There were no ratings in those days, but Chessmetrics estimates Marshall’s highest ever rating to have been in 1917 when he was rated 2762 ranking him number 3 in the world. In 1937 (the last year the site has a rating for him) his estimated rating was down to 2494 positioning him at number 96 in the world.
Adding to the interest was that this was the first time Marshall had competed in the championship of his own club!
Not only did he win the tournament, but he won it in a manner which left no uncertainty about his clear superiority over the rest of the field. He was, well, Frank Marshall when tactical complications arose, but he also showed that he was a fine strategist when he wanted to be.
Reinfeld’s results were modest, but he was the only one to defeat Marshal when the latter underestimated the dangers in the
position. The staid Reinfeld also conducted a sharp attack against Smirka in the following game.
Attacking games are always entertaining...the kind of chess that makes
the pulse faster and gives us greatest pleasure. One such game was the one between Reinfeld and Smirka.
Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964) was a scant 54 years old when he supposedly died from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. He was born in New York and is best remembered as a chess author. His early books were superb, but eventually he realized the money was in writing potboilers, books written merely to make the writer a living by catering to popular taste.
Reinfeld could play chess though. Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2532 in 1942; that ranked him number 70 in the world (Botvinnik was first ay 2771 and Reshevsky 2nd at 2749). Reinfeld was ranked sixth with a rating of 2593 on the first rating list issued by the USCF in 1950.
Reinfeld won the New York State Championship twice (1931 and 1933) and played in seven US Championships before abndoning play for writing.
Little is known of his opponent, a journeyman Master named Rudolph Smirka (1887-1947, 60 years old) except that he was born in Vienna, Austria. He won the New York State chess championship in 1923 and 1927. Smirka was one of the strongest members of the Marshall Chess Club and won the club championship in 1929-1930 after a play-off with Sidney Bernstein.
[Event "Marshall CC Championship"]
[Site "New York, NY"]
[Date "1937.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fred Reinfeld"]
[Black "Rudolph Smirka"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1937.??.??"]
[Source "British Chess Ma"]
{D46: QGD, Semi-Slav} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c6 3. d4 d5 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 {[%mdl 32]}
Nbd7 6. Nbd2 Bd6 {The strategu for both players is to advance their e-Pawn.} 7.
O-O O-O 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 h6 {It's well known that 10...e5 at
this time loses a P, bur even today a lot of players fall for it. My fatabase
has 3 games in which players rated over 2500 played 10...e5?} (10... e5 11.
dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Bxh7+ Kxh7 14. Qh5+ Kg8 15. Qxe5 {Black might be
able to hold the draw if he fights hard and has some luck.}) 11. Bc2 Nf6 12.
Bd2 {A good alternatiuve is 12.Ne5} Qe7 (12... c5 {is considerably better.} 13.
Bc3 b6 (13... Re8 14. dxc5 Bxc5 {Infante,M (2301)-Puntier,W (2312) Santo
Domingo DOM 2012. White is better.}) 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. Rad1 Qe7 16. dxc5 Bxc5 17.
a3 Rfd8 18. b4 Bd6 19. Ne5 Rac8 20. Rd4 Qc7 {Draw agreed. Soppe,G (2469)
-Chemin,V (2316) Sao Paulo 2002}) 13. Re1 {In addition to the text white had
played 13.Bc3 and 13.Qe2, but 13.Qc1! is the hardest for black to handle.} (13.
Qc1 Nh7 (13... b6 {This is a pass to show what happens if black allows the
sacrifice on h6.} 14. Bxh6 Ng4 (14... gxh6 15. Qxh6 Re8 16. Ng5 Qc7 17. Qxf6
Bxh2+ 18. Kh1 Bf4 {White is winning.}) 15. Bg5 Qc7 16. h3 Nh2 17. Nxh2 Bxh2+
18. Kh1 {White is up a P and has good attacking chances. Again, black migh be
ab;e to hold the game if he avoids arrors and has some luck.} Bd6)) 13... Rd8
14. a3 {12.Qc1 was still a good alternative.} c5 {A good move making a bid to
free his game and get some play.} 15. d5 {Equally good! Other move allow black
equality.} Qc7 16. Bc3 {lapse, White has all the play and his Bs look menacing
to black's K.} Be7 {Black's lagging development tells against him, but instead
of this retreat he should have went in for complications.} (16... b5 17. b3
bxc4 18. bxc4 exd5 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. cxd5 c4 21. Qd4 Kg7 {Clearly white is
better, but black may be able to defend himself. In Shootouts whites scored +4
-0 =1, but the games were long (70-100 moves), so OTB a draw would be a
possibility.}) 17. Qd3 $18 {Black's position is bery difficult.} b5 {A bold
bid for freedom, which fails because of the inferiority of Black's game. I} (
17... exd5 {This is simply not possible because of} 18. Bxf6 Bf5 (18... Bxf6
19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. Qh8#) 19. Qxf5 g6 20. Be5 {and wins}) (17... g6 {is met by}
