Wednesday, February 15, 2017

A Little Known Reshevsky - Fischer Game

     1957 was the year of the big breakthrough for Bobby Fischer when he went from a promising master to one of the best players in the country culminating in his winning the US Championship. He didn't play much in the first half of the year because at that time he was still attending school. He did tie for places 6 -14 in a 61-player Log Cabin Open in February. In that tournament his losses were to masters Herbert Avram and Anthony Santasiere. 
     In June, the Manhattan Chess Club won the Met League championship and held a celebration, part of which included an exhibition by Samuel Reshevsky. He played ten blindfold games, one after the other, at ten seconds per move against some pretty strong opposition. Reshevsky defeated lady champion Gisela Gresser and the strong master Walter Shipman. Players named Guala, Rowe and Saxon also went down to defeat. Reshevsky lost four: to master Charles Heitner, Arthur Bisguier (who was awarded the GM title that year), Arthur Feuerstein (a strong master and US Championship competitor) and Fischer. 
     I have never seen this Reshevsky - Fischer game, so here it is. In a tricky position where he stood better, Reshevsky lost the thread of the game and let Fischer off the hook. Then he miscalculated an equally tricky ending.
 

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