Reshevsky's Most Brilliant Attack! - Best of the 40s - Reshevsky vs. Vasconcelos, 1948
Sammy Reshevsky was arguably the greatest and most celebrated child chess prodigy of all time. Reshevsky emigrated with his family from Poland to the United States at the young age of nine, at which point he toured the country, playing thousands in simultaneous games, losing only eight games.
Reshevsky's brilliance secured support from the wealthy Rosenwald family who paid for Reshevsky's education. Reshevsky then became an accountant, and although he played chess thereafter, he was always an amateur, probably he fared far better financially than the world chess champions of the time.
Reshevsky won six U.S. Championships and was a five-time Candidate. He once famously said, "My style lies between that of Tal and Petrosian." This game was clearly his most Tal-like and is almost certainly Reshevsky's greatest attacking achievement.
My style lies between that of Tal and Petrosian.
Top 10 Games of the 1940s
- #1: ????
- #2: ????
- #3: ????
- #4: ????
- #5: ????
- #6: Reshevsky vs. Vasconcelos, 1948
- #7: Euwe vs. Keres, 1940
- #8: Liublinsky vs. Botvinnik, 1943
- #9: Zita vs. Bronstein, 1946
- #10: Siff vs. Kashdan, 1948
- See also: Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s
Reshevsky opens the game with e4 and makes the unusual (and reckless) decision to capture on c5 rather than support his center with 4.c3. The imbalanced position that results unsettles his opponent who never castles. Vasconcelos even takes the "poisoned pawn" on b2, and Reshevsky immediately launches a spectacular attack with 12.Nxd5!! The speculative attack should not win by force, but it seems Reshevsky has a draw in hand, and Black's defense is difficult and unnatural. When Black falters, Reshevsky's finishes with a dazzling series of sacrifices.
My annotations are below. Naturally I reviewed closely with Stockfish, but even Stockfish struggled to understand the strength of this sacrifice.
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I'm the VP of Chess and Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2014, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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