A Finish Too Gruesome to Contemplate

    In the 1958-59 US Championship Bobby Fischer was not only a Grandmaster, but also an international star and the talk of world chess. He had won the previous championship with an undefeated 8 wins and 5 draws, finishing a full 2 points ahead of Reshevsky. 

    Nobody had repeated as as champion in the previous six tournaments and in this tournament virtually all of top scorers of the previous year were back plus Robert and Donald Byrne and Pal Benko were in the line up. 

    Born in France to Hungarian parents, Benko had become one of the leading European juniors during the mid-50s and was making a name for himself. Benko had been involved in the 1956 Hungarian revolt, but was later permitted to play first board on Hungary's team in the 1957 Student Olympiad in Iceland where he promptly defected. He originally landed in Cleveland Ohio, but not for long. He got into a snit because Cleveland players would not support him financially, so he moved on to greener pastures. 

 

 

   Most invitees were chosen because of their rating or because they held the Grandmaster title, but in the 1958-59 tournament the USCF also invited the U.S. Junior Champion 17-year-old Raymond Weinstein, Bisguier's couson. 

    In the end, Fischer was again successful, taking an undefeated first with +6 -0 =5 while Reshevsky again had to settle for second and his loss to Fischer was a real debacle! Fischer played a new, but untested, line on the white side of the Sicilian that he had used earlier in the year to defeat Bent Larsen at the interzonal at Portoroz. In the same tournament against Oscar Panno, it hadn't been so successful, but Fischer had done his homework; Reshevsky hadn't. 

Weinstein

    As usual, Reshevsky wasn't up on theory and relied on his instinct. Also, the line had been analyzed in depth in a recent Russian magazine which, of course, Fischer was familiar with. Reshevsky wasn't and ended up losing miserably.

    Benko, who everybody thought might be a serious contender, failed badly finishing in 8th place with a +1 -4 =6 score. Weinstein shared last place with Edmar Mednis, scoring +0 -5 =6. Here is an interesting game from the tournament.

 

[Event "1958/59 US Champ, New York"] [Site "New York"] [Date "1958.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Raymond Weinstein"] [Black "Samueal Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E64"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "1958.??.??"] {E64: King's Indian: Fianchetto Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 c5 {A Reshevsky favorite. Most common by far is 5...d6} 6. d5 d6 7. Nc3 Na6 {Again, a Reshevsky favorite. He liked to put the N on c7 then play ... Rb8 and prepare the advance ...b5.} 8. O-O Nc7 9. Bf4 {The B is in a rather vulnerable place on f4. Thos move was popular at the time, but has since been pretty much abandoned in favor of 9.a4 to prevent black's Q-side expansion.} a6 10. a4 Rb8 11. a5 b5 12. axb6 Rxb6 13. b3 Nh5 {This move gains time, opens the diagonal for his B and makes room for the advance of his f-Pawn..} (13... Bd7 14. Qc2 Qb8 15. Ra3 Qb7 16. Nd2 Rb8 17. Na4 Bxa4 18. Rxa4 Qc8 {equals. Panno, O-Ramirez,A Santa Fe 1957}) 14. Bd2 e6 15. dxe6 Bxe6 16. Ng5 {This move does not accomplish much and so continuing his Q-side play with 16.Ra2 and 17.Baw wpuld have been better.} Bd7 17. Na4 Rb8 (17... Bxa1 18. Nxb6 Be5 19. Ba5 { and white is well off.}) 18. Ra3 h6 {Reshevsky begins an attack by driving back the N with a gain of time.} 19. Ne4 {Perhaps 19.Nf3 would have been better. As played white loses time with the N.} f5 20. Nec3 Be6 21. e4 f4 { Reshevsky is going after him. Theoretically with accurate play white should be OK, but as is usually the case, one slip on the part of the defender can be costly.} 22. g4 {As Reshevsky put it, "Closing his eyes to the lurking danger. " This move loses quickly.} (22. Nd5 fxg3 23. hxg3 Nxd5 {and now capturing with either Pawn keeps things fairly equal.} 24. cxd5 {This at least does not give the B a good square on f5.} Bd7 25. Bc3 Bxc3 26. Nxc3 {The chances are equal.}) (22. e5 {This sharp counterattack is probably his best option.} Bxe5 23. Ne4 {Here black has no really powerful attacking moves. Komodo Human suggests the following line...} Qe7 24. Bc3 Bxc3 25. Naxc3 Rbd8 26. Re1 Ng7 27. Qc1 Kh7 28. gxf4 Nf5 29. Ng3 Nd4 30. Nd5 Qf7 31. Nxc7 Qxc7 {and neither side can claim an advantage.}) 22... f3 23. Bxf3 (23. Bh1 Qh4 {leaves white helpless...} 24. Bxf3 (24. Nd5 Qxg4+ 25. Bg2 Qxg2#) 24... Be5 25. Bf4 Bxf4 26. Re1 Bxh2+ 27. Kf1 Qh3+ 28. Ke2 Qxf3+ 29. Kd2 Qf4+ 30. Kc2 Bxg4 31. Qd2 Qxd2+ 32. Kxd2 Rxf2+ 33. Re2 Bf4+ 34. Ke1 Rxe2+ 35. Nxe2 Bxe2 36. Kxe2) 23... Qh4 24. Kg2 Nf4+ 25. Bxf4 Rxf4 26. Be2 Be5 27. h3 Rbf8 {0-1 White resigned. The sequel is too gruesome to contemplate.} (27... Rbf8 28. Bf3 Rxf3 29. Qxf3 Rxf3 30. Kxf3 Qxh3+ 31. Ke2 Bxg4+ 32. Kd2 Qxf1) 0-1