Rosenwald determined that it was in that the boy’s best interest to tale a break fro chess and get his education and enjoy “a normal boyhood.”
Consequently, between the years 1924-1931 Reshevsky played only occasionally during school breaks. He entered Northern High School in Detroit, from which he graduated with honors.
He then entered the University of Chicago and in 1934 earned his accounting degree from the university's School of Commerce after which he revived his chess career.
The year before he graduated from college he returned to Detroit to compete for the Western Open title. Reshevsky was asked if he expected to win the tournament and even though Reuben Fine was playing, Reshevsky’s reply was "Who is there to beat me?" He was right in one respect, nobody did beat him and he even defeated Fine, but he did not win the tournament...Fine did!
In the last round Fine, as expected, defeated local master Leon Stoltzenberg. Reshevsky was expected to defeat Chicago master Albert Margolis. Instead, Reshevsky narrowly escaped defeat and was lucky to draw. The result was Fine finished first with 12 points and Reshevsky finished second with 11. Arthur Dake was a distant third with 9.5.
In the following game Reshevsky defeats Egil Opsakl (1902-1984), a Norwegian born electrical engineer. He arrived in the US in 1927 and settled in Detroit. Opsal enlisted in the US Navy and served from 1942 to 1945. His older brother, Haakon Opsahl (1905-2001, 95 years old) was a master player who ended up in Canada.
The closed nature of the game made it very difficult to analyze even with the powerful Stockfish engine and in many cases the positions were unclear.
The Fritz program has a Shootout Mode in which the engine plays a series of games against itself. When setting up these Shootouts there are a some variable that you can adjust (blitz and long time controls and fixed depth where you can adjust the number of plies). I prefer the latter method and with the minimum plies set at 7 and the maximum at 15 the result is 5 games are played at lightening speed...engines rip through plies extremely fast. Of course, the results may or may not be what would happen if humans were playing!
Analyzing this game with Stockfish was extremely difficult; it suggested moves that were only a fraction of a Pawn better at almost every move! Also, some variations, while the engine evaluated them as clearly superior, I think in practical play things would not gave been at all that clear! See what you think.
[Event "Western Championship, Detroit"]
[Site "Detroit, MI USA"]
[Date "1933.09.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Samuel Reshevsky"]
[Black "Egil Opsahl"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "1933.??.??"]
{Stonewall Attack} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. O-O d5 6. Ne5
Nbd7 7. f4 {The Stonewall P-formation (Ps on c3, d4, e3 and f4) give white a
good N outpost on e5 and may provide him with ab opportunity launch a
primitive K-side attack. On the other hand, its a rather inflexible
P-structure, long-term light square weaknesses and the bad dark squared B can
tell against him.} a6 {An aimless move.} (7... Be7 8. Nd2 O-O 9. Rf3 Ne4 10.
Rh3 Nxe5 11. fxe5 f5 12. exf6 Rxf6 {favors black. Mamedyarov,S (2767)
-Warmerdam,M (2599) chess.com INT 2021}) 8. Qf3 {By placing the Q here
Reshevsky hopes to use it for attacking purposes. The strategy is successful,
but only because of black's cooperation.} (8. Nd2 Ne4 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Bc4 g6
11. Qg4 {is equal. Fernandez Hernandez,A (2303)-Janssen,R (2524) Havana CUB
2010}) (8. g4 {might look inviting, but after} Ne4 9. Nd2 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nc5 {
white has no real prospects pf a K-side attack. In fact, it's black who does.}
11. Be2 f6 12. exf6 Qxf6 {Black will play ...O-O-O and then try to take
advantage of white's weakened K-side limited in scope pieces.}) 8... g6 {
The fianchetto seems to be a good defensive plan against both the Stonewall
and the Colle.} 9. Nd2 $14 c5 10. c3 Qc7 11. Qh3 Bg7 12. Ndf3 {Neither side
can boast of any advabtage here, but Opsahl's next move is an harbinger of
trouble. Why he neglects castling is hard to understand.} h6 (12... O-O 13. Ng5
Qd6 14. Rf3 h6 15. Ngxf7 Rxf7 16. Nxf7 Kxf7 17. g4 Ne4 {White has no effective
way to continue. Five Shootouts from this position resulted in white scoring
+1 -3 =1, but the games were very long and arduous.}) 13. Bd2 (13. Bxg6 {
was certainly a possibility.} fxg6 14. Qxe6+ Kd8 15. Nf7+ Kc8 16. Nxh8 Bxh8 {
with a highly unbalanced material situation...a R+2Ps vs. B+N. In Shootouts
white scored +1 -0 =4}) (13. Nxf7 {was the correct sacrifice. After} Kxf7 14.
