Notable Games
Samuel Reshevsky
13 celebrated games · 546 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Reshevsky – Capablanca · 1935 · 1–0
Reshevsky's first win over a world champion: a 56-move Queen's Gambit Declined defeat of former titleholder José Raúl Capablanca at Margate 1935, the point that let the 23-year-old finish half a point ahead of him to win the tournament.
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Reshevsky – Vidmar · 1936 · 1–0
A 26-move Queen's Gambit Accepted win over the veteran grandmaster Milan Vidmar at the great Nottingham 1936 international, one of the strongest tournaments ever assembled.
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Reshevsky – Smyslov · 1939 · 1–0
A 70-move Queen's Gambit Declined win over the young Vasily Smyslov during Reshevsky's 1939 tour of Leningrad and Moscow, a victory over a future world champion long before his crown.
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Reshevsky – Kashdan · 1942 · 1–0
A 63-move Nimzo-Indian win over Isaac Kashdan in the 1942 U.S. Championship playoff, part of the +6-2=3 match that clinched Reshevsky the national title after they had tied for first.
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Reshevsky – Euwe · 1948 · 1–0
A 41-move Semi-Slav win over former world champion Max Euwe in the 1948 World Championship Tournament at The Hague, the five-master event that decided the vacant title.
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Reshevsky – Najdorf · 1952 · 1–0
A 27-move King's Indian win over Miguel Najdorf at the 1952 Helsinki Olympiad, decided under time pressure as Reshevsky anchored the American team on top board.
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Reshevsky – Bisguier · 1954 · 1–0
A 24-move win over Arthur Bisguier at the New York Rosenwald 1954/55, where Reshevsky's early 4.a3 so thoroughly refuted Bisguier's Budapest Gambit (Fajarowicz) that Bisguier abandoned the line afterward.
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Reshevsky – Botvinnik · 1955 · 1–0
A 41-move Semi-Slav Meran win over reigning world champion Mikhail Botvinnik on board one of the 1955 USSR–USA match in Moscow; Reshevsky took their four-game mini-match 2½–1½.
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Reshevsky – Fischer · 1956 · 1–0
A 31-move King's Indian win over the 13-year-old Bobby Fischer at the 1956 New York Rosenwald tournament, the same event where Fischer produced his celebrated "Game of the Century" against Donald Byrne.
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Reshevsky – Najdorf · 1957 · 1–0
A 33-move Nimzo-Indian win over Miguel Najdorf at Dallas 1957, anthologized by Irving Chernev in The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played as a model of "the shifting attack."
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Reshevsky – Fischer · 1961 · 1–0
A 60-move King's Indian win over Bobby Fischer in the opening game of their controversial 1961 match, an early lead in a contest left tied and unfinished.
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Reshevsky – Geller · 1967 · 1–0
A 73-move King's Indian win over the powerful Soviet grandmaster Efim Geller at the 1967 Sousse Interzonal, a late-career victory over a world-title contender.
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Reshevsky – Smyslov · 1970 · 1–0
A 54-move Closed Ruy Lopez win over former world champion Vasily Smyslov at the 1970 USSR vs. Rest of the World match in Belgrade, ground out of a pawn-up queen endgame despite repeated draw offers.
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