Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

On Dec 30 2009, 3:18*pm, Taylor Kingston
wrote:
On Dec 25, 12:27*am, samsloan wrote:



Reinfeld drew his individual game with Alekhine and defeated
Reshevsky. Final scores we Alekhine 8.5-2.5, Kashdan 7.5-3.5, Dake,
Steiner and Reshevsky 6-5, Borochow 5.5-5.5, Reinfeld, Bernstein, Fine
and Factor 5-6, Araiza 3.5-7.5, and Fink 3-8.

All of these players were grandmasters on the modern standard, except
for perhaps the bottom two.

* That seems quite an exaggeration. Herman Steiner had opportunity
during his life to gain the GM title but only made IM. The Bernstein
at Pasadena 1932 was not GM Ossip Bernstein, but Jacob Bernstein of
New York, a player of little international accomplishment as far as I
can determine. Harry Borochow, Samuel Factor and Reinfeld never were
GM strength. One should not make too much of the fact that they did as
well or better than Fine at Pasadena, since in 1932 Fine was nowhere
near his peak strength of a few years later.

When the first USCF rating list came out as of July 31, 1950, Fred
Reinfeld was rated 2593, making him the sixth highest rated player in
America.

* That 1950 rating should not be confused with a modern Elo rating. It
was based on a different system, where ratings overall came out a bit
higher. For example Fine, the #1 player on that 1950 list, was rated
2817, about 160 points higher than his estimated 5-year peak Elo.

I recall reading Larry Evans, in some Chess Life and Review (or just
Chess Life), column said that Reinfeld had a plus lifetime score
against Sammy Reshevsky. If this is true, it's remarkable.

Reinfeld was undoubtably a very strong Master. In all fairness, 1950
was probably well after his best days were behind him as he soon
retired from competitive chess. Reinfeld was a 22 year old student in
1932, so you might expect that this good result at Pasadena 1932 was
before his best days.

I can't find a crosstable for Pasadena 1932, but chessgames.com has
several of the games, which shows he drew Alekhine and Kashdan, both
GMs near the top of their games and defeated Reshevsky and Fine.

I agree that the many of the players listed by Sloan as being GM
strength probably were not.


In addition to writing chess books, Reinfeld also wrote books about
coin collecting, stamp collecting and a variety of other subjects. He
wrote a book about presidential politics, a book about whales and he
even wrote a revised edition of the Charles Dickens classic Oliver
Twist.

* Here is list of Reinfeld's books on subjects other than chess:

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/reinfeld.html

* It would be more accurate to say his version of "Oliver Twist" was
abridged, rather than revised.

On Jan 2, 2:24*pm, Jordan Henderson
wrote:

I recall reading Larry Evans, in some Chess Life and Review (or just
Chess Life), column said that Reinfeld had a plus lifetime score
against Sammy Reshevsky. *If this is true, it's remarkable.

I believe it is true. Reinfeld beat Reshevsky twice in 1932, at
Minneapolis and at Pasadena, and drew against him in the two other
serious games I can find, in the US Championships of 1938 and 1940.
The two wins are given in his Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Re...hess_victories

Reinfeld was undoubtably a very strong Master. *In all fairness, 1950
was probably well after his best days were behind him as he soon
retired from competitive chess. *Reinfeld was a 22 year old student in
1932, so you might expect that this good result at Pasadena 1932 was
before his best days.

I believe the 1950 USCF rating is based mostly on his peak years.
Reinfeld had pretty much quit serious chess by 1950, maybe as far back
as the early 1940s, and so the USCF would have had to dig back some
years to include him. (The last game my Chessbase CD has for him is
from 1941.) I agree that at his best he was a strong master, probably
2400+ in today's terms. In some ways his books are dated and overly
dogmatic, but one could say the same about some all-time greats.

I can't find a crosstable for Pasadena 1932,

Try "Reuben Fine: A Comprehensive Record of an American Chess Career
1929-1951" by Aidan Woodger (McFarland & Co., 2004), page 27. It says
Reinfeld scored +3 -4 =4, beating Reshevsky, Factor and Fink, losing
to Dake, Borochow, Fine and Araiza, and drawing with Alekhine,
Kashdan, H. Steiner, J. Bernstein, and Fink. Unfortunately many games
from this event seem to have been lost.

but chessgames.com has
several of the games, which shows he drew Alekhine and Kashdan, both
GMs near the top of their games and defeated Reshevsky and Fine.

I agree that the many of the players listed by Sloan as being GM
strength probably were not.

Our Sam is prone to hyperbolic claims that lack factual basis.

On Jan 2, 3:25*pm, Taylor Kingston
wrote:
On Jan 2, 2:24*pm, Jordan Henderson
wrote:



I recall reading Larry Evans, in some Chess Life and Review (or just
Chess Life), column said that Reinfeld had a plus lifetime score
against Sammy Reshevsky. *If this is true, it's remarkable.

* I believe it is true. Reinfeld beat Reshevsky twice in 1932, at
Minneapolis and at Pasadena, and drew against him in the two other
serious games I can find, in the US Championships of 1938 and 1940.
The two wins are given in his Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Re...hess_victories

Reinfeld was undoubtably a very strong Master. *In all fairness, 1950
was probably well after his best days were behind him as he soon
retired from competitive chess. *Reinfeld was a 22 year old student in
1932, so you might expect that this good result at Pasadena 1932 was
before his best days.

