Trophy Chess by Larry Evans
samsloan
AN ACCOUNT OF THE LESSING ROSENWALD TOURNAMENT NEW YORK 1954-5, GAMES
ANNOTATED by Larry Evans
A CHESS TOURNAMENT is a contest of wills wherein the conflict of
personality is generally as interesting as the chess drama which
unfolds over-the-board.
This Rosenwald Tournament is doubly interesting because the veteran
Sam Reshevsky, single-handed, managed to stave oft the encroachment of
the eager younger generation. In THIS CRAZY WORLD OF CHESS (2009)
Evans noted: "Sammy was America’s greatest star for decades, the
touchstone against which my generation measured its progress. Art
Bisguier said that we would all beat him in a few more years when he
got old. Meanwhile we got old waiting for him to get old."
Larry Evans, the runner-up, has provided a memorable record of the
event, especially from the human side. Each game is critically
analyzed and sprinkled with copious explanatory diagrams. Amateurs and
less experienced players, as well as experts, will find herein a
wealth of instruction which should strengthen their own game
considerably.
In 1951, at the age of 19, Larry Evans became the youngest player in
chess history to capture United States Championship, ahead Samuel
Reshevsky. In the same year, he won the U.S. Open title, which he
repeated in 1952 and 1954. Evans held the Marshall Chess Club
Championship three times (1947-1950 ), the New York State Trophy
(1948 ). and has been National Speed Champion.
In 1957, Evans was awarded the grandmaster title by the World Chess
Federation. He represented the United States successfully in countless
international events. He was a member of the hand-picked team which
faced the Soviets in New York (1954) and again at Moscow (1955).
He was high-scorer (90%) in the first postwar Olympiad at Yugoslavia
in 1950 and represented his country in a total of 8 Olympiads,
including the only one where America won the gold at Haifa, Israel in
1976. In 1982 he was captain of the USA Olympic team which won the
silver in Switzerland.
Evans' next showing after this event was a tie for first place ( ahead
of Reshevsky ) in the 2nd Rosenwald Trophy Tournament.
Mr. Evans is a graduate of CUNY. He headed Prometheus Film Co., which
was engaged in the production of motion pictures.
Foreword by Sam Sloan
Ishi Press is proud to be able to reprint Trophy Chess, one of the
first books by Five Times US Chess Chess Champion and Grandmaster
Larry Evans. Trophy Chess was one of Bobby Fischer's favorite books.
He studied it with great care during his sudden appearance right after
this tournament and his rapid rise to the top, culminating in his
winning his first of eight US Chess Championships in 1957/58. It is
nicely laid out and designed and is easy to read. In his famous "My 60
Memorable Games" Fischer later collaborated with Evans, who served as
his second during his rise to the world championship and became one of
America's best-selling chess authors with over 20 books to his credit.
The book is called “Trophy Chess” because it is about a tournament for
the gigantic Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy. Lessing Julius Rosenwald
(February 10, 1891 – June 24, 1979) was for years the Chairman of
Sears Roebuck and Company. He was a wealthy man and became a patron of
the arts, including chess, upon his retirement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessing_J._Rosenwald
At that time, there was no money in chess. Whereas the US Chess
Championship had previously been held every other year, now it was
being organized but only with great difficulty once every three years.
Therefore, Mr. Roselwald decided to hold a tournament featuring the
only active US Grandmaster at that time, Samuel Reshevsky, plus the
most promising young up-and-coming players.
This tournament was, for practical purposes, the US Championship.
After several years later, the Lessing J. Rosenwald tournament was
also for the US Championship. The 1954/1955 event was one of the few
Rosenwald Trophy events that was not for the US Championship.
The games were exciting. Of the 30 games, White won 15, black won 10
and only 5 were draws.
The tournament was held over the Christmas / New Years Holidays. For
that reason, some games were played in December 1954, others in
January 1955. It seems that all the Rosenwald tournaments were held
during the same time period, over the Christmas and New Years
Holidays. That is one reason why there were US Championships for
1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1963/64,
1964/65, 1965/66 and 1966/67. All of these tournaments were won by
Bobby Fischer, except for the 1961/62 event that was won by Larry
Evans when Fischer did not play.
One invited player, Robert Byrne, had to decline, so at the last
moment his slot was taken by Jimmy Sherwin, who justified his
invitation by being in second place after the completing of the first
half of the tournament. The best game, according to tournament
director Hans Kmoch in Chess Review, was Kramer vs. Reshevsky, Game
28, in which Reshevsky, although a rook down, refused to force a draw
by perpetual check because he had calculated a long, winning
variation.
This reprint has been supplemented with all 30 games having been
translated by Sam Sloan into Algebraic Figurine PGN notation in the
back of the book.
Sam Sloan
May Day, 2010
ISBN 4-87187-864-3
978-4-87187-864-7
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=4871878647
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878647
samsloan
Foreword by Sam Sloan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessing_J._Rosenwald
ISBN 4-87187-864-3
978-4-87187-864-7
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=4871878643
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878643
raylopez99
> This reprint has been supplemented with all 30 games having been
> translated by Sam Sloan into Algebraic Figurine PGN notation in the
> back of the book.
