Gloomy Sam

     Writing long ago of Samuel Reshevsky (November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992). Dr. Max Euwe said he combined the qualities of Salo Flohr (patient and positional) and Dr. Reuben Fine (solid and sound) and integrated them into a superb whole.

     Reshevsky had, according to Euwe, persistent determination, wouldn't give up and doggedly stuck with things. Qualities that were especially evidenced in his staying power and defensive skill in difficult and adverse positions. At least when it came to his chess, Reshevsky was guided more by practical considerations than by ideals. 

     Speaking of the Flohr-Fine style, in the 1930s, Soviet player/teacher Peter Romanovsky coined the term Flohr-Fine style of play which according to him, was a style that emphasized the importance of opening theory and avoided making any weaknesses. They avoided sharp positions and sacrifices in favor of pure, technical play. Romanovsky opined that they were the exact opposite of the creative style of the Soviet players. 

     Garry Kasparov described (in My Great Predecessors IV) the first time Alekhine met Reshevsky. Alekhine found him to be a pleasant enough individual, but his style! Alekhine described Reshevsky's style as "gloomy." It "exudes such utter tedium, such lack of imagination, if we were not dealing with such an initially gifted, I would have said, even a lack of talent..."

     Alekhine blamed it on the fact that Reshevsky spent his childhood as a chess professional and by the age of 21 he was, chesswise, "an old man, tired, disillusioned and incapable of creative thinking." 

     Fred Reinfeld wrote that there was little in Reshevsky's personality that suggested he was one of the great players in history. He dressed neatly but unobtrusively in a sedate manner, was quiet in his speech, devoted to his family and a few friends and his only interest outside of chess were bridge and music. Reinfeld added that Reshevsky generally wore a serious expression "which occasionally lights up in a very winning smile." 

     I am not capable of judging any of those observations, but Reshevsky was one of my favorite players and despite his reputation, I found him to be a pleasant, if taciturn, man and my biggest chess thrill was drawing a postal game against him in 1979. 

     It was an "instructional" game that cost me a $35 fee. My "instruction" consisted of criticism of my 13th move. When I pointed out my reason for not playing his recommendation he did not say anything. When I wished him Happy Hanukkah, he replied, "Thank you" and with his 33rd move he wrote, "I believe the game is a draw." Like I said, a taciturn man. 

     By the way, there was an ad in Chess Review in 1950 in which Reshevsky would annotate your game for $5.00; that's about $54.00 in today's currency. If you just wanted a position examined and any question answered, he'd do it for $3.00, or about $32.00 today. 

     I liked Reshevsky's games because his moves always seemed to be more understandable than those of other players. One of my first chess books was the collection of Alekhine's games and need I say his tactics were beyond my comprehension? Then came Reshevsky On Chess and the games seemed understandable. About that time Botvinnik's 100 Selected Games came into my possession and it, too, had the cover worn off of it. 

     The following game against Arthur Dake from the 1938 US Championship is one that Fred Reinfeld believed to be Reshevsky's best because thanks to Dake's clever play, it drew upon practically all the resources at Reshevsky's command.

Arthur Dake - Samuel Reshevsky

Result: 0-1

Site: US Championship, New York

Date: 1938.04.13

Ruy Lopez Steinitz Defense Deferred

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.O-O d6 All line that had been drawing the attention of Soviet analyst at the time this game was played. 6.♗xc6 White usually plays 6.Re1. Even at the time this game was played the text move was generally considered not to be very strong, but it can lead to very tricky play where black can easily go wrong, 6...bxc6 7.d4 ♘xe4

7...♘d7 was a favorite of Chigorin, but after 8.dxe5 dxe5 black's P-formation looks pretty miserable. Chigorin was willing to accept it though because he had the two Bs and open lines.

8.♕e2 The other main consideration is 8.Re1 8...f5 9.dxe5 Routine play.

9.♘bd2 as played by Alexander against Reshevsky at Hastings 1937-38 is interesting. 9...♘xd2 10.♘xd2 ♗e7 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.♘c4 and white regained his P with a good game.

9...d5 10.♘bd2

10.c4 d4 11.♖d1 c5 12.♘c3 ♗b7 13.♘xe4 fxe4 14.♘g5 is equal. Hermansson,E (2205)-Davies,N (2505)/Gausdal 1993

10...♗c5 An important move because the B prevents Nd4 and is posted more aggressively here than on e7. The move is timed just right, as white was just on tbe point of playing Nb3 which would necessitate the modest development of the B on e7. 11.♘b3 ♗b6 An interesting position. White doesn't have any real possibilities for constructive action and his strong looking e-Pawn is of little value. On the other hand Black has the open b-file and the two Bs. 12.♗e3 c5 This is potentially risky because the B will be blockaded for some time, but Reshevsky had faith in the Bs future. It's actually the best move according to Stockfish.

