chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Samuel Reshevsky vs Akiba Rubinstein
"Semi Reshevsky" (game of the day Nov-07-2022)
Blindfold game (1917) (blindfold), Warsaw
Italian Game: Italian Variation (C50)  ·  0-1

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
Notes by Stockfish 9 v010218 (minimum 6s/ply)7.Re1 was played in Kwizera Francine vs Baby Edna Mission, 2018 (1-0) 7...Na5 8.Bb3 O-O 9.Na4 Bb6 10.Re1 Bd7 11.Bd2 Bc6 = -0.07 (28 ply) ⩲ +0.69 (18 ply) 9.hxg4 Bxg4 10.c3 Rg8 11.Kh1 Bb6 12.Ne3 a6 13.Bb3 Qd7 = +0.11 (19 ply) ∓ -2.07 (20 ply) 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 d5 14.Bb3 gxh3 15.g3 h2+ 16.Kh1 Bh3 ∓ -1.68 (24 ply)-+ -3.20 (22 ply) 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 dxc4 15.Qf3 O-O 16.Rad1 Qe7 17.dxc4 -+ -3.08 (21 ply)-+ -4.87 (23 ply) after 13...Qd6 14.Be3 Qh6 15.f3 Qh2+ 16.Kf2 Qh4+ 17.Kg1 Bd6 14.Be3 Bd6 15.f3 dxc4 16.Qd2 e4 17.dxe4 Qh6 18.Kf2 Qh4+ -+ -4.35 (21 ply)-+ -8.47 (25 ply) after 14...e4 15.Be3 Qh6 16.f3 Bd6 17.Qe1 Qh2+ 18.Kf2 Bg3+ -+ mate-in-6 after 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.Bd4 Bf3 22.Bxh8 Rxg2+ 23.Kh1 Bd625.Kh1 Bxf2 26.Rg1 Bxg1 27.Kxg1 Qxg3+ 28.Kh1 Qg2# -+ mate-in-40-1

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

Click Here to play Guess-the-Move
Given 23 times; par: 36 [what's this?]

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35437 more games annotated by Stockfish]

explore this opening
find similar games 1,624 more games of Reshevsky
PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: Games that have been used in game collections will have a section at the bottom which shows collections which include it. For more information, see "What are Game Collections?" on our Help Page.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

THIS IS A COMPUTER ANNOTATED SCORE.   [CLICK HERE] FOR ORIGINAL.

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-17-07  Karpova: <The November 1971 issue of Chess Life and Review, pp. 641-644, featured an article by Albrecht Buschke entitled "When Sammy was 'Shmulik,'" which details the sole encounter between two of the greatest players in the history of chess.

"During the war winter of 1916/17, first rumors, then news, reached the Western world from German-occupied Poland: A little 5-year old chess prodigy was said to have beaten some better than average Polish players and given simple simultaneous exhibitions with astonishing success. In its double issue 7/8 of February 25, 1917, the German chess magazine Deutsches und Berliner Schachzeitung reported from Warsaw that on February 11, 1917, the 5-year-old Schmul Rzeszewski had played a game against the well-known master A. Rubinstein 'who played blindfold' and that, while 'the little man' was on the defensive all the time, he gave the great Rubinstein a valiant battle which lasted about 90 minutes, 'presented many interesting moments and became particularly exciting in the final phase.' Certainly, 'things were not made easy for Mr. Rubinstein and the kiss he pressed on the blond locks of his little opponent, who after brave opposition had to resign in the end after all, was a token of warmest and most genuine appreciation...'

"Well, by now our readers will have gathered that the poor little 'Schmul Rzeszewski' is none other than our senior grandmaster Samuel (Sammy) Reshevsky, just turning 60. He did not quite live up to the prediction that Rubinstein supposedly made. According to the pamphlet by B. Kagan Samuel Rzeschewski das Schachwunderkind (Berlin, ca. 1920), 'the little guy aroused such excitement (by his success in the Warsaw Chess Club) that Chess Master Rubinstein decided to play a game with him. This, of course, the boy lost, but Rubinstein said after the game: "You will some time become the Chess Champion of the World." It might also be mentioned that, when Rubinstein showed him the game he had won in the St. Petersburg Tournament of 1909 against Lasker, the boy pointed out a win in two moves less.'

