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New York 1948/49 In the winter of 1948, when it came to the attention of the Manhattan Chess Club that four top chess masters would be spending December in New York, a tournament was put together on short notice. The four masters in question were former world champion Max Euwe, American chess master Reuben Fine, Argentinian master Miguel Najdorf, and Swedish champion Gideon Stahlberg. Manhattan Chess Club vice-president Sidney F. Kenton organized the event, and raised $5800 in prize money to lure the players. Ståhlberg was not staying in New York long enough to participate, so he declined. His invitation went next to Samuel Reshevsky, who also declined. Argentinian chess master Herman Pilnik found out about the tournament from Najdorf and offered to fill the empty seat if he were extended an invitation. It was granted and the remaining seats went to American players: Arthur Bisguier, Arnold Denker, Israel Horowitz, Isaac Kashdan, George Kramer, and Herman Steiner. Each player received $250 for attending. The tournament was played from December 23rd, 1948 to January 2nd, 1949, allowing only two rest days, neither of which were holidays. The time control for the event was 40 moves in two hours followed by 20 moves every hour afterwards. Fine won first prize of $1000 for his amazing 8/9 finish, which by Chessmetrics' reckoning was the highest performance rating of his career. Fine defeated the tournament leader Najdorf in their round seven game, relegating him to the second prize of $750. Pilnik and Euwe split the third and fourth prizes, receiving $375 each. Although Fine had declined to participate in the world championship tournament earlier in the year, and would retire from chess in a few more years, he showed in this tournament that he was still one of the world's top players, and one of the best talents America had ever produced. The final standings and crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Fine * 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 8 2 Najdorf 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 6½ =3 Euwe 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 5 =3 Pilnik ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 5 =5 Horowitz 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 1 4½ =5 Kramer 0 0 0 0 ½ * 1 1 1 1 4½ =7 Bisguier ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 4 =7 Kashdan 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ * 1 1 4 9 Denker 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ 2 10 Steiner 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ * 1½ *This collection would not have been possible without the efforts of this website: http://www.rookhouse.com/events/ny1...  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. H Steiner vs I A Horowitz 0-1 85 1948 New York 1948/49 D02 Queen's Pawn Game 2. Kashdan vs Bisguier   ½-½ 30 1948 New York 1948/49 C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack 3. Najdorf vs Pilnik 1-0 40 1948 New York 1948/49 C48 Four Knights 4. G Kramer vs Denker 1-0 41 1948 New York 1948/49 B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen 5. Fine vs Euwe 1-0 49 1948 New York 1948/49 D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 6. Bisguier vs Fine   ½-½ 31 1948 New York 1948/49 C18 French, Winawer 7. Denker vs Najdorf 0-1 60 1948 New York 1948/49 D74 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O 8. Pilnik vs Kashdan 1-0 28 1948 New York 1948/49 B71 Sicilian, Dragon, Levenfish Variation 9. I A Horowitz vs Euwe ½-½ 15 1948 New York 1948/49 D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 10. H Steiner vs G Kramer   0-1 39 1948 New York 1948/49 B03 Alekhine's Defense 11. Kashdan vs Denker 1-0 55 1948 New York 1948/49 A49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4 12. Najdorf vs H Steiner   1-0 30 1948 New York 1948/49 E28 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch Variation 13. Euwe vs Bisguier 1-0 40 1948 New York 1948/49 D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 14. Fine vs Pilnik ½-½ 41 1948 New York 1948/49 D81 Grunfeld, Russian Variation 15. G Kramer vs I A Horowitz   ½-½ 81 1948 New York 1948/49 D50 Queen's Gambit Declined 16. H Steiner vs Kashdan   0-1 60 1948 New York 1948/49 E49 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Botvinnik System 17. Pilnik vs Euwe   ½-½ 27 1948 New York 1948/49 B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 18. Denker vs Fine 0-1 28 1948 New York 1948/49 E33 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 19. G Kramer vs Najdorf 0-1 35 1948 New York 1948/49 D97 Grunfeld, Russian 20. I A Horowitz vs Bisguier ½-½ 30 1948 New York 1948/49 C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 21. Kashdan vs G Kramer 0-1 36 1948 New York 1948/49 D19 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch 22. Najdorf vs I A Horowitz   ½-½ 42 1948 New York 1948/49 D42 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch, 7.Bd3 23. Fine vs H Steiner 1-0 41 1948 New York 1948/49 D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 24. Euwe vs Denker   ½-½ 26 1948 New York 1948/49 D54 Queen's Gambit Declined, Anti-Neo-Orthodox Variation 25. Bisguier vs Pilnik   ½-½ 40 1948 New York 1948/49 B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Jan-23-21    FSR: Kramer is the last survivor of this tournament. 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