There are two conventional wisdoms about Reuben Fine's withdrawal from
the 1948 match-tournament world championship. The first is that he was
busy with his PhD work, hadn't been playing much, realized he wouldn't
do well, and decided to skip it. The other is that he thought the
Soviet players would rig it to guarantee one of them would win.
(Please, not interested in the Botvinnik-Keres stories now.)

I'm looking for Fine's own words on the matter, from the start when he
first withdrew. I'm under the assumption that no mention of possible
Soviet collusion was made when Fine first announced his withdrawal.
His statements about collusion seem to have beem made after the event.
I've seen mention of a statement of his in Chess Review about the
"Russian" throwing games, but when was that published?

There are also items stating that Fine later pushed the idea that he
hadn't been *allowed* to play. The Oxford Companion mentions this side
and Kasparov's "Predecessors" book states that Fine blamed the
American federation for preventing his participation in 1948. Since
most of these remarks and the "Russians will cheat" stuff sound like
sour grapes, I'm looking for Fine's earliest statements, or at least
the actual announcements of his withdrawal, which must have included
some reasoning.

Saludos, Mig

http://www.chessninja.com
Mig Greengard
http://www.chessninja.com
Because Losing Sucks

Mig writes:

Mig,

I can't help you directly, I'm afraid. But it is worth
remembering that Fine was invited to the 1950 Budapest
Candidates and declined that as well. Reshevsky also
declined that event, and said late in life that it was
his own choice, though most chess books say that the
state department wouldn't let him go (what did he have,
vital US accounting secrets?).

I don't know if Fine also got an invitation to Zurich
1953, as Reshevsky and Euwe did.


There are also items stating that Fine later pushed the idea that he
hadn't been *allowed* to play. The Oxford Companion mentions this side
and Kasparov's "Predecessors" book states that Fine blamed the
American federation for preventing his participation in 1948.

Odd then that they let Reshevsky play.

There should be something in Chess Review for 1946 or 47,
but I don't have those years. BCM, also.

William Hyde
EOS Department
Duke University

"Fine told me he didn't want to waste three months of his life watching
Russians throw games to each other." -- GM Larry Evans, Chess Life, August
2004, page 39.

__________________________________________________ ______________
"FIDE has made its decision. Players who refuse to be drug tested will not be
able to play chess." -- Dr. Press, co-founder of the FIDE Medical Commission.

I see that Taylor Kingston has announced in chess.politics that there is a
new biography of Fine, which he will also review at www.chesscafe.com

Cordially, Phil

wrote in message
...
Mig writes:

Mig,

I can't help you directly, I'm afraid. But it is worth
remembering that Fine was invited to the 1950 Budapest
Candidates and declined that as well. Reshevsky also
declined that event, and said late in life that it was
his own choice, though most chess books say that the
state department wouldn't let him go (what did he have,
vital US accounting secrets?).

I don't know if Fine also got an invitation to Zurich
1953, as Reshevsky and Euwe did.


There are also items stating that Fine later pushed the idea that he
hadn't been *allowed* to play. The Oxford Companion mentions this side
and Kasparov's "Predecessors" book states that Fine blamed the
American federation for preventing his participation in 1948.

Odd then that they let Reshevsky play.

There should be something in Chess Review for 1946 or 47,
but I don't have those years. BCM, also.

William Hyde
EOS Department
Duke University

In article ,
wrote:
Mig writes:


There are also items stating that Fine later pushed the idea that he
hadn't been *allowed* to play. The Oxford Companion mentions this side
and Kasparov's "Predecessors" book states that Fine blamed the
American federation for preventing his participation in 1948.

Odd then that they let Reshevsky play.

There should be something in Chess Review for 1946 or 47,
but I don't have those years. BCM, also.

There's nothing in the 1946 or 1947 Chess Review concerning Fine's
declining to play; the first mention of it in that magazine is in
February 1948. An item titled "Cause for Alarm" in the "World of
Chess" section began:

As the world championship tourney, due to begin March 1, drew near,
chess fans in the United States felt uneasy about America's chances
in the title scramble. From Los Angeles came word that Reuben Fine
would not compete. In a telegram to Chess Review, Fine said:
"PROFESSIONAL DUTIES MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO GET AWAY IN TIME
TO PLAY IN THE TOURNAMENT."

