Isaac Kashdan, one of the strongest US players ever, never won the US Championship, but in 1942 he came close. The 1942 championship was one of the most controversial ever and the whole tournament hinged on a single move by the 6th place finisher, Al Horowitz.
This tournament was only five months after Pearl Harbor and the USCF had sent out an announcement in January canceling the championship because "The United States Government has issued a call for an all-out struggle in a war which has been thrust upon us," adding, "Our way of life is in great peril ... [and] the present time is not propitious for holding a championship tournament.”
In the end though the USCF changed its mind and the top players agreed to forego appearance fees and guarantees of prize money and to just play for modest prizes.
The tournament was a race between Kashdan (+11 -1 =3) and Reshevky (+10 -0 =5). Kashdan would have been U.S. champion in 1942, but for two unfortunate incidents over which he had no control.
In the 6th round the infamous L. Walter Stephens, incorrectly forfeited Arnold Denker after Reshevsky exceeded the time limit. Stephens, standing behind the clock, picked it up and turned it around so that the clocks were facing opposite sides and then declared Denker forfeited and then refused to change his decision even after his mistake was pointed out.
After his last round game finished Kashdan had 12.5 points while Reshevsky had 12 so the last round game between Reshevsky and Horowitz was critical. The game was adjourned with Horowitz two Pawns up. At resumption Horowitz managed to let the win slip away and the draw meant Reshevsky and Kashdan were tied. The result was a 14-game match playoff which was won by Reshevsky +6 -2 =3.
1) Kashdan and Reshevsky 12.4
3-4) Denker and Pinkus 10.5
5) Steiner 10.0
6) Horowitz 9.0
7) Seidman 7.0
8-9) Levin and Levy 6.5
10-11) Chernev and Pilnick 6.0
12-13) Baker and Lessing 5.0
14-16) Altman, Green and Halbohm 4.0
Reshevsky’s style was often criticized and maligned and it was claimed that he won because he was lucky. It’s true...he did have a lot of lucky escapes; his success in escaping from bad positions and time pressure earned him the title of “Escape Artist” from the leading Soviet players of the day. Reshevsky, on many occasions, offered draws in lost positions and his reputation was such that his opponents accepted. Good teams and players in any sport are, as they say, always lucky.
The other complaint leveled at his play was that it was boring. In his book, Meet the Masters, Max Euwe wrote that Reshevsky liked boring positions then went on to explain that many positions which other masters would abandon as lost or drawn were more correctly analyzed by Reshevsky who would often discover numerous hidden possibilities.
On the other hand, Reuben fine preferred to credit Reshevsky’s sometime phenomenal luck to the fact that he was an excellent tactician who was rarely prepared to accept any conventional judgment and he would exhaust all his resources before admitting that he was wrong. That was the essence of his chess philosophy.
The following little known masterpiece from the 1942 U.S. Championship is pure tactics and typical Reshevsky in that it is full of complications. At a couple of points Reshevsky’s play was a little imprecise, but I suspect he was in his usual time pressure.
[Event "US Championship"]
[Site "New York, NY"]
[Date "1942.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Herbert Seidman"]
[Black "Samuel Reshevsky"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Ruy Lopez: Worrall Attack} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O
Be7 6. Qe2 {In the Worrall Attack white plays 6.Qe2 instead of 6.Re1. The idea
is that the Q will support the e-Pawn, leaving the R free to move to d1 to
support the advance of the d-Pawn, although there is not always time for
this.} 6... b5 7. Bb3 d6 {Unlike others, Reshevsky placed little emphasis on
the openings and rarely experimented with them. As a result he was sometimes
caught napping. Remember his game against Bobby Fischer in the 1958 US
Championship when a blunder at move 8 cost Reshevsky his Q. He doggedly
played on until adjournment before resigning. Nevertheless, by and large his
tactics were more than adequate even against opening theoreticians.} 8. a4
Bg4 9. c3 O-O 10. h3 { An important interpolation because it forces black to
make a decision on what to do with his B. He can retreat to e6 or d7 or h5, or
even exchange it for the N. If white plays 10.Rd1 instead black could play
10...Na5 and 11...c5 hindering d4 and so leaving the R poorly placed.} 10...