12...O-O 13.c4 ♗xe3 14.♕xe3 dxc4 15.♖fd1 ♕e8 in this position that look horrible for black, Stockfish puts the chances at equal. However, in Arjun,K (2408)-Ritviz,P (2252)/Ahmedabad IND 2018 white managed to grind out a win.

13.♘fd2 Played in order to remove black's well placed N. 13...♘xd2 14.♘xd2

14.♕xd2 would be a serious miscue. 14...d4 15.♖fd1 ♗b7 16.♘a5 ♗e4

14...O-O 15.f4 a5 A true GM move. Reshevsky creates a splendid diagonal for his B. 16.♖f3 ♗a6 17.c4 Best under the circumstances because even though it allws black to get a passed P, it restrains black's Ps for some time. (17.♕d1 d4 18.♗f2 a4 19.♖g3 ♕d5 would be most unpleasant for white.) 17...a4 Another Grandmaster move! It has a duel purpose in that it prepares to put pressure on the b-file as white will soon be forced to play b3 and at the same time makes a nice square available for the B on a5. 18.♖c1 ♕e8 With his next move Dake makes a passive move that allows black a strong initiative, but it's hard to suggest an improvement because his position is so passive. Perhaps 19.Rg3 was better. 19.♕e1 d4 20.♗f2 ♗a5 With this move the B comes In to active play and at the same time the b-file is cleared for the Rs. 21.♕d1 White has lost time and his Q is right back where it started from. 21...♖b8

21...♕h5 forcing the exchange of Qs is an interesting idea. 22.♘f1 ♗b7 23.♖g3 ♕xd1 24.♖xd1 ♗a6 25.b3 axb3 26.axb3 ♖fb8 etc.

22.b3 This creates a target for the black Rs, but but move can always be forced by .. .Qe6. 22...♗b7 With its diagonal on a6 blocked, the B is now more effective on the long diagonal. 23.♖g3 ♗c6 24.♗e1 ♖a8 Another GM move! t tbls point the a-file has replaced the b-file in importance. The game now enters a maneuvering phase that is difficult for both players. 25.♘f3 Since his pieces have so little scope Dake is happy to exchange Bs, but in the resulting position his N will prove inferior to black's B. 25...♗xe1 26.♘xe1 axb3 27.♕xb3 Taking with the P would only mean it's weak on the b-file and not the a-file. 27...♗e4 28.♘d3 This is a good square for the N because it blockades the d-Pawn and and attacks the P on c5. Reshevsky's task now is to combine the attack on the a-Pawn with the defense of his P on c5. 28...♖a5 29.a3 ♕e7 30.♖e1 ♕e6 31.♘f2 ♗c6 32.♕a2 h6 33.♖c1 ♔h7 34.♘d3 ♖fa8 Now an instructive phase of he game begins. Before black can undertake anything decisive he must first rearrange his pieces.. His plan is to place his B on e6 where it keeps white's c-Pawn under observation and, also, shift his Q to the Q-side. 35.♕e2 ♗e4 Before capturing the a-Pawn Reshevsky takes the time to defend his P on c5.

35...♖xa3 Upon further analysis this move turns out to be somewhat better than the text. 36.♘xc5 ♕e7 37.♘b3 ♗e4 38.♘d2 d3 39.♕e1 ♖a2 40.♘xe4 ♖e2 41.♘f6 gxf6 42.♕f1 fxe5 43.♖xd3 ♖aa2 44.♖g3 e4 This is a rather long analysis, but it demonstrates that while there is no force win, at this point white is certainly in a bind.

