From: Dennis Baker <helios!canal.crc.uno.edu!DCBCS@tssi.com>
Subject: More Reshevsky
Organization: Chessnews list (chessnews-request@tssi.com)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 19:17:00 GMT


I sent this out yesterday, but it seems to have found that electronic
black hole that eats everyone's posts up from time to time.

Here's some of what I've been getting about Reshevsky via private
e-mail:

  o The biggest cheater in the 20th century.

  o Has done everything illegal and nasty under the sun.

  o In a US Championship, Lombardy witnessed Reshevsky TWICE pressing
    his clock without making a move, while his opponent was away from
    the board.

  o Offered a draw at Lone Pine, but when his opponent thinks and let's
    his clock run down to 5 minutes left, and then reaches out to shake
    hands with Reshevsky, Reshevsky denies ever having made the draw
    offer.

  o Pressured A.I. Horowitz not to put one of his simultaneous losses
    in Horowitz's NYT column -- Horowitz published it anyway.

  o Declared openly and loudly to the tournament director that he wanted
    to be paired with the weakest IM in a pool of 3 -- although the pairing
    was illegal, it was granted.

However, I also got this story from Donald Burgess on Fidonet:

From: Donald Burgess                Apr-10-92 19:59:02
To:   Dennis Baker                  Apr-13-92 03:33:32
Subj: More Sammy

...

I was saddened to hear about Reshevsky's death.  He has always been
one of my favorite players.  I was fortunate to meet him at the
1981 U.S. Invitational Championships.  I went with a friend to
watch three rounds of this event and the day we arrived, 7/13/81,
happened to be an off day.  Fortunately, Joel Benjamin and Mr.
Reshevsky were going to play their game from Sat. (Reshevsky never
played on Sat.)  The organizers let us watch the game and I kept my
own score of the game.  When the game was over the organizers
couldn't read Reshevsky's score and Joel had left with his.  They
wanted to get the game into the bulletin quickly so they asked to
copy mine.  During that time I got to talk to Reshevsky and he
signed my scoresheet when they were through with it.  I was in high
school at that time and for me it was like what I guess other
people feel when meeting a sport's star or movie star.  Here is the
game between Benjamin-Reshevsky 7/13/81, 1981 U.S. Invit. Champ.

1.e4,e5 2.Nf3,Nc6 3.Bb5,a6 4.Ba4,Nf6 5.O-O,Be7 6.Re1,b5 7.Bb3,O-O
8.c3,d6 9.a3,Nb8 10.d4,Nbd7 11.Nbd2,Bb7 12.Bc2,Re8 13.b4,Bf8
14.Bb2,g6 15.c4,exd4 16.cxb5,axb5 17.Nxd4,c6 18.Bb3,Bg7 19.N4f3,Ng4
20.Bxg7,Kxg7 21.Nf1(1:32),Qf6(1:26) 22.Qd2,c5 23.h3,Nge5
24.Nxe5,Nxe5 25.f4,Nc6 26.bxc5,Nd4 27.e5,dxe5 28.fxe5,Qc6
29.Ba2,Rxa3 30.Ne3(2:02),Rxe5(2:12) 31.Rad1,Qxc5 32.Qf2,Nf3+
33.gxf3,Rexe3 34.Rxe3,Rxe3 35.Rd7,Re1+ 36.Kg2,Qg5+
37.Kh2,Qf4+(2:22) 38.Kg2(2:28),Bxf3+ 39.Qxf3,Rg1+ 40.Kxg1,Qxf3
41.resigns 0-1

The next day, he was playing Lein, he came over to the sectioned
off area where the spectators were and motioned to me.  I went up
to him and he asked me how the games that were finished had ended.
I felt like a pig in mud.  Here's one chessplayer that will always
remember Samuel Reshevsky fondly.

*****

Keep 'em coming guys.  Reshevsky was definitly an interesting character.

Dennis Baker
<DCBCS@uno.edu>