Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster.

In November 1920, his parents moved to the United States to make a living by publicly exhibiting their child's talent.

Reshevsky played thousands of games in exhibitions all over the US.

He played in the 1922 New York Masters tournament; at that stage, he was likely the youngest player ever to have competed in a strong tournament.

For a period in his youth, Reshevsky did not attend school, for which his parents appeared in District Court in Manhattan, facing a charge of improper guardianship.

However, Julius Rosenwald, wealthy co-owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company in Chicago, soon afterward became Reshevsky's benefactor, and he guaranteed Reshevsky's future on the condition that he would complete his education.

Reshevsky never became a truly professional chess player.

He gave up most competitive chess for seven years, from 1924 to 1931, to complete his secondary education while successfully competing in occasional events during this period.

He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s: he tied for third place in the 1948 World Chess Championship tournament, and tied for second in the 1953 Candidates tournament.

He was an eight-time winner of the US Chess Championship, tying him with Bobby Fischer for the all-time record.

He was an accountant by profession and also a chess writer.

Reshevsky was born at Ozorków near Łódź, Congress Poland, to a Jewish family.

He learned to play chess at age four and was soon acclaimed as a child prodigy.

At age eight, he was beating many accomplished players with ease and giving simultaneous exhibitions.

Reshevsky won the US Open Chess Championship in 1931 at Tulsa; this event was known as the Western Open at the time.

Reshevsky graduated from the University of Chicago in 1934 with a degree in accounting and supported himself and his family by working as an accountant.

He moved to New York City and lived there or in its suburbs for the remainder of his life.

He and his wife, Norma Mindick, had three children.

As a religious Jew, Reshevsky would not play on the Sabbath nor on the major Jewish Festivals; his games were scheduled accordingly.

He shared the 1934 US Open title with Reuben Fine at Chicago.

Reshevsky's international career began in 1935 with a trip to England, where he won at Great Yarmouth with 10/11.

He then won first place at the Margate tournament, where he beat, among others, former world champion José Raúl Capablanca; the game followed the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

The game score follows:

Reshevsky was a serious contender for the World Championship from roughly 1935 to the mid 1960s.

Reshevsky won the US Chess Championship in 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, and 1969.

A year later Reshevsky shared third place at the Nottingham 1936 chess tournament.

In 1937 he shared first at Kemeri, Latvia, and in 1938 shared fourth in the famous AVRO tournament in the Netherlands, which featured arguably the eight strongest players in the world.

Reshevsky won his third US Open title at Boston 1944.

This tournament was organized because World Champion Alexander Alekhine had died in 1946 while holding the title, which was an unprecedented situation.

He was one of five chess grandmasters to compete in the World Championship match tournament in The Hague/Moscow 1948 and finished in joint third place with Paul Keres, behind Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov.

In 1950, Reshevsky was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, on its inaugural list.

Although eligible, he did not play in the Candidates Tournament in Budapest.

It has generally been believed that he was barred from attending by the US State Department due to the Cold War.

The only other eligible active player from a NATO country, Max Euwe of the Netherlands, also did not play.

He competed in a record 21 US Championships and achieved a plus score every time except for 1966–67, when he scored just 4½/11.

He also holds US Championship records for most finishes in the top three places (15), most games played (269), and most games won (127).

He also tied for first in 1972 but lost the playoff in 1973 to Robert Byrne.

In 1991, however, Reshevsky said the decision not to go was his.

Reshevsky died April 4, 1992, in Suffern, New York, of a heart attack.

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