After giving a ten board simul in Los Angeles it was time to return home and on the wat back he stopped in New York to play a match against Reshevsky. After the match it was on to the Olympiad in Helsinki and then he participated in the Interzonal in Stockholm. His final tournament that yer was the Yugoslav championship.
Played in New York from June 2-22, according to Chess metrics estimated rating Gligoric went into the match rated 2705 placing his at number 11 in the world. Reshevsky’s estimated rating was number 1 in the world with a 2777 rating. He was followed by Vassily Smyslov (2766) and Paul Keres (2758).
For his part, in 1952, Reshevsky had run over Miguel Najdorf in a, 18-game match that was unofficially called "The Match for the Championship of the Free World.” The games were played in New York, Mexico City and San Salvador. Reshevsky scored a crushing victory, winning 8, losing 4 and drawing 6.
The Gligoric-Reshevsky match was arranged rather suddenly in order to take advantage of the presence of Gligoric in New York after Reshevsky had returned from his match with Najdorf.
In his match against Najdorf, Reshevsky started off with a +6 -0 =2. Gligoric fared a little better...Reshevsky started off with a +2 -0 =4.
The first game in the match is an instructive example of switching the attack from one side of the board to the other.
The mark of great players is their flexibility and their readiness to switch objectives the moment opportunity presents itself. In Chess Fundamentals Capablanca wrote, “...at times the way to win consists
in attacking first on one side, then, granted greater mobility of the pieces, to transfer the attack quickly from one side to the other, breaking through before your opponent has been able to bring up sufficient forces to withstand the attack.”
In this game Gligoric played the King’s Indian, a defense which is usually played with the idea of starting a counterattack. But, instead, in this game he abstained from aggressive play and only tried hold his own. His strategy proved to be safe, but his defense turned out to be overly cautious and when the position became partly open Reshevsky seized this opportunity to switch his forces to the King-side. He then obtained a strong attack which Gligoric was unable to defend against.
It's true, the game is not perfect because in the midst of the attack both players missed better opportunities. The game shows that defending is a lot harder than attacking and the consequences of a slip by the attacker are usually far less serious that a slip by the defender.
Samuel Reshevsky–Svetozar Gligoric1–0E95Match (Game 1), New YorkNew York, NY USA01.06.1952Stockfish 16
E95: King's Indian: Classical Variation 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.e2 e5 At this point white has a variety of ways to continue.
With 7.dxe5 black gets an easy game. By 7.d5 closing the center, a positional,
maneuvering game results where white will likely be attacking on the Q-side
and black on the K-side. Reshevsky's 7.O-O is neutral, reserving all the
options and leaving black to make the exchange if he wishes. 7.0-0 bd7 8.e1 c6 9.f1 How do you explain this retreat? White played 6.Be2 in order to
get castled, but after 8.Re1 returning the B to f1 unmasks the R so it has
effect on the e-file. Additionally, the B is not badly place on f1 from where
it serves both for defense and for supporting the coming Q-side P advance. e8 The threat is to play 10...exd4 with the hope of making use of the r file. 10.d5 After this push black can exchange Ps, but then white would be able to
make good use of the c- file. Gligoric decides to close the center completely.
It's then up to white to decide how he wants to break through. c5 11.a3 f8
A mysterious looking move, but this Rs return to f8 has a pirpose...it
foreshadows K-side expansion by ...f5 after black plays ...Ne8. Note that the
R served no purpose on e8 after white played 10.d5 12.g3 12.b1 is also
acceptable. e8 13.b4 h6 14.g3 b6 15.d2 e7 16.c2 with equal chances.
Abdelnabbi,I (2452)-Haddouche,M (2329) Tripolis 2009 12...e8 12...h6
was played in Sosonko,G (2575)-Camara,H (2325) Sao Paulo 1978 13.c2 h7 14.b4 b6 15.b1 g8 16.d3 e7 The chances are about equal. 13.b4 e7
Passive play, but there is little choice. Gligoric makes no attempt to get in .