How much of the preceding is legend, how much is truth, is of course very difficult to prove after so many years.">

"Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King" by Donaldson/Minev

Apr-09-09  TheTamale: I once owned a book by Reshevsky called something like "Great Blunders in the History of Chess." It was a book dedicated to game-losing moves--hanging your queen, stuff like that. The annotations were at times acerbic, to say the least.
May-11-09  notyetagm: 9 ♘f3-g5!?


click for larger view

<morphynoman2: 9. Ng5?? is one of that childish auto-combination that always failed against a strong master as Rubinstein!>

Reshevsky's idea was to <RELOAD> on the g5-square with 9 ...h6x♘g5? 10 ♗c1xg5, giving White a *fine* game, according to I believe Kasparov's comment in his OMGP book.

(VAR)
9 ... h6x♘g5? 10 ♗c1xg5 <reload: g5>


click for larger view


click for larger view

So 9 ♘f3-g5!? was <RESHEVSKY'S RUBINSTEIN RELOADER>. :-)

Oct-03-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  OBIT: <Karpova>I suspect the two-move improvement in Rubinstein vs Lasker, 1909 that Reshevsky pointed out comes toward the end. Rubinstein's last four moves of the game don't really do anything except ensure he makes time control. If Reshevsky's improvement is something like 37. Rc6 instead of 37. Ra6 (which repeated a previous position), I'd say that's a good observation for a five-year-old, but not particularly deep.
Jul-23-13  jerseybob: Any record of whether the two ever encountered each other later in life? Not played, just met.
Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: It'd be nice if some of these puns made sense.
Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: An example of why players used to think that 4.0-0 in the Italian Game was close to a losing mistake. We now know better, and even Carlsen has become a proponent.

Another example (by transposition): Dubois vs Steinitz, 1862

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: White's fourth move is not the most testing, but is certainly playable, so long--as has been known for more than a century--as he does not go in for the weakening idea h3 before his opponent has committed his own king.
Nov-07-22  Chesschronicle22: bruh game "-"
Nov-07-22  goodevans: Love the pun.
Nov-07-22  LoveThatJoker: <CG> I suppose it's okay if a pun that is bad makes it to GOTD status, provided it shows the most minimal degree of ingenuity or, at the very least, an attempt at creativity.

This pun, however, is strictly a play on one of the English-speaking diminutives for the legendary American GM's first name - one that he acquired later in life (as even the quoted paragraphs above label him strictly as Schmul at the time this game was played). Therefore, I feel that this falls greatly short of CG's better possibilities for GOTD.

LTJ

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  fredthebear: <Nov-07-22 perfidious: White's fourth move is not the most testing, but is certainly playable>

Given your prior blundering statements in the Italian Game, it must be agonizing to admit this.

4.0-0 is safe, sound and popular.

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <This pun, however, is strictly a play on one of the English-speaking diminutives for the legendary American GM's first name>

Diminutive being the operative word - semi meaning half, and Sammy being a half-pint at the time of this game. The pun is strictly punctilious.

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Those 'blundering statements', <fredthebore>, exist only within your cranium.

Come to terms with your lack of chess knowledge and common decency and you may yet be fit to address me.

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  fredthebear: I already have, and will continue to do so. Keep dreamin' narc.
Nov-07-22  LoveThatJoker: <MissScarlett> Although I respect your viewpoint, as you are a fellow chess enthusiast, I must state that calling a pun that is exclusively a re-spelling of the entire name of one of the players "strictly punctilious" to be a most subjective assertion. There are better puns out there that offer more by way of cultural reference or by the employment of different elements pertaining to a game's participants, venue, time in history, etc.

I am not coming down hard on <CG> or their choice, I am solely saying that <CG> can do more on this level to up its game - much like I must improve my own. A statement I am making in the spirit of objectivity.

LTJ

PS. I have noticed that some kibitzers who were consistently negative in their approach to online interaction ten years ago, are still so now. Any person filled with malice or cowardice can spew invective behind their screen, but the real test to objectively creating a healthier space for chess players to speak about the game online is to try and remain seriously civil on these important forums. Therefore, without naming names, I wish to say that I have added two users to my ignore list - as I see <CG> representing a more socially responsible online community.

PPS. <MissScarlett> You are well-respected here, and I look forward to your reply if you are so inclined.

