This one was a little different in that only eight of the 19 players in the finals were from New York and, as might be expected, it was another duel between Reshevsky and Kashdan for first. One surprise was the fourth place finish of Jacob Levin of Philadelphia who was playing in only his second US championship.
In the following game the truly unknown Aaron Rothman (1935-1961, dates uncertain) of the Bronx, New York was in a difficult position when either he outright blundered or valiantly tried to hornswoggle Reshevsky with an exchange sacrifice that failed. According to chess historian Edward Winter, Rothman claimed to know the entire opening manual Modern Chess Openings by heart.
Aaron Rothman–Samuel Reshevsky0–1D82US Champ, New York30.10.1946Stockfish 17
D82: Gruenfeld Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 At the time Reshevsky like this defense because of its fighting qualities. 4.f4 Though seldom played since its heyday in the 1930s, this is a good, safe continuation especially if white wants to avoid the complexities of the Exchange Variation (4.cxd5). With 4.Bf4 white hopes to take the initiative on the Q-side with a smaller P- center. g7 5.a4+ Usual, bit not relly better, is 5.e3 5.e3 0-0 Offering the Gruenfeld Gambit. Otherwise he can play 5...c5 6.cxd5 xd5 7.xd5 xd5 8.xc7 with equal chances. 5...d7 6.b3 The point...the b-Pawn is threatened. Should black waste time defending it and if not, should white risk taking it? c6 6...c6 7.e4 e6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.g5 dxe4 10.d5 0-0 11.dxc6 xc6 White has what should be a decisive advantage, but in Karpov,A (2651)-Svidler,P (2738) Moscow 2008 white manages to lose in 36 moves. 7.cxd5 The solid 7.e3 was better. 7.xb7 is just too risky. b8 8.xc7 xc7 9.xc7 xb2 10.0-0-0 b7 11.g3 0-0 Black is better. De Waal,M (2280)-Westerweele,M Vlissingen 1996 7...xd4 8.d1 A sad retreat, but the only good one. b5 9.xb5 xb5 White's opening looks like it has been a disaster. He is weak on the a1–h8 diagonal, his d-Pawn is threatened and he has the almost impossible task of developing jis K-side. Yet somehow he manages to survive. 10.e4 Very good! Or, rather, it's the nest he has! xf1 11.xf1 0-0 12.c2 c8 13.d1 c6 14.d6 exd6 15.xd6 e8 16.e5 d5 In spite of everything white has survived with minimal damage in that there is no immediate forced win available to Rershevsky who immediately deals with white's apparently well placed B supported by the P on e5. 17.f3 f6 18.exf6 This turns out to be a real slip. 18.e1 was a much better defense. fxe5 19.xe5 xe5 20.xe5 xe5 21.xe5 Incredibly white has survived with no damage! 18...xf6 19.c5 White's center has disappeared, but he still has a problem with getting his K out of the center and to safety. a5 20.c4 20.a3 defending the a-Pawn is met by b5+ 21.g1 e2 22.d2 ce8 23.xe2 xe2 24.c1 xb2 and there's no way to meet ...Rb1 20.d2 was his best try. After b6 21.d4 xd4 22.xd4 b5+ 23.g1 e2 24.d2 ce8 Black has an active position and white still faces difficulty getting his R into play. 20...xb2 Clearly black has the better position, but with 21.Bd4 or 21.g3 white could hope to play on. Instead he miscalculates a tactical sequence and loses quickly. Or, did Rothman see the refutation and he was just trying to trick Reshevsky? 21.xd5 cxd5 22.xd5+ Reshevsky's next move gets a ! or two because it is the only one that keeps the win alive. h8 White resigned. There is no effective followup to this move. 22...h8 23.d4+ xd4 24.xd4+ g8 White is the exchange down and black dominates the position. 22...g7 results in a different outcome. 23.f8+ This gets tricky! f6 24.xa5 c1+ 25.e1 c3 26.g7+ xg7 27.c7+ g8 28.g4 exe1+ 29.g2 xh1 30.d8+ g7 31.d7+ h6 32.e7 is a draw 22...g7 23.xb7+ This, too, is pretty tricky! h6 24.e3+ xe3 25.xc8 b5+ 26.g1 d3 27.c2 Here, too, a draw is likely. 0–1
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