18. Ne5 Nxd5 19. cxd5 Rxd5 20. Qf3 Bd6 21. Ng4 Rd4 22. Qf6 Bf8 23. Bxd4 cxd4
24. Rac1 Qe7 25. Nxh6+ Kh7 26. Qxf7+ Qxf7 27. Nxf7 {and wins.}) 18. b3 (18.
cxb5 {woukd play into black's hands.} Rxd5 19. Qe2 a6 {Black has equalized.
White sould now play 20.Bxf6, but not} 20. bxa6 Bxa6 21. Qe3 Bb7 22. Be5 {
with planty of play.} Qc6) 18... Qb6 19. Rad1 Ba6 {This threatens 20...Nxd5,
but white has prepared for the final assault.} (19... Kf8 20. Ne5 b4 21. Ba1
exd5 {and now...} 22. Nxf7 Kxf7 23. Qg6+ Kf8 24. Rxe7 Kxe7 25. Qxg7+ Kd6 26.
Bxf6 Kc6 27. Bxd8 Qxd8 28. cxd5+ Kb5 29. axb4 Kxb4 30. Qxh6 {etc.}) 20. Bxf6
Bxf6 21. Qh7+ Kf8 22. d6 {It does black no good to take this P.} g6 (22... Rxd6
23. Rxd6 Qxd6 24. Qh8+ Ke7 25. Qxa8) 23. Ne5 {Even after this which is less
forceful thanv23.Bxg6 blacvk is already crushed.} (23. Bxg6 fxg6 24. Rxe6 Qb8 (
24... Rxd6 25. Rdxd6 Bg7 26. Rd7 Qxe6 27. Rxg7 bxc4 28. Qh8+ Qg8 29. Qxg8#) 25.
Rxf6+ Ke8 26. Qe7#) 23... Bg7 (23... Bxe5 {is met by} 24. Bxg6 fxg6 25. Qe7+
Kg8 26. Rxe5 {White is now ready to go for the kill.} Bc8 {Just a sample line..
.} 27. Qf6 Rd7 28. Rxe6 Bb7 29. Qe5 Kh7 30. Rxg6 Kxg6 31. Qe6+ Kg7 32. Qxd7+
Kh8 33. Qe6 bxc4 34. Qxh6+ Kg8 35. Qg5+ Kh7 36. Re1 Qxd6 37. Re7+) 24. Nxf7 {
[%mdl 512] Crushing. Stockfish announces a mate in 11.} Kxf7 (24... Rxd6 {
allows a mate in 9.} 25. Nxd6 Qc7 26. Rxe6 Qd7 27. Rde1 Bb7 28. Rf6+ Bxf6 29.
Qxd7 Bd5 30. cxd5 Be7 31. Rxe7 b4 32. Rh7 bxa3 33. Qf7#) 25. Qxg6+ Kf8 26. Re3
{Threatens 27.Rf3+, but there are many ways to win.} (26. Rxe6 {with a mate in
9 is the most precise.} Rxd6 27. Rdxd6 Qxd6 28. Rxd6 Re8 29. Qf5+ Kg8 30. Re6
Rf8 31. Qh7+ Kf7 32. Qg6+ Kg8 33. Re7 Rf7 34. Qxf7+ Kh8 35. Qxg7#) 26... Bb7
27. Rxe6 {This wins, but he missed a pretty move.} (27. Rd5 {Nice. It's mate
in 5} Bxd5 28. cxd5 Rxd6 29. Rf3+ Bf6 30. Rxf6+ Ke7 31. Qg7+ Kd8 32. Rf8#)
27... Qc6 {Black is lost, but he hopes to be able to play 28...Qxg2#} 28. Rd5 {
Less flashy was 28.f3 with a mate in 17. After the text black resigned.} (28.
Rd5 Rxd6 29. Qf5+ Kg8 30. Qh7+ Kf7 31. Rexd6 Qxd6 32. Rxd6 Ke7 33. Rg6 Rg8 34.
Qxg8 Bf6 35. Qh7+ Ke6 36. Qg7 bxc4 37. Qxf6+ Kd7 38. Rg7+ Kc8 39. Qf8#) 1-0
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