..f5. If...f5 really was his intention he has apparently changed his mind. 13...f5 is met by 14.g5 c7 15.b5 f6 15...xb5 16.e6 c3 17.c2 f6 18.xc3 is decisive. 16.exf5 gxf5 17.bxc5 dxc5 and white has a
favorable position. 13...b6 This worked out well for black after 14.b1 h8 15.d2 e7 16.c2 f5 Jaracz,P (2395)-Urban,K (2470) Augustow 1996 and
black has equal chances...the game was eventually drawn. 14.a2 White is
better. c7 14...f5 Apparently Gligoric still deemed this too risky. 15.exf5 gxf5 16.h4 e4 17.e2 e5 18.f4 f6 Am unclear, complicated position
has arisen, but white seems to have the advantage after 19.bxc5 dxc5 20.d6 f7 21.d5 xh4 22.gxh4 f3+ 23.h1 f6 24.e7+ 15.e3 b6 16.h4 e8 17.c1 c7 It appears that Gligoric has decided that there is nothing positive
he can accomplish and so he has decided to awaits developments. Shifting his N
back and forth is not so bad in itself, but it gives Reshevsky time to build
up his position. 17...f5 Is still a tad risky. 18.exf5 gxf5 19.h3 b8 19...df6 20.xf5 20.f4 a6 20...exf4 21.xf4 f6 22.e4 fxe4 23.xc8 White's position is a winning ione. 20...e4 21.xe4 fxe4 22.xc8
White's advantage will prove decisive. 21.fxe5 dxe5 22.g5 Here, too,
white's advantage should prove decisive. 18.g5 f6 19.h6 g7 20.h3
Reshevsky's plan is to eliminated all 4 Bs, then open and occupy the b-file. e8 Clearly Gligoric has no plans for the f-file. 21.xg7 xg7 22.d2
Black's options are becoming few. f8 23.xc8 exc8 24.bxc5 This exchange
has to be played at a time when black can't relake with a N. Now after this
exchange black won't be able to keep the b-file half-closed by recapturing
with the d-Pawn., because of the repky d5-d6. bxc5 24...dxc5 25.d6
wins 25.b2 d7 26.a4 cb8 27.eb1 d8 27...xb2 is a reasonable try
because he can then challenge white on the b-file. 28.xb2 e8 29.c3 b6 29...b8 30.xb8 xb8 looks drawish. 28.g2 h6 This move gas been
wrongly criticized as being a superfluous precaution that ruins black's game,
but that's an overstatement; black's game is perfectly OK. What Gligoric's
problem is that he has been paying too passively. 28...Nb6 was also a good
move. 29.a5 b6 30.xb6 axb6 31.c3 This position is equal, but
Reshevsky is quietly preparing to switch operations to the K-side. With 31.Qc3
he defends the a-Pawn and takes advantage of the pin on the e-Pawn and
threatens to launch a K-side attack with f2-f4. g8 Generally it's not a
good idea to keep the K on the diagonal with white's Q. 31...e8 32.f4 h7 33.fxe5 dxe5 34.xe5 d6 is technically equal, but in practice black;s
position is very passive and therefore difficult to defend. 32.d2 Now
Reshevsky's two-pronged attack has become serious, but even so, with careful
play black can still hold his own. 32.xb6 would be a horrific mistake. xb6 33.xb6 xd5 34.exd5 xb6 and white has lost a R. 32...xa3
After this Gligoric finds himself in serious difficulties. Now that the Q is
off the long diagonal and the e-Pawn is no longer pinned the K can safely
guard the h-Pawn. 32...h7 leaves his K-side safe and so there is nothing
better for white than to go back to Q-side operations, but after, for example 33.d3 33.xb6 xb6 34.xb6 xa3 the position is void of any damger for
black. 33...e8 34.b3 f6 35.f3 the position is dead equal. 35.f4 exf4 36.gxf4 h5 wins 33.xh6 The appearance of white's Q on the K-side
plus the N being poised to play a role in the attack means that black is now
in serious danger. e8 34.f4 Reshevsky is now going all out for a mating
attack, but black has good defensive resources after this. 34.f3 This
quiet move, clearing the way for the advance of the h-Pawn, is very dangerous
to black. For example... f6 35.g5 a7 36.h4 f8 37.xf8+ xf8 38.xb6 xb6 39.xb6 e7 40.b8 g4 40...a4 41.b7+ f8 42.xf7+ g8 43.xf6 41.b2 f6 42.f3 White is better, but the question is, does he have enough
of an advantage to win? The answer is, yes. White won 5 out of 5 Shootouts.