Ne5+ Ke8 15. Bxg6+ Kd8 16. Nf7+ (16. Qxe6 Rf8 17. Qh3 Kc8 {Black has a nearly
equal position.}) 16... Kc8 17. Nxh8 Bxh8 18. Qxh6 {White's position is very
promising. In 5 very messy and very long Shootout games white scored +4 -0 =1})
13... Ne4 {There is no reason not to castle. Black undefended f7 is a sore
point.} (13... Rf8 14. Be1 O-O-O 15. Bg3 Ne4 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18.
Ne5 {leaves black rather breezy on the Q-side. It's going to take white some
time though to get his B and Q into play, but in the long run black's position
looks tenuous.}) (13... O-O {looks perfectly safe as although white has the
initiative an attempt by white to dig out the K does not seem to work.} 14. g4
Ne4 15. Be1 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 cxd4 17. cxd4 Qe7 18. Bh4 Qe8 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Nc4
Qc6) 14. a4 (14. Nxg6 {is interesting, but inconclusive.} Nxd2 15. Nxh8 Nxf3+
16. Rxf3 Bxh8 17. Qxh6 O-O-O 18. g4 {Stockfish give white s slight edge here,
but very messy Shootouts resulted in white scoring + 3 -1 =1}) 14... Ndf6 15.
Be1 Qe7 (15... O-O-O 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Be2 Nce4 {is about equal/}) (15... O-O {
also seems satisfactory.} 16. g4 a5 {and black has sufficient resources to
defend the K-side.}) 16. Kh1 (16. Nxf7 {is still playable.} Kxf7 (16... Qxf7
17. Ne5 Qg8 (17... Qe7) 18. Nxg6 Rh7 19. f5 {with a strong initiative.}) 17.
Ne5+ Kg8 18. Nxg6 Qe8 19. Nxh8 Kxh8 {but white's advantage is minimal.}) 16...
g5 {Opening up the K-side is the wrong strategy. 16...c4 closing the Q-side
followed by Q-side castling would have been a much safe course.} 17. Ng1 O-O-O
{...c4 here or on the next move would have left his K a bit safer.} 18. Qf3 {
Even though his K has left the area it is disadvantageous for black to open up
the K-side, OTB that would be hard to judge. Engines give white a two P
advantage after 18...g5} h5 19. fxg5 Nxg5 20. Qf4 Nfe4 21. Bxe4 (21. Nxf7 {
is bo longer feasible.} Rhf8 22. Nxd8 Rxf4 23. exf4 Qxd8 24. fxg5 Qxg5 {
Technically the position offers equal chances, but nobody likes parting with
their Q without seeing a clear advantage.}) (21. Bh4 {was the correct move.} f6
{with a clear advantage.} 22. Ng6) 21... Bxe5 22. Qxe5 (22. dxe5 {Taking with
the Q loses most of his advantage, but taking with the P leaves white with a
clearly better position.} Nxe4 23. Bh4 f6 (23... Qf8 24. Bxd8 Kxd8 25. Qxf7)
24. exf6 Qf7 25. Nf3 Rdf8 26. Ne5 Qc7 27. Ng6) 22... Nxe4 23. Qf4 f6 24. Bg3
Nxg3+ {The vigorous 23...e5 appears to be a worthwhilw try.} (24... e5 25. Qf5+
Kb8 26. Bh4 Rdf8 27. dxe5 Qxe5 {and black should have no difficulties.}) 25.