* I believe the 1950 USCF rating is based mostly on his peak years.
Reinfeld had pretty much quit serious chess by 1950, maybe as far back
as the early 1940s, and so the USCF would have had to dig back some
years to include him. (The last game my Chessbase CD has for him is
from 1941.) I agree that at his best he was a strong master, probably
2400+ in today's terms. In some ways his books are dated and overly
dogmatic, but one could say the same about some all-time greats.

I can't find a crosstable for Pasadena 1932,

* Try "Reuben Fine: A Comprehensive Record of an American Chess Career
1929-1951" by Aidan Woodger (McFarland & Co., 2004), page 27. It says
Reinfeld scored +3 -4 =4, beating Reshevsky, Factor and Fink, losing
to Dake, Borochow, Fine and Araiza, and drawing with Alekhine,
Kashdan, H. Steiner, J. Bernstein, and Fink. Unfortunately many games
from this event seem to have been lost.

but chessgames.com has
several of the games, which shows he drew Alekhine and Kashdan, both
GMs near the top of their games and defeated Reshevsky and Fine.

I agree that the many of the players listed by Sloan as being GM
strength probably were not.

* Our Sam is prone to hyperbolic claims that lack factual basis.

Correction: At Pasadena 1932, Reinfeld did not draw with Fink. I
inadvertently mentioned Fink twice.

samsloan wrote:

On Jan 2, 11:33 am, "Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote:

----

I have the 12th edition, dated 1986, containing 580 pages under pictorial
hard cover, no dj as issued. Robert Obojski is listed as its editor. The
verso of the title page indicates that the 1971 edition must have been the
8th.

James

Thank you for letting me know. You are probably correct.

Sam Sloan

I got this flyer which sez "100,000 Clogs, 4 Days @ $3.90 These clogs
are ugly! Because they are made from EVA they are lightweight, soft and
very flexible. So ugly they might be, but they are also extremely
comfortable." - I figure this might be a rare, first-edition printing
- there does not appear to be any date of publication - also, if someone
knows where I can get me a pair of these "clogs" (cheapo Chinese-Crocs)
I'd be most appreciative...

m.

oly wrote:
---
Oh gee, I have a copy of this book somewhere. I know I do, because it
has two or three letters tucked inside that my Granny wrote to me
while I was in college. It sat underneath the end-table in my bedroom
for years when I lived in Rockford.

I don't think I have opened this book in more than twenty-five years.

oly

Interesting.. & how is your "Granny" these days, still happily plugging
away is she ?

m.

Taylor Kingston wrote:
..
Correction: At Pasadena 1932, Reinfeld did not draw with Fink. I
inadvertently mentioned Fink twice.

I really fink you are loosing it Taylor

On Jan 2, 6:15*pm, micky wrote:
Taylor Kingston wrote:

.

* Correction: At Pasadena 1932, Reinfeld did not draw with Fink. I
inadvertently mentioned Fink twice.

I really fink you are loosing it Taylor

Not unlikely. As National Lampoon's "Deteriorata" said, "Gracefully
surrender the things of age, tuna, and Taiwan." Or was it "Gracefully
surrender the things of age: Tuna, and Taiwan." Whether this refers to
Bill Parcells is a matter of debate for scholars.

On Jan 2, 4:53*pm, micky wrote:
oly wrote:

---

Oh gee, I have a copy of this book somewhere. *I know I do, because it
has two or three letters tucked inside that my Granny wrote to me
while I was in college. *It sat underneath the end-table in my bedroom
for years when I lived in Rockford.

I don't think I have opened this book in more than twenty-five years.

oly

Interesting.. & how is your "Granny" these days, still happily plugging
away is she ?

m.

Sad to say, Granny passed away in 1996. She was six days short of her
91st birthday. The day she died was my dad's 66th birthday.

So you can see, I guard those letters most carefully.

oly

oly wrote:
..
Sad to say, Granny passed away in 1996. She was six days short of her
91st birthday. The day she died was my dad's 66th birthday.

Ah ! I see... & as you say - 'all a bit sad' - still, a good innings
nonetheless...

A couple of quick calculations would put "dad" in his 80th year &
yourself ~ 60 ?

m.

On Jan 2, 8:56*pm, micky wrote:
oly wrote:

.

Sad to say, Granny passed away in 1996. *She was six days short of her
91st birthday. *The day she died was my dad's 66th birthday.

Ah ! I see... & as you say - 'all a bit sad' - still, a good innings
nonetheless...

A couple of quick calculations would put "dad" in his 80th year &
yourself ~ 60 ?

m.

More or less - you are going a little heavy on my own years, but not
by much.

Granny did very well, only being unable to take care of herself for
her last two years.

She was always amazed at what some of the silver coins from her own
youth were bringing in the collectors' market. Would not believe it.

She had a lot more respect for a gold coin, stating that she got a
five dollar gold each Christmas, until the Great Depression caused her
father's fortunes to collapse.

oly