36.♘f2 ♗c6 37.♘d3 Indirectly guarding the a-Pawn because of the threat to the P on c5. 37...♖b8 Engines don't like this move and want to take the a-Pawn, but Reshevsky is still in no hurry and is aiming to take the P under more favorable circumstances. 38.♕h5 This is pretty much a pointless move as the Q accomplishes nothing here, but there isn't much else he can do. 38...♗e8 39.♕d1 ♖b6 40.♕d2 ♖ba6 41.♕c2 ♗d7 42.♕b2 ♕b6 43.♕e2 ♕e6 44.♕b2 ♕e7 Now that the P on c5 is guarded a second time the capture of the a-Pawn is threatened. Black has the proper formation sketched out and now its time to begin the decisive phase. 45.♖a1 ♗e6 Completing the idea conceived at move 34. 46.♕c1 The poor Q. The most powerful piece is reduced to defending a couple of Ps. 46...♕f8 47.♘b2 ♕a8 48.a4 Now Black can attack both weak Ps simultaneously with the maneuver ...Nb6-b4. 48...♖b6 49.♕c2 ♖b4 Now the P can be attacked again by ...Bd7 plus ...Qe4 is also a threat. White can do nothing against either threat. 50.♖b3 ♕e4 Yrt another Grandmaster move. This move centralizing the Q forces the following exchanges, with the result that black secures three passed Ps. The final winning process is extremely instructive. 51.♕xe4 fxe4 52.♖xb4

52.♖aa3 just leaves all his pieces tied down and after 52...♔g6 53.g3 ♔f5 54.♔f2 g5 action has switched to the K-side where black has a winning attack. Just for example... 55.fxg5 hxg5 56.h4 ♔xe5 57.hxg5 ♗g4 will win without difficulty.

52...cxb4 53.h3 h5 54.♖e1 e3 55.♔f1 g5 56.♖d1 c5 57.fxg5

57.♔e2 does not improve anything 57...♔g6 58.fxg5

58.♔f3 ♖a8 White's a-Pawn is no threat. 59.♖g1 gxf4 60.♔xf4 ♖f8 61.♔e4 ♖f2

58...♔xg5 59.♖f1 ♗d7 60.♖a1 h4 and it's only a matter of time because all of white's pieces are practically useless.

57...♔g6 White has to return the P and black's K comes Into play. 58.♔e2 ♔xg5 59.♖f1 The purpose of this move is to keeps black's K from reaching the center, but Reshevsky has a stunning surprise. 59...♖xa4 Deflection. 60.h4 As baseball catcher Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over til it's over." This cunning move by Dake forces his opponent to calculate his next move accurately because 60...Kxh4?? would be a horrible blunder.

60.♘xa4 ♗xc4 61.♔e1 ♗xf1 62.♔xf1 c4 and the N is useless against so many Ps.

60...♔g4 This precise move is the only one that wins.

60...♔xh4 61.♖h1 Escaping the pin after Nxa4. 61...♔g4 62.♘xa4 ♗xc4 63.♔e1 In this complicated position I ran five Shootouts with Stockfish and all five were draws.

61.♘xa4 ♗xc4 62.♔e1 d3

62...♗xf1 When annotating this game Reshevsky incorrectly believed white could draw against this move. 63.♔xf1 Here Reshevsky analyzed 63...Kf5 which only draws. 63...c4 After this move which was overlooked by Reshevsky black wins as all the Ps cannot be stopped. For example...

63...♔f5 64.♘xc5 ♔xe5 65.♘d3 ♔d5 66.♘xb4 ♔c4 67.♘c6 d3 68.♔e1 ♔c3 69.♔d1 d2 70.g3 ♔d3 71.♘e5 ♔e4 72.♘g6 ♔f3 73.♘f4 ♔xg3 74.♘xh5 ♔xh4 75.♘f6 ♔g3 76.♔e2 drawn

64.♔e2 (64.e6 c3 65.e7 c2 66.e8=♕ c1=♕ 67.♔e2 ♕d2 68.♔f1 ♕f2#) 64...♔f5 65.e6 ♔xe6 66.♔f3 ♔f5 67.♘b6 c3 68.♘d5 b3

63.♖h1 d2 Reshevsky gave himself two !! for this move which seems to be overkill. 64.♔d1 ♗b3 65.♔e2 ♗xa4 66.e6 In reality this is just a gesture as the P presents no danger. 66...♔f5 67.e7 ♔e4 The most precise.

67...♔e6 Throws away the win. 68.♔xe3 ♔xe7 69.♔xd2 should be a draw with correct play.

67...♔f4 would also win. 68.♔d3 ♗b5 69.♔c2 ♔e4 70.g4 ♗a4 71.♔b2 e2

68.♖b1 ♗b5 69.♔d1 ♔d4 Dake resigned.

69...♔d4 70.g4 ♔c3 71.♖b3 ♔xb3 72.e8=♕ ♗xe8 73.♔e2 d1=♕ 74.♔xd1 ♗b5 75.gxh5 ♔a2 76.h6 b3 77.h5 b2 78.♔c2 b1=♕ 79.♔c3 ♕c1#

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Botvinnik Bares His Teeth

     For those that weren't around in 1964, it was a year of transformation and upheaval. The country was still suffering from the grief and shock of President Kennedy's assassination. 

