Reshevsky was a serious contender for the World Championship from roughly 1935 to the mid 1960s. 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. This tournament was organized because World Champion Alexander Alekhine had died in 1946 while holding the title, which was an unprecedented situation.