Bh5 {At the time the book move was 10...Bd7 in order to avoid the constricting
11.g4. Today the preferred move is 10...Na5 and 11...Be6. But, Reshevsky was
never too concerned about openings.} 11. Rd1 {Better was either 11.g4 or even
11.d3.} 11... b4 {Excellent! With this move Reshevsky immediately creates
complications. In a game Neikirch-Trifunovic, Novi Sad 1945 black played
11...Bg6, but got nothing an the game was soon drawn. Interesting is 11...d5
as in Bortnik-Eliseev Herceg Novi 2008. White would be safe after 12.d3;
instead he blundered with 12.exd5 and ended up with a very bad position.} 12.
d4 {Not bad, but not good. The more exact reply was 12.a5!, fixing black's
b-Pawn and depriving the N of the important a5.} 12... bxc3 {This looks bad
and in fact engines prefer 12...Rb8, but Reshevsky understood that the
position is deceptive and that Seidman may easily go astray.} 13. g4 {See,
Reshevsky was right! Evidently Seidman as under the impression that he would
either win a piece or secure an overwhelming position. He should have played
13.bxc3 when black has only a small advantage.} 13... Qb8 {Reshevsky
immediately parts ways with his good position by attacking the B with the
wrong piece! Correct was 13...Rb8. The Q belongs on the c8-h3 diagonal where
it can attack the h-Pawn in the event that white takes the B. There were two
promising alternatives to white's next move either of which would have been
better. There was the obvious 14.gxh5 Qxb3 15. Nc3 with unclear
complications. Hopefully white could then build up good attacking
possibilities along the g-file. Second the energetic and probably best 14.Bc4!
cxb2 15.Bxb2 Nxg4 16.hxg4 Bxg4 with an unclear position in which both sides
have their chances.} 14. Bd5 {After this Reshevsky's good position is back.}
14... Nxd5 {Note that Reshevsky is careful not to exchange his c-Pawn because
its advance will soon be a potent threat.} 15. exd5 Bg6 {Seidman seems to
have underestimated this elementary retreat. Sometimes players get so involved
in the complex that they forget the obvious.} 16. bxc3 {So, black's c-Pawn has
disappeared...amazingly it's only temporary. If 16.Nxc3 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 exd4
18.Rxd4 material is even, but black has the advantage here, too.} 16... Na5
17. Nbd2 exd4 18. Qxe7 Re8 19. Qg5 dxc3 {The c-Pawn is back! Now if white
retreats his N with 20.Nf1 there follows 20...h6 21.Qf4 Re4 and ...c2 with a
winning position. His best try was to centralize the N with 20.Nd4, but even
then black is very much better.} 20. Nh4 {Unable to save his piece, Seidman
embarks upon a desperate adventure. Technically black's next move is not the
most precise, but practically after 20...cxd2 21.Bxd2 Nb3 22.Nxg5 white has
introduced some complications that black decides to avoid with 20...f6.}
20... f6 21. Qf4 Bc2 22. Nf5 {Even if he save the R he is lost, so Seidman
continues to play for complications.} 22... Bxd1 23. Ne4 Rxe4 {it's all over}
24. Qxe4 Qe8 25. Qb4 Nb3 26. Rb1 {Reshevsky, who may have been in time
pressure, misses the crushing 26...Qe1+ and 27...Bc2} 26... Nxc1 27. Rxc1 c2
28. Qb7 {White crumbles, but even the better 28.Qc3 would not have saved the
game.} 28... Qd8 {More precise was 28...g6.} 29. Qb3 Rb8 30. Qa2 h5 {Also good
was 30...Qe8} 31. Nd4 hxg4 32. hxg4 {Hopeless was 32.Nxc2 Bf3...black has too
many Ps.} 32... Qe8 33. Nxc2 Qe2 34. g5 fxg5 {After 34...Qg4+ it's mate in 15
moves.} 35. Qa3 Bxc2 36. Qc3 Be4 37. Qxc7 Qg4+ {It's mate in two.} 0-1
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