>
> Sam Sloan
> May Day, 2010
>
> ISBN 4-87187-864-3
> 978-4-87187-864-7
Trophy chess because these people played just for the trophy, not for
a cash prize?
Those were the days...pre-internet.
Weaver Adams. The Church Fried Chicken San Antonio Chess Tournament
of 1972 (making this up as I type, but it sounds about right).
Normal Tweed Whitaker, convicted felon. Speaking of which, I've seen
a photo of a young Sam Sloan bouncing on his knee...
And speaking of the good shit SS Sam Sloan, you have a Wikipedia entry
you might be pleased to know...saw it the other day. Then again lots
of people do, including Mr. Winter the chess historian.
But not Taylor Kingston, unless he himself decides to make one, and
that's cheating.
RL
Taylor Kingston
>
> And speaking of the good shit SS Sam Sloan, you have a Wikipedia entry
> you might be pleased to know...saw it the other day. Then again lots
> of people do, including Mr. Winter the chess historian.
>
> But not Taylor Kingston, unless he himself decides to make one, and
> that's cheating.
As far as I know, my name appeared in a Wikipedia entry only once,
when Sam Sloan decided that I /was/ Edward Winter, and said so on
Wikipedia. I posted a correction as soon as I learned of it.
Actually, checking just now, it appears I'm more popular than I
thought:
Whaddya know, ten mentions! If this keeps up, I might make the next
Time magazine "most influential people" list. ;-)
parrt...@cs.com
>Trophy chess because these people played just for the trophy, not for a cash prize?> -- raylopez99
There were cash prizes plus the Lessing J. Rosenwald trophy.
In his foreword GM Evans noted: "The Rosenwald Tournament was made
possible by a small, unselfish band of chess connoisseurs -- like
Alexander Bisno, Jose Calderon, Maurice Kasper, and Lessing
Rosenwald...The American Chess Foundation, organized by these
gentlemen, is an institution dedicated to the promotion and
advancement of American chess."
Jose Calderon is also quoted: "Substantial credit for the emergence of
this important event belongs to the author of this valuable book and
to his equally talented colleague, Arthur B. Bisguier. They observed
that before America could regain chess supremacy, greater
opportunities would have to be afforded her master players to engage
in master competition. The Lessing Rosenwald Trophy Tournament is an
eloquent answer to an inspired plea.' -- Jose Calderon
I believe that TROPHY CHESS was the first chess book published by
Charles Scribner's Sons whose legendary editor Max Perkins worked
closely with Thomas Wolfe and Ernest Hemingway.
Offramp
> The book is called “Trophy Chess” because it is about a tournament for the gigantic Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy.
How big was it? Like 2 Stanley Cups? Any pics?
Offramp
> director Hans Kmoch in Chess Review, was Kramer vs. Reshevsky, Game
> 28, in which Reshevsky, although a rook down, refused to force a draw
> by perpetual check because he had calculated a long, winning
> variation.
[Event "New York Rosenwald 5455"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1955.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kramer, George Mortimer"]
[Black "Reshevsky, Samuel Herman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E69"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "1955.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. e4 e5 7. Nge2
Nbd7 8. O-O
c6 9. h3 exd4 10. Nxd4 Re8 11. Re1 a5 12. Rb1 Nc5 13. b3 Nfd7 14. a3
f5 15. b4
axb4 16. axb4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 fxe4 18. Rxe4 Rxe4 19. Bxe4 Nb6 20. b5 c5
21. Nf3
Qe7 22. Ng5 h6 23. Bd5+ Nxd5 24. Qxd5+ Kh8 25. Nf7+ Kh7 26. Nxd6 Qe1+
27. Kg2
Ra2 28. Qxc5 Rxf2+ 29. Qxf2 Bxh3+ 30. Kf3 Qd1+ 31. Ke4 Qxd6 32. Rb2
Bf5+ 33.
Kf3 Qd1+ 34. Re2 Qh1+ 35. Qg2 Qxc1 36. Re7 Qa3+ 37. Re3 Qc1 38. Re7
Qd1+ 39.
Kf2 Qd4+ 40. Ke1 Qa1+ 41. Kf2 Qf6 0-1
Taylor Kingston
I did a search on Google Images for "Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy." I
don't think any of the pictures it came up with were the real thing.
For example this one looks particularly dubious:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HDMO_yu5lC8/S3JyqkeslgI/AAAAAAAAKy0/CKVBkZcOmQY/s400/Topalov.jpg
David Ames
>
> I believe that TROPHY CHESS was the first chess book published by
> Charles Scribner's Sons whose legendary editor Max Perkins worked
> closely with Thomas Wolfe and Ernest Hemingway.
I once bought a book whose author stated he was Fred Reinfeld's
editor. I wonder if that might be collectible.
David Ames