This decision was probably foreshadowed in an item about the World
Championship plans, titled "Gordian Knot", in the "World of Chess"
section in January 1947, which has material on allegations of and
possible opposition by the USCF, as well as collusion, Fine's problem
with the schedule:

...A meeting if the six prospective contestants (Euwe, Fine,
Reshevsky, Botvinnik, Keres, and Smyslov as decided by the FIDE and
sanctioned by the Dutch federation) was arranged in Moscow during
the USA-USSR match. Here, Botvinnik stated angrily that that,
during the Groningen tournament, one Dutch paper had said that the
Russian participants might work together to put him into first
place. He, therefore, refused to play for the Championship in
Holland. However, it was finally agreed to stage the event half in
Holland, half in Russia, but there was the further question of
where the first half should be held.

Time troubles developed as well. The Russians wanted the
tournament held in April, while Reuben Fine, his mind on his
academic duties, favored August as the earliest date.

... Further, the U.S. Chess Federation had indicated before the
recent U.S. Championship that it would regard the players finishing
first and second as its candidates for the World Tournament. Now
it stood by its word, declined to recognize any arrangement that
would not accept Reshevsky and Kashdan as the U.S. representatives.
...

That seems to be the last we hear of Kashdan or the USCF objecting to
Fine's inclusion. In a "World Championship Forecast" in December
1947, for instance, Chess Review covered the six contestants selected
by FIDE.

In November 1948, Chess Review published a long letter by Fine in
which he vehemently denied that his withdrawal had anything to do with
worries about losing his job with a university, as alleged by the
_Moscow News_:

... At the time of the tournament, I was not teaching, but working
on my doctoral dissertation. I was not bound by any contract to
the university. I withdrew from the tournament because I did not
care to interrupt my research. Needless to say, nobody had
consulted me on whether the dates set were convenient for me. ...

-ed g.

..
In November 1948, Chess Review published a long letter by Fine in
which he vehemently denied that his withdrawal had anything to do with
worries about losing his job with a university, as alleged by the
_Moscow News_:

... At the time of the tournament, I was not teaching, but working
on my doctoral dissertation. I was not bound by any contract to
the university. I withdrew from the tournament because I did not
care to interrupt my research. Needless to say, nobody had
consulted me on whether the dates set were convenient for me. ...


Now you've ruined everything! How are we to talk endlessly of Russian or
anti-Semitic conspiracies, when you go and post *actual facts* like this?

Even the "evil" USCF is let off the hook, blast it all! Are you 100%
certain there was no tie-in to the World Jewry, the Russian Conspiracy
Organization (AKA the KGB), or Bobby Fischer?

Saying that Fine did not play because he didn't want (or "care") to, because
it was not "convenient" for him, just takes all the fun out of this thread.
I'm leaving. Perhaps I can irritate Troll Repa or Sam Sloan some more, in one
of the other threads. You're no fun at all.

(Ed Gaillard) writes:

In article ,
wrote:
Mig writes:


There are also items stating that Fine later pushed the idea that he
hadn't been *allowed* to play. The Oxford Companion mentions this side
and Kasparov's "Predecessors" book states that Fine blamed the
American federation for preventing his participation in 1948.

Odd then that they let Reshevsky play.

There should be something in Chess Review for 1946 or 47,
but I don't have those years. BCM, also.

There's nothing in the 1946 or 1947 Chess Review concerning Fine's
declining to play; the first mention of it in that magazine is in
February 1948. An item titled "Cause for Alarm" in the "World of
Chess" section began:

Thank you for posting this.

[...]


... Further, the U.S. Chess Federation had indicated before the
recent U.S. Championship that it would regard the players finishing
first and second as its candidates for the World Tournament. Now
it stood by its word, declined to recognize any arrangement that
would not accept Reshevsky and Kashdan as the U.S. representatives.

Sad to see that the USCF was as crazy then as now. The
US was not offered two spots, individual offers were made
to two players who were American citizens. There were
dozens (well, a dozen) GMs in the rest of the world more
qualified than Kashdan for that spot.

USCF objecting to Fine? Madness.


William Hyde
EOS Department
Duke University

In article ,
wrote:
(Ed Gaillard) writes:

... Further, the U.S. Chess Federation had indicated before the
recent U.S. Championship that it would regard the players finishing
first and second as its candidates for the World Tournament. Now
it stood by its word, declined to recognize any arrangement that
would not accept Reshevsky and Kashdan as the U.S. representatives.

Sad to see that the USCF was as crazy then as now. The
US was not offered two spots, individual offers were made
to two players who were American citizens. There were
dozens (well, a dozen) GMs in the rest of the world more
qualified than Kashdan for that spot.

USCF objecting to Fine? Madness.

Well, I agree that the USCF was crazy--although, in fairness, their
objection wasn't to Fine, but to the process of inviting Fine--but I
don't think there were a dozen players ahead of Kashdan for Fine's
spot, especially since there was simply no way another Soviet was
going to be invited (also, the strong young Soviets had not yet made
an impact outside the Soviet Union, I don't think). Of the
non-Soviets: Najdorf and Stahlberg were better choices than Kashdan,
and there was talk of inviting one of them when Fine declined, plus
Szabo would probably have been a better choice as well. Who else? I
see ChessMetrics has Tartakower and Horowitz ahead of Kashdan, but I'm
not sure I believe that, and surely neither would have occurred to
FIDE.

I don't have time to transcribe it right now, but there was an item in
_Chess Review_ that Bogolyubov was incensed that he hadn't been
invited. Indeed.

-ed g.

(Ed Gaillard) wrote in message ...
In article ,
wrote:
(Ed Gaillard) writes:

... Further, the U.S. Chess Federation had indicated before the
recent U.S. Championship that it would regard the players finishing
first and second as its candidates for the World Tournament. Now
it stood by its word, declined to recognize any arrangement that
would not accept Reshevsky and Kashdan as the U.S. representatives.

Sad to see that the USCF was as crazy then as now. The
US was not offered two spots, individual offers were made
to two players who were American citizens. There were
dozens (well, a dozen) GMs in the rest of the world more
qualified than Kashdan for that spot.

USCF objecting to Fine? Madness.

Well, I agree that the USCF was crazy--although, in fairness, their
objection wasn't to Fine, but to the process of inviting Fine--but I
don't think there were a dozen players ahead of Kashdan for Fine's
spot, especially since there was simply no way another Soviet was
going to be invited (also, the strong young Soviets had not yet made
an impact outside the Soviet Union, I don't think). Of the
non-Soviets: Najdorf and Stahlberg were better choices than Kashdan,
and there was talk of inviting one of them when Fine declined, plus
Szabo would probably have been a better choice as well. Who else? I
see ChessMetrics has Tartakower and Horowitz ahead of Kashdan, but I'm
not sure I believe that, and surely neither would have occurred to
FIDE.

I don't have time to transcribe it right now, but there was an item in
_Chess Review_ that Bogolyubov was incensed that he hadn't been
invited. Indeed.

-ed g.

I bel;ieve Fine was, unlike Kashdan and Horowitz, well known on the
European circuit. His remark about the likelihood of games being
thrown suggests that he was familiar with that practice in Europe.

David Ames

wrote in message ...

USCF objecting to Fine? Madness.

Agreed. However, there may have been an ulterior motive. The subject
is discussed briefly in Aidan Woodger's new bio of Fine:

"The U.S.C.F. wanted to replace Fine, who had attempted with some
other masters to set up a rival organization for U.S. chess with more
concentration on improving conditions for professional players, with
Kashdan."

So it would seem the endorsement of Kashdan was intended at least
partly as political retaliation against Fine. However, Woodger does
not explore the subject further. I would be interested to know what
this "rival organization" tried to do, what became of it, and who the
"other masters" were.

Taylor Kingston