     His replacement, Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a civil rights and labor law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. It prohibited unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations and employment discrimination. 

     The new law didn't mean much at the time. I remember arriving at the US Marine Corps base at Jacksonville, North Carolina that year and finding that once you got a couple of miles away from the base everything was segregated and things remained that way until I left. 

     President Johnson also started sending troops to their death for no purpose in Vietnam and the stability I knew growing up in the 1950s vanished amid such things as social inequality, racism, gender roles, sexuality, a growing generational gap and drugs.      

     In In pop culture, television changed in 1964. After watching sugary sitcoms like Father Knows Best, The Andy Griffith Show and Leave it to Beaver, television turned into Halloween with stuff like Bewitched, the Munsters and The Addams Family.

     In 1964, the promising Raymond Weinstein simply dropped off the face of the earth. Unbeknownst to the general chess playing public, he had been arrested for using a razor to murder an 83-year old man in a halfway house. He was judged mentally ill and confined to Ward’s Island for the criminally insane. 

     The USCF (or any chess news source) never reported on the incident and we were left wondering what happened to him. Two years earlier Chess Review printed a brief report on the murder of Abe Turner that took place in their offices, but we heard not a word about Weinstein. Finally, in 1997, Sam Sloan reported that he had ferreted out the location of Weinstein and talked to him for 45 minutes during a visit to Ward's Island. Weinstein was uncommunicative and Sloan reported that it was apparent that he was not capable of functioning in the outside world and would remain confined for the rest of his life. 

     It was the year 20-year old Bobby Fischer won the 1963-64 US Championship with a perfect score of 11-0. Sonja Graf won the women’s title with a +8 -1 =1 score. 

     Former Soviet champion (1923 and 1927) Peter Romanovsky died in Moscow at the age of 71. Fred Reinfeld died in on May 29 in New York at the age of 54. In September Soviet IM Viktor Goglidze (1905-1964) died in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

     Botinnik's last appearance in the chess Olympics was at Tel Aviv in 1964. The Soviet team with 6 GMs led by world champion Petrosian lived up to expectations and won their seventh consecutive gold medal. 

     There were 14 teams in the Final A group and the Soviet team made up of Petrosian, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Stein and Spassky finished with 36.5 points, well ahead of Yugosalvia (Gligoric, Ivkov, Matanovic, Parma, Udovcic and Matulovic) with 32.0. West Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia finished next. The United States team consisted of Reshevsky, Benko, Saidy, Bisguier, Robert Byrne and Addison and they finished in a disappointing 6th place. 

     Botvinnik's opponent in this game was Israeli master Yoel Aloni (September 30, 1937 - September 9, 2019, 81 years old) who is not to be confused with Izak Aloni (April 5, 1905 - June 2, 1985). Yoel's twin brother was Hillel (September 30, 1937 - May 26, 2017). Both were well known problem composers. 

     In the following game former world champion Botvinnik, who was first and foremost a positional player, could become a ferocious tactician when the position demanded it. 

     Like the changes in television programs, in this game Botvinnik bared his teeth. Sacrificing a R for a vicious attack, Botvinnik drew the Israeli master into a mating net by the further offer of his Q. Whether Aloni accepted or declined, he was lost. The finale of the combination reached the climax when Botvinnik's isolated P reached the second rank, where it proved more powerful than both Qs. An amazing game!

Yoel Aloni - Mikhail Botvinnik

Result: 0-1

Site: Tel Avi

Date: 1964.11.10

King's Indian Defense

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.♘c3 d6 5.e4 ♗g7 6.h3 Usual are 6.Nf3, 6.Bd3 or even 6.f4, but Aloni goes his own way. 6...O-O 7.♗e3 e6 8.dxe6 Botvinnik rightly condemns this move because in this system the exchange of Ps on e6 eliminates all of black's opening problems because it allow him to easily develop his pieces. Preferable is 8.Nf3. 8...♗xe6 9.♘f3 ♕a5 The threat is ...Nxe4. 10.♕d2

10.♕xd6 loses to 10...♘xe4 11.♕d3 ♘xc3 and white has no reasonable answer.

