ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, December 02, 1962 - Page 194
Chess: Title Tourney Players
Two weeks from today, Sunday, Dec., 16, at 2 P.M. at the Henry Hudson Hotel, New York, six grand masters and six masters, by invitation, will compete in the Lessing J. Rosenwald tournament for the United States Chess Championship.
Two chess geniuses will retain the limelight from start to finish.
Veteran Samuel Reshevsky, 50-year-old, ex-boy wonder of chess, and 19-year-old Bobby Fischer, youngest player ever to hold a grand master's rank, are surely the top favorites. With all deference to the recognized abilities and fine records of the other entries, it is fair to say that only Reshevsky and Fischer are absolutely of world championship caliber.
Chess fans everywhere eagerly await the bitter clash between these two indomitable personalities—a conflict which was marked by the the abortive match between them in August 1961.
Essentially, this will be a contest between tactical flair backed by intense drive and strategic maneuver of great depth coupled with steely purpose.
World Championship in View
Beyond determining the current ranking of American masters, the outcome of this event may well have a decided bearing on who will be the next challenger for the world title. This is because the top three in the United States championship will automatically be seeded from this zone into the next interzonal tourney.
Besides Reshevsky and Fischer, none other players have so far accepted the committee's invitations. They follow in alphabetical order:
Pal Benko of New York has played in more recent tourneys than any other on the roster. He is a rugged, dogged fighter, occasionally plagued by clock trouble, but dangerous always.
Hans Berliner of Washington, D.C. is well geared for attack and defense and aggressively plays for the point.
Arthur Bisguier of New York, imaginative, daring and sometimes too eager to over-extend his position in fierce attacks, has a style, intriguing and forceful that has carried him far.
Robert Byrne of Indianapolis tactically and strategically belongs to the eclectic school. He is experienced and cagey.
Larry Evans of New York is the present United States champion. A shrewd positional player, his theoretical aplomb is backed by tactical alertness and superior psychology.
Edmar Mednis of New York is a sound, combinative player who was a member of the American team at the recent Varna Olympics.
Nicholas Rossolimo, ex-champion of France, ex-U.S. Open Champion, has a steady style hard to define, but efficient.
James Sherwin of New York finds time trouble is his worst enemy, but is always willing to mix things up. He is confident and aggressive.
Robert Steinmeyer of New York is a steady positional player who needs more serious tourney experience.
In addition to the above, William Addison of San Francisco was extended an invitation. His acceptance is being awaited.
The four games herewith show various facets of the grand masters' style.
Reshevsky - A. Vasconcellos from the U.S. Open at Boston 1944 is as astounding a game as any in chess literature. At the crushing moment, after White's 23 Kt-Kt6ch, all White's pieces are en prise.
This is a classic example of the perils of snatching the queen knight pawn.
The game Evans versus Al Horowitz was played on the top board of the team match between the Marshall and Manhattan Chess Clubs last spring.
Black's sideline in the Sicilian, 2 … Kt-KB3, is a worthwhile try. White counters with a side line of his own, transposing the game into a sort of King's Indian Reversed.
Perhaps 12 … B-K2 instead of the text, might have defended the game better, but this maneuver clashes with Black's aggressive inclinations.
White's 21 P-Q5 is a decisive move from which Black is unable to recover. A convincing game by the U.S. Champion.
In the game Bisguier versus J. Teschner, West Germany, from the last Interzonal at Stockholm, White has a final sting to what looks at first like a bad exchange of pieces. Note if 31 … BxQ instead of the text, White mates in 3 beginning with 32 BxPch.
The game Miguel Cuellar versus Benko from the same event illustrates Black's superior staying powers in positions requiring hard analysis. When White tires with 29 Kt-Q6, a poor move indeed, Black's wraps up the point.
