxd3 Nxb2 {It's now safe to play
this because the attack on the B gains a tempo/} 20. Be2 Na5 {[%mdl 32]} 21.
Ne3 b5 (21... Rac8 {only results in equality.} 22. a4 Nbxc4 23. Nxc4 Nxc4) 22.
cxb5 axb5 23. Rab1 Nbc4 {Slightly more accurate would have been 23...Nac4} 24.
Nxc4 (24. Rfd1 {yields a slight advantage after} Rfd8 25. Nc2 Rac8 26. Ncd4 {
with a somewhat more active position.}) 24... Nxc4 25. Rfd1 Bc6 26. Nd4 Bd5 27.
Nxb5 Ne3 {At this point the game had been underway about an hour and a brief
recess was taken. The position is equal.} (27... Rxa2 {Results in drawish
equality after.} 28. Nc3 Rc2 29. Nxd5 Rxe2) 28. Rd2 Bxa2 (28... Be4 {was
interesting because it leads to an unbalanced P-fomtion after} 29. Ra1 (29. Bd3
Bxd3 30. Rxd3 Nd5 31. g3 Rxa2) 29... Nxg2 {The chances are actually equal, but
white's a-Pawn could become a cause for concern so black does best to avoid
this line.}) 29. Rc1 Bd5 30. Kf2 Ng4+ 31. Bxg4 fxg4 32. Kg3 Ra4 33. Nd4 (33.
Kxg4 {is leathal!} Rfxf4+ 34. Kg3 Rg4+ 35. Kf2 Rxg2+ 36. Ke3 Re4+ 37. Kd3 Rxe5
{etc.}) 33... h5 34. Rf1 (34. f5 exf5 {Or 34...Ra3+ as in the game.} (34...
Ra3+) 35. Kh4 f4 36. e6 Re8 37. Re1 f3 38. gxf3 gxf3 39. Kg3 Ra6 40. Nxf3 Bxf3
41. Kxf3 Raxe6 {draw}) (34. Rc7 Kh7 35. Re7 Ra3+ 36. Kh4 Rxf4 37. Nxe6 Bxe6 38.
Rxe6 g3+ 39. Kh3 Re3 40. Red6 g5 41. Rd7+ Kg6 42. R2d6+ Kf5 43. Rf7+ Ke4 44.
Rxf4+ Kxf4 45. hxg3+ Rxg3+ 46. Kh2 Kxe5 47. Ra6 {This position is drawn.})
34... Kh7 35. f5 Ra3+ 36. Kf4 {[%mdl 8192] Schapiro is oblivious to the
lurking danger and plays a losing move.} (36. Kf2 Bc4 37. Rc1 Ra4 38. f6 gxf6
39. exf6 Rxf6+ 40. Kg1 {Even with an extra P and B vs. N there does not seem
tp be any way for black to make progress.}) 36... Kh6 {Very nice! There is no
satisfactory answer to the threat of ...g5#} 37. h4 {Prevents g5+.} (37. Nxe6 {
is hopeless.} Bxe6 38. f6 gxf6 39. exf6 Rxf6+ 40. Ke5 Rxf1) 37... gxh3 38. Nf3
{Prevents ...g5#} (38. gxh3 g5#) 38... hxg2 {Engines immediately spot the mate
in 16 moves.} 39. Rxg2 Rxf5+ 40. Kg3 Raxf3+ {White resigned. Times: Schapiro
1hour, 19 minutes. Rzeszewski 41 minutes} (40... Raxf3+ 41. Rxf3 Rxf3+ 42. Kh2
g5 43. Kg1 g4 44. Rf2 Rxf2 45. Kxf2 h4 46. Ke3 g3 47. Ke2 h3 48. Kd3 g2 49. Kc3
g1=Q 50. Kb4 h2 51. Kb5 h1=Q 52. Kb4 Qb6+ 53. Kc3 Qc1+ 54. Kd3 Qbe3#) 0-1
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