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  fredthebear: We're on the same side:

<PS. I have noticed that some kibitzers who were consistently negative in their approach to online interaction ten years ago, are still so now. Any person filled with malice or cowardice can spew invective behind their screen, but the real test to objectively creating a healthier space for chess players to speak about the game online is to try and remain seriously civil on these important forums.>

Putting viciousness on ignore does not fix the problem -- it allows it to grow like bacteria and collect in clusters on Rogoff. Viciousness WANTS you to put it on ignore, so it has the run of this place.

One must continue to lobby chessgmes for fair treatment. The guidelines are routinely set aside for pals, applied selectively moreso for religious and political beliefs, or when their pal-in-the-wrong gets embarrassed, or embarrasses self -- then the guidelines get used as a counterattack to cover-up for pal. Cronyism in charge, but recent progress has been made. We'll see if it continues or not. The oversight of Rogoff seems to be slipping back.

Nov-07-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: The virtue signalling taking place here is vastly amusing.
Nov-11-22  stone free or die: I tried looking for a contemporaneous source for this game via online sources, sans success.

Does anybody know the original source of this game?

.

Nov-11-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <malbase: Reshevsky - Rubinstein first appeared in a book on Chess by Endewelt and Weisblatt, published in Warsaw 1917. The book was written in Yiddish. > Reshevsky vs Rubinstein, 1917 (kibitz #10)

Did you bother reading the thread?

Nov-11-22  stone free or die: <<Missy> Did you bother reading the thread?>

Yes I did, particularly <Karpova> and <TheTamale>.

But apparently not as attentively (or should that be as thoroughly) as you. Thanks for calling my attention to that post - I used it to find the original source. (Post to follow).

* * * * *

<TheTamale> - I believe the title you were thinking of was <Great Chess Upsets (Arco 1976)>:

https://www.worldcat.org/title/2095...

Given that Sam Sloan has gotten his "hooks" in it, one would surmise it's out of copyright:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Chess-...

<This is a collection of 69 annotated games played by 17 of the greatest chess players in history. The games are nicely laid out in descriptive notation. Included with each of the games is a biography of the players. This book is a good read. Even without playing over the games, readers will find it enjoyable. Although the games are labeled “upsets”, not all are considered upsets in the prospective of history. For example, Morphy's defeat of Anderssen in 1858 might have been considered an upset at the time it was played when Morphy had just arrived in Europe, but we now recognize that Morphy was a stronger player than Anderssen. This collection includes four games lost by Bobby Fischer at near his peak plus games lost by each of the World Champions from Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine to Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian and Spassky. Samuel Reshevsky is the ideal person to write this book because he played all of them except for Steinitz.>

.

Nov-11-22  stone free or die: Does anybody here read Yiddish?
Nov-14-22  stone free or die: <malbase: Reshevsky - Rubinstein first appeared in a book on Chess by Endewelt and Weisblatt, published in Warsaw 1917. The book was written in Yiddish.
A further note, Rubinstein played the game blindfolded.>

Reshevsky vs Rubinstein, 1917 (kibitz #10)

Thanks to <Missy> for calling attention to <malbase>'s informative post.

* * * * *

Using that information I was able to locate the game in the original source. The book was as follows:

<Dos ershṭe Yudishe shakh-lehrbukh [The first Yiddish chess textbook] - H. Endewelt & S. Weissblatt - (A. Giṭlin, Ṿarshe, 1917)>

<
דאס ערשטע יודישע שאך-לעהרבוך -- פון ח. ענדעוועלט און ש. ווייסבלאט., ענדעוועלט, ח., ווייסבלאט, ש. >

(Sorry for any mistakes - it's a bit of a challenge mixing L-R and R-L texts together)

https://www.worldcat.org/title/1011...

* * * * *

Thanks to <S. Spielberg>, this book is available, online, from the <National Yiddish Book Center> (though they seem to unfortunately only credit Endeweltn as author).

The game of interest is G29 on p188_192 (192 being the pdf page number). I'd like to know the exact translation at the beginning - as far as I could figure out Reshevsky is credited as mostly "Shmaulik - the wonder child". There might be an indication that he's 5 years old too.

https://archive.org/details/nybc213...

Jul-26-23  ariel el luchador: El teclado est� em portugu�s ele perdedor alegava a Los 6 de era tal vez 7 y exibido um n�vel m�tuo dif�cil de encontrar em chicos de sua edad hizo Los que puro y demonstro grandes condiciones lego a ser uno de Los menores de mundo
Apr-30-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: A game of historical interest.
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: BLINDFOLD. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

<This page contains Editor Notes. Click here to read them.>

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC