April 06 1992
The Journal News, White Plains, New York, Monday, April 06, 1992
CAPTION: INTERNATIONAL GRAND MASTER: Spring Valley's Samuel Reshevsky in 1984, after he returned from a tournament in Iceland.
World-Class chess champion Samuel Reshevsky dies at 81
By David McClendon, Staff Writer
Although many people will remember Spring Valley resident Samuel Reshevsky as a world class chess champion, some will remember him as an uncompromising Orthodox Jew who refused to play his beloved game during the Sabbath.
Reshevsky, a seven-time U.S. chess champion, died Saturday at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. He was 81.
“He clearly sanctified the All Mighty's name by observing the Sabbath while he was champion,” said Harvey Waxman, president of Chevrah Kadisha, the county's Jewish burial society. “No matter how much he achieved, he was modest. Talking to him was like talking to a plain person on the streets.”
Born in Poland on Nov. 26, 1911, to Yaakov and Shaindel Reshevsky, Mr. Reshevsky moved with his family to Detroit when he was nine.
Mr. Reshevsky won his first U.S. chess title in 1936. He won again in 1938, 1940, 1942, 1946, 1970 and 1971, and tied for the title in 1972.
He was the winner of numerous international tournaments, including Havana in 1953 and Buenos Aires in 1968.
During his reign, Mr. Reshevsky refused to play in Saturday tournaments because of his religious convictions. His beliefs compelled match sponsors to reschedule tournaments around his Orthodox beliefs, friends said.
“He was in jeopardy of losing money all the time,” Waxman said. “But he observed the Sabbath and demanded to stay in kosher hotels.”
Mr. Reshevsky was the only person to beat former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, doing so in 1961. Besides being a U.S. champion, Mr. Reshevsky held the title of International Grand Master of Chess.
He was an investment analyst for almost two decades, a television broadcaster and performer, and a writer on chess for the New York Herald Tribune, the New York Times, and Chess Review.
A prolific author, Mr. Reshevsky wrote seven books on chess including “How Chess Games Are Won,” “Learn Chess Fast” and “Great Chess Upsets.”
Mr. Reshevsky is survived by his wife, Norma; two daughters Sylvia and Malki; and a son, Joel, all of Spring Valley.
A service was held yesterday at Kehilath Israel Synagogue on Old Nyack Turnpike in Spring Valley. Burial was at the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.