10...♘c6 11.♗e2 ♘d7 The idea is to play .. .Ne5 and after the exchange of Ns black's backward d-Pawn has disappeared and the P-formation is practically symmetrical. 12.O-O ♘de5 Offering the d-Pawn, the capture of which would lead to complications that could easily swing to black's favor. 13.♘xe5

13.♕xd6 ♘xf3 14.♗xf3 (14.gxf3 is not good. 14...♘d4 with an excellent game.) 14...♗xc4

13...dxe5 Botvin nik wrote that he knew Aloni was an attacker and so he was curious to see how he would create an attack in this blocked position. 14.♖ad1 ♘d4 15.♗d3 Botvinnik had a sneaking suspicion that Aloni would play this energetic, but risky move, and not the solid 15.Nd5 which leads to equality. It's hard to say if Aloni overlooked the loss of a P or sacrificed it! (15.♘d5 ♕xd2 16.♖xd2 b6 17.b3 ♖ad8 with a likely draw.) 15...♗xh3 16.b4 Well played!

16.♗xd4 exd4 17.gxh3 dxc3 with both a material and a positional advantage.

16...cxb4

16...♕xb4 Botvinnik avoided this because after 17.♖b1 ♕a5 18.♖xb7 he believed white's pieces get too much activity. But, that really does not seem to be the case. For example... 18...♖ab8 19.♖fb1 ♖xb7 20.♖xb7 ♕a6 21.♖c7 ♖c8 22.♖xc8 ♗xc8 23.♘d5

17.♘d5 ♗g4 18.♖b1 ♕d8 19.♗xd4 exd4 20.♖xb4 b6 21.a4 Threatening the further advance a4-a5 after which either the white c-Pawn becomes a dangerous passed P,or the black P on becomes weak. 21...f5 Black has no time to delay; he must create some counterplay. 22.exf5 ♗xf5 23.a5 bxa5 24.♖b5 In attempting to regain one of his Ps white wrongly rejects 24.Rb7 obtaining adequate play. (24.♖b7 ♗xd3 25.♕xd3 ♕d6 26.♖fb1 etc.)

24.♖b7 ♕h4 Botvinnik's move which is actually inferior as after 25.♗xf5 gxf5 26.g3 ♕h6 27.♕xa5 white is better.

24...♗xd3 25.♕xd3 ♕h4 26.g3 Aloni wants to free his R from the defense of f2, but as this move is not forced, the time he loses costs this initiative.

26.c5 keeps the game even. For example... 26...♖ac8 27.♕c4 ♔h8 28.c6 ♗e5 29.f4 d3 30.♕xd3 ♖xc6 31.fxe5 ♖xf1 32.♔xf1 ♖c1 33.♔e2 ♕g4 with an uncler position in which both sides have chances.

26...♕g4 27.♖e1 The losing move!

27.♔g2 ♖f7 28.♖xa5 ♖af8 29.♘f4 with equality. Note that the N can't be kick off of f4. 29...g5 Correct is 29...Qd7 equals 30.f3 ♕d7 31.♖xg5 and white is winning.

27...♖f3 28.♕b1 ♖af8 29.♖e4 Clever. 29...♖xg3 Black, of course, does not retreat the Q but sacrifices a R instead. The decisive factor is that white's R on b5 is out of play.

29...♕d7 and black loses! 30.♘e7 ♔h8 31.♘xg6 hxg6 32.♖h4 ♔g8 33.♕xg6 and wins.

30.fxg3 ♕xg3 31.♔h1 d3 There were other plausible moves, but Botvinnik first advances his d-Pawn and opens up the diagonal for his B. 32.♘e7 ♔h8 33.♕e1 Aloni is not out of tricks just yet! 33...♕h3

33...♕f3 34.♔h2 d2 35.♘xg6 (35.♕xd2 ♕xe4) 35...hxg6 36.♖h4 ♔g8 37.♕xd2 and white is still in the game. In fact it's unlikely than black can win.

34.♔g1 d2 35.♘xg6 hxg6 36.♕h4 (36.♖h4 loses to 36...♔g8 37.♕e2 ♕g3 38.♔h1 ♕e1) 36...♔g8 Here Aloni, realizing his position was lost in the long run, resigned.

36...♔g8 37.♕xh3 d1=♕ 38.♔h2 ♖f2 39.♕g2 ♖xg2 40.♔xg2 ♕c2 41.♔f3 ♕d3 42.♔f4 ♗h6 43.♔e5 ♗f8 44.♔f4 ♗d6 45.♖be5 ♕c3 46.♖e3 ♕d4 47.♔f3 ♗xe5 wins

36...♔g8 37.♖b1 ♕d3 38.♖d1 ♗d4 39.♖xd4 ♕e3 40.♔h1 ♕f3 41.♔h2 ♕e2 42.♔h3 ♖f3 wins

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