Qxg3 Rdg8 26. Qh4 Rg6 27. Rf2 Kd7 {Now that white has been neutralized white
on the K-side, Opsahl turns his attention to getting play on the Q-side, but
the correct course would have been to keep the Q0side closed with 27...a5} 28.
a5 {It;s white who strikes on the Q-side!} b5 29. dxc5 Rhg8 {With white having
gained the advantage on the Q-side black turns his attention back to the
K-side...tripling pieces on the g-file} 30. Ne2 {Too slow!} (30. Qxh5 Qg7 31.
Qf3 Kc7 32. Ne2 d4 33. e4 f5 {and we are back to equal chances!}) 30... Rg4 {
Suddenly Reshevsky is facing problems on g2!} 31. Qh3 d4 32. Nf4 (32. Nxd4 {
Paradoxically this is better!} Bxg2+ 33. Rxg2 Rxg2 34. Rd1 Kc7 35. b4 Qd7 {
Of course the Q cannot be taken.} 36. Qxe6 Qxe6 37. Nxe6+ Kc8 38. Nf4 {and
white has a fighting chance.}) 32... Qxc5 {Black misses a golden opportunity!}
(32... e5 33. Nd3 Kc7 {Allowing the R to move.} 34. e4 Bxe4 35. Ne1 Qxc5 {
and the attack on g2 leaves white in serious trouble.}) 33. cxd4 ({is the
wrong way to capture.} 33. exd4 Qf5 34. Qxh5 Qxh5 35. Nxh5 Rxg2 36. Nxf6+ Kd8
37. Rxg2 Rxg2 38. h4 Rf2+ 39. Kg1 Rxf6 {The situation is, again, black shpould
win...theoretically any way!}) (33. Rd1 {[%eval 0,32] [%wdl 5,991,4] [%emt 0:
00:08] Nxh5 Nxf6+} Kc7 $19 {Nxg8}) 33... Qc6 {[%mdl 8192] It's quite logical
to increase the pressure on g2, but oddly enough this move leaves white with a
decisive advantage!} (33... Qf5 {keeps the chances even after} 34. e4 Qxe4 35.
d5 Bxd5 36. Nxd5 Qxd5 37. Qe3 Rxg2 (37... Rd4 {relieves the pressure on g2 and
it;s a whole new game after} 38. h3 Rg5 39. Raf1 Qe5) 38. Qa7+ {and as bad as
things look for white, black's K cannot escape the Q checks.}) 34. Rd1 (34.
Nxh5 Qxg2+ (34... Rxg2 35. Nxf6+ Kd6 36. d5 {wins.}) 35. Rxg2 Bxg2+ 36. Qxg2
Rxg2 37. Nxf6+ Kd6 38. Nxg8 Rxg8 {is also decisive for white.}) ({Much less
strong is} 34. Qxh5 $6 Kc8 $18) (34. d5 $142 exd5 35. Nxh5 {[%eval 337,22]
[%wdl 1000,0,0] [%emt 0:00:05]} (35. Qxh5 Kc8 $16) 35... f5 36. Rxf5) 34...
Rxf4 (34... Kc8 {is a better chance.} 35. Qf3 R4g5 36. d5 exd5 37. Rfd2 d4 38.
Qxc6+ Bxc6 39. Rc2 Kb7 40. Rxd4 {In spite of appearances black is still in
serious trouble after} f5 41. Rd6 Be4 42. Rb6+ Ka7 43. Rd2 R5g7 44. h3 Rh7 45.
Ne6 Rb7 46. Rdd6 Bxg2+ 47. Kh2 Rxb6 48. axb6+ Kb7 49. Nc5+ Kc8 50. Rd7 Rg6 51.
b4 Bf3 (51... Rg8 52. Rc7+ Kd8 (52... Kb8 53. Nd7+ Ka8 54. Ra7#) 53. Ne6+ Ke8
54. Rc8+ {ans wins}) 52. b7+ Kb8 53. Rd8+) 35. exf4 Qc4 36. f5 {[%mdl 32]} Qa4
37. fxe6+ {White is clearly winning.} Ke7 38. Qxh5 Rg7 39. d5 {Black resigned.
An abrupt end to a massively complicated game.} 1-0
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