In February 1940, Horowitz had been on an exhibition tour along with a close friend, a Master named Harold Morton, when one night they were traveling by car when they were involved in an accident in which Morton was killed and Horowitz seriously injured. It took a few months, but he fully recovered.
In 1940, the next US Championship was two years in the future, so Horowitz decided to challenge Reshevsky to a mtch for the title,
Reshevsky was the favorite, but Horowitz had beaten him in the 1936 Championship in what was one of the few games Reshevsky had lost to an American in five years.
Also, a healthy prize fund sweetened the pot AND there was a rumor going around that a Reshevsky-Alekhine match might be possible, so Horowitz would be a good warm up.
The Reshevsky-Horowitz match was to be a grueling 16 games played in seven venues over the course of three weeks. The schedule was so tight that Reshevsky said it became a matter of endurance rather than chess. This game, the 6th, played on May 13th, 1941 in Philadelphia, was probably the most exciting of the match.
[Event "uS Champ Match, Philadelphia"]
[Site "Philadelphia, PA USA"]
[Date "1941.05.13"]
[Round "6"]
[White "I. A. Horowitz"]
[Black "Samuel Reshevsky"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C99"]
[Annotator "Stockfish/Reuben Fine"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1941.??.??"]
{C99: Ruy Lopez: Chigorin Defense} 1. e4 {Except for the 14th game, Horowitz
played this every time and succeeded in getting a good game out of the opening.
} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 {Black has two main systems
here: this and the Open Defense (5...Nxe4).} 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Na5 9.
Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. h3 O-O 12. Nbd2 cxd4 {So far the players have been
following what was considered the main line, but now instead of the then
popular 12...Nf6, Reshevdsky plays what ha become the main line today.} 13.
cxd4 Nc6 14. d5 Nb4 15. Bb1 a5 16. a3 Na6 17. b3 Nc5 18. Nf1 Bd7 19. Ra2 {
This rather odd looking move has a point - it gets the R into play.} Rac8 {
Threatening 20...Ncxe4} 20. Ng3 (20. Kh1 {A pass to show the thrat.} Ncxe4 21.
Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Rxe4 Qxc1 {winning a piece.}) 20... Rfd8 {Just as a reminder of
the tremendous amount of theory there is on the Ruy Lopez, this has all been
played before! Reuben Fine was of the opinion that this move is proof of the
inferiority of black's game and commented that the R serves no useful purpose
on d8 and black is just marking time because he is unable to undertake
anything constructive. Fine is correct concerning 20...Rfd8, but in a game he
may not have been familiar with (thankfully we have huge databases today)
Kashdan had found the more active 20...Qa7 in a game played in New York in
1930.} (20... Qb7 {is an alternative.} 21. Kh2 Ne8 22. Ng1 Bh4 23. Nf5 Bxf5 24.
exf5 Nc7 {with equal chances. Steiner,Lajos-Kashdan,Isaac New York 1930}) 21.
Bg5 h6 22. Be3 Qb7 23. Rc2 {The point of his 19th move shows up.} Qb8 {He
cannot acceot the offered e-Pawn.} (23... Nfxe4 24. Nxe4 Nxe4 25. Rxc8 {
Unmasking the B.} Rxc8 26. Bxe4 {White has won a piece.}) 24. Rc1 Bf8 25. Re2
a4 {This and his next move lead to the loss of a P. There is no reason for
this sacrifice, so Reshevsky probably played it because he did not want to be
reduced to complete passivity. The sound option was 25...Rc7 and doubling Rs
on the c-file which would have left white with only a minimal advantage.} 26.
b4 Nb3 {Fine gave this moive a ? and suggested 26...Na6 which he thought was
good for a draw. Actually, 26...Na6 is slightly inferior to the text which, at
least, gives black some play.} 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Ba2 Rc3 29. Rb2 {The N is
stuck here and a P will soon be lost.} Qa8 {The point of this wily move will
be seen if white plays the immediate 30.Bxb3} 30. Qb1 {Fine gave this move a ?
and claimed it would have been better to have won the P at once, but there is
little difference in the move played and winning the P immediately.} (30. Bxb3
axb3 31. Rxb3 Qa4 {White is on the defensive and has to find the right moves
or see his slight edhe disappear.} 32. Nd2 h5 33. Qb1 Rxb3 34. Qxb3 Qxb3 35.
Nxb3 h4 36. Ne2 Nxe4) 30... Qc8 31. Bxb3 axb3 32. Rxb3 Rc2 {Fine notes that
now white must constantly be on guard against a possible sacrifice on h3. It's
not clear what he had in mind because I tried out several "neutral" moves and
the sacrifice never even came close to working. In fact, the Q has to stay on
the c-file else the R on c2 is hanging. I think Fine (and othe contemporary
annotators) completely misjudged the position based on the fact that it was
the invincible Reshevsky who was playing black because engines give Horowitz
at least a one P advantage here!} 33. Qd1 g6 34. Qd3 Nh7 35. Bd2 {Horowitz
wants to get rid of that annoying R by playing Rc3.} Rc4 36. Rc3 f5 {Black's
only chance lies in a counterattack.} 37. Nh4 {This small slip allows black to
equalize. Ir was necessary to simplify.} (37. exf5 Rxc3 38. Bxc3 Qc4 39. Qxc4
bxc4 40. fxg6 {with the advantage.}) 37... f4 (37... fxe4 38. Rxc4 bxc4 39.
Qxe4 {+is winning for white.}) 38. Ne2 Be7 39. Nf3 Nf6 {Storm clouds appear to
be gathering towards white's K.} 40. Rxc4 bxc4 41. Qc2 {Draw Agreed. Reuben
Fine wondered about this. He stated that first he was amazed to find "such a
complicated position called a draw." He then went on to explain that his
subsequent analysis confirmed his first impression that black had enough for
his P and white cannot win. He was absolutely correct as engine evaluation is
0.00!} (41. Qc3 Nxe4 42. Qc1 Qa6 43. Be1 Bf5 44. Nd2 Nxd2 45. Bxd2 Qa4 46. Nc3
Qb3 47. Kh2 h5 48. Be1 Bd3 49. b5 Bd8 50. a4 Kf7 51. Qa1 Ba5 52. Ne2 Bxe1 53.
Qxe1 Bxe2 54. Qxe2 Qxa4 55. b6 Qb5 56. Qc2 Qxb6 57. Qxc4 Qc5 58. Qa2 Qc7 59. f3
g5 60. Qa8 g4 61. hxg4 hxg4 62. fxg4 Qd7 {This drawn position was reached by
Stockfish after about 15 minutes of analysis.}) 1/2-1/2
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