Friday, July 1, 2022

Reshevsky Crushes Bisguier

     Writing about the Budapest GM Robert Byrne said, “There are openings that the great players have looked down their noses at…a typical one is the Budapest. Kasparov thought so little of this opening that in his Batsford Chess Openings it appeared under the rubric of Miscellaneous Openings. But I recommend that every young player should give it a try in the course of his development. If you come up with a clear refutation…I’ll be willing to vote you a medal.” 
     The Budapest might be worth a try, but you certainly do not want to play the Fajarowicz Variation as Bisguier did in the following game. Reshevsky refuted it on move 4 (!) when he played a simple move nobody had previously thought about playing. 
     If you are interested in giving the Budapest a try, check out Yasser Seirawan's entertaining video HERE

     The game was played in the first Rosenwald tournament. Julius Rosenwald was a wealthy chess enthusiast who donated money to support American chess. He sponsored the U.S. Championships in the 1950s and was a co-founder of the American Chess Foundation. 
     The first of a series of invitational tournaments sponsored Rosenwald was held in 1954. The goal was to provide young US masters strong competition at home with the long-term aim of improving US performance in international events. 
     In the first Rosenwald in 1954/55 Reuben Fine was invited, but he was out of chess and declined. Robert Byrne was also invited but decided because of his graduate studies. James Sherwin took Byrne's place. 
     The players met each other twice. The first half was held at the Manhattan Chess Club, Hans Kmoch directing. The second half was held at the Marshall Chess Club and was directed by Al Horowitz. 

     Reshevsky jumped out to a comfortable lead in the first half by scoring 4.5-0.5. The featured game given below was significant because it was Reshevsky’s first loss to an American player since 1951. Despite this loss Reshevsky held the lead and won the event easily. Bisguier finished third on the strength of an impressive 4.5 – 0.5 in the second half. 

 

 

A game that I liked (Komodo 14)

[Event "1st Rosenwald, New York"] [Site "?"] [Date "1954.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Black "Arthur Bisguier"] [Result "*"] [ECO "A51"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "1954.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 {At the time this was a favorite of Bisguier's and he had a lot of success with it against lesser competition, but Reshevsky was not one to play it against.} 3. dxe5 Ne4 {The Fajarowicz Variation is a dubious continuation. Best is 3...Ng4, but the best black can hope for is to regain the P.} 4. a3 {White can play other moves here, but there is little incentive to do so because the text, played naturally by Reshevsky, is by far the best. At the time the book line was 4.Qc2 which leads to lines that are not really clear. The text move allows white to avoid the annoying ...Bb4+ and prepares Qc2 to undermine black's N.} Nc6 (4... d6 {is worth considering, but after} 5. Qc2 Nc5 (5... Bf5 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. Qxf5 Na4 {White stands much better.}) 6. exd6 Bxd6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Nf3 Qf6 9. e4 Bg4 10. Nd5 {White is better as black has no real compensation for his P minus.}) 5. Nf3 d6 (5... Bc5 {is met by} 6. e3 Ng5 (6... O-O 7. Qd5 {is winning.}) 7. b4 Nxf3+ 8. gxf3 Be7 9. Bb2 {with an excellent position.}) 6. Qc2 {This is the refutation of black's setup.} (6. exd6 Bxd6 7. Qc2 Bf5 {and black can claim some compensation for the P.}) 6... Bf5 {This looks better than it is. White still has a huge advantage.} (6... Nc5 7. b4 Nd7 8. exd6 Bxd6 9. c5 {is pretty ugly for black!}) (6... d5 {as suggested by Larry Evans is no better.} 7. e3 Bf5 8. Nc3 g6 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. Qxc3 Qxd5 11. Bc4 Qd7 12. e6 {wins}) 7. Nc3 Nxf2 {Pure desperation, but it's neither better nor worse than alternatives.} 8. Qxf5 Nxh1 9. e6 fxe6 10. Qxe6+ Qe7 11. Qd5 h6 12. g3 g5 13. Bg2 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Bg7 15. Bh3 Ne5 16. Bd2 g4 17. Bxg4 h5 18. Bf5 c6 19. Qe4 Kd8 20. Ng5 Bf6 21. Ne6+ Kc8 22. O-O-O Kb8 23. Bf4 b6 24. Kb1 {Bisguier, who was unrecognizable in this game, resigned. He made up for it in defeating Reshevsky in their second game in this tournament. It was Reshevsky's only loss and his first loss to an American master since 1951!} *

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