Here is the example at 17 plies. h5 43.h3 f5 44.exf5 gxf5 45.b3 f6 46.b6 e7 47.b3 f6 48.b6 e7 49.b2 f6 50.b3 h5 51.e6 f6 52.b8 e7 53.g4 fxg4+ 54.xg4 f6+ 55.g5 e4 56.fxe4 d7 57.h8 f6 58.f5 a1 59.f4 f7 60.d8 e1 61.xd6 xe4 62.e6 g3+ 63.g4 e4 64.d3 g1+ 65.f5 g3+ 66.e5 d1 67.xc5 g7 68.d6 f1 69.e4 e3 70.e7+ g6 71.c5 d5+ 72.e6 with an easy win for white. 34...exf4 35.f2! e7 35...f6
was a much better defense. 36.xf4 g7 White's attack is at an end and it's
doubtful that he has enough of an advantage to win. 36.xf4 This, too, is
imprecise!. 36.xf4 is a different story. a2+ 37.g1 g5 38.f5 f6 39.ff1 xh6 40.xh6+ g7 41.xf7 and it's doubtful that black will survive. 36...a4 This attack on the b-Pawn is impotent. 36...ba8 37.bb2 c3 38.f3 xc4 39.g5 f6 40.e6 h7 41.xb6 b4 42.c6 And the game is still in
full progress with the outcome uncertain. 37.bf1 Seven moves ago all
white's heavy pieces were on the Q- side. Now they are well placed on the
f-file while black's Rs are unable to be of much use in the defense. b7 38.xg6 This move was highly praised, but it's actually premature. Old
annotators often praised moves based on the success of the winner and that's
why you cannot trust a lot of analysis in old books and madazines. Of course
they didm't have engines so they often missed a lot. Of this move it was
written that it was "a superficially brilliant sacrifice which forces the
final entry' and "it probably needed very little calculation." Another
annotator gave it a "!!" and wrote, "A neat sacrifice which makes white's
sudden attack irresistible." On the other hand, Stockfish slapped a "?" on it. 38.g4 is correct and it leaves black with no defense. For example... aa7 39.xf7 xf7 40.xf7 xf7 41.xg6+ f8 42.f5 a2+ 43.h3 aa7 44.h6+ g8 45.e6 f8 46.h6 fb7 47.g8+ e7 48.f5+ d8 49.xd6 h7+ 50.g2 he7 51.h4 and white is clearly winning. Here is a possible continuation... ad7 52.e5 xe5 53.f7+ xf7 54.xf7 etc. 38...fxg6 The reality is
that at this point white is only slightly better. 39.h6 White
threatens Rf8+ but if black finds the right reply he equalizes and is right
back in the game! xe4+ Missing the equalizer. 39...g7 40.xg6 xc4 41.e5 dxe5 42.d6 e8 43.xe8+ xe8 44.f8+ g7 45.xe8 c2+
and the double R ending should be drawn...theoretically at least. 40.g1 40.h3 f5+ 41.xf5 gxf5 42.e6+ h7 43.f4 xc4 44.xc4 g7 45.xe8 f6 46.e6+ g7 47.h4 c4 48.xf5 c3 49.g4+ h8 50.f6+ h7 51.h4# 40...d4 41.g2 e4+ 42.h3 f5+ Black resigned 1–0
Reshevsky chessmetrics # 1 in the world at that time? Highly questionable. He certainly was not better than Smyslov let alone Botvinnik.
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