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World of Chess 05 Dec 1959, Sat Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com
L'Affaire Reshevsky Still Far From Being Resolved
What former U.S. Chess Champion Al Horowitz called L'Affaire Reshevsky in his editorial of October in the Chess Review remains an issue which refuses to resolve. Briefly, the factors are:
Last August a seeded tournament was set up to commemorate the silver anniversary of the Log Cabin Chess Club. Chess patron E. Forry Laucks supplied $3,500 for the tourney to insure its success.
Rules of play and scheduling of games was left to a committee consisting of the players.
One of the stipulations of Laucks was that two-thirds of the games be played in the Log Cabin club room in New Jersey. The facility is in Lauck's home and is decorated in log cabin style.
The players decided that the games be played on weekends since they are all employed during the week. But a leading contender for the prize money, Grand Master Reshevsky and five times U.S. champion, has never violated his strict observance of the orthodox tenets of his faith as stipulated in Talmud and Pentateuch.
With the exception of Arnold Denker, the nine players voted to schedule the games on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday, since as one of them, James T. Sherwin reports, Reshevsky made no serious effort to arrange playing time amicably.
As could be expected, accusations of prejudice were made but these were complicated by the fact that many of the players were co-religionists of Sam Reshevsky.
In an interview of Reshevsky printed in a New York paper, he implied exclusion from the tournament on grounds of prejudice.
We cannot assume that the controversy will soon be resolved for Reshevsky is not the bashful type. He has never taken special consideration as a favor, but as a natural right.
