Chess and poker: Stewart Reuben

Playing chess was not his principal claim to fame. Where Stewart made his mark was as tournament organiser, arbiter and, to a certain extent, chess author. I had the pleasure of working closely with him on numerous important international events, and I was always impressed by his resourcefulness, energy and problem solving abilities. 

In fact, as a Mind Sports practitioner, Stewart was infinitely more proficient as a professional poker player. He was renowned as “one of Britain’s foremost poker players” and “one of the best two or three players in England”, and had written several books on the topic. 

During his career he had officiated at and/or organised a number of high-level chess events held in Britain and elsewhere. These included several for  which I had raised the sponsorship funds, including the 1986 world chess championship, which historically pitted Garry Kasparov against Anatoly Karpov, in London. This contest was the first time, since Soviet Grandmasters first participated in world championship matches (1951) that a world title match between two Soviets had been held in any other city than Moscow. 

Stewart was the chief organiser of British Chess Championship Congresses for a number of years, also of the annual Hastings tournaments, chairman of the British Chess Federation from 1996 to 1999, and more recently, Manager of Senior Chess for the English Chess Federation.

In international governance he was also extremely active, as of 2006, being chairman of the FIDE Organisers’ Committee and a member of numerous other FIDE committees. Stewart held the FIDE International Arbiter and FIDE International Organiser titles.

As a player, Stewart was a FIDE Candidate Master and during the 1993 World Chess Championship Match between Kasparov and Short, also in London, he provided some of the live commentary for the audience at the Savoy theatre.

Stewart wrote several books on chess, including   Chess Openings: Your Choice! and  The Chess Organiser’s Handbook . He was also the author of books on poker, including  How Good is your Pot-Limit Omaha ,  How Good is your Pot Limit Hold’Em? ,  Poker 24/7: 35 years as a Poker Pro , and  Starting Out in Poker . Reuben also co-authored  Pot-Limit and No-limit Poker  with Bob Ciaffone, which Mason Malmuth called “the best information ever put out on these games”. His teaching book  Play Like a Pro  was translated into French as  Jouez comme les pros  in 2007, and then recommended by the French travel guide publisher Petit Futé for French visitors to Las Vegas.

Stewart Reuben vs. Robert James Fischer

New York blitz, 1963, ½-½

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Nb6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. d3 O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. O-O e5 10. Qd2 f5!? TN 11. Bh6 f4?!

Five years earlier at the Interzonal in Portoroz, GM Yuri Averbakh commented on Fischer as “this youth, almost still a child”. He confided that he was “struck not even in his extensive opening knowledge, but his striving everywhere to seek new paths”. This was what Reuben faced five years later, already out of the book (with …f5). What he could not know was how far Fischer would push against his boundaries in this blitz game, and the opportunities this would present. 

12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. Ne4 h6 14. Rad1 g5 15. d4 exd4 16. Nxd4?!

White loses much of the momentum borne from Black’s earlier opening bravado with this inaccuracy. The continuation, 16. Nc5 Qd6 17. Rc1 a5 18. Rfd1 Rd8 19. b3 Qf6 20. a3 Kg8 21. b4 axb4 22. axb4 Na4 23. Nxa4 Rxa4 24. b5, offers a sacrificial initiative that White declines. 

16… Ne5? 

A hugely over-ambitious move. As always, striving for open play, Black avoids the more methodical, 16… Qxd4 17. Qxd4+ Nxd4 18. Rxd4 Bg4 19. f3 Bf5 20. gxf4 gxf4 21. Rc1 c6 22. Nc5 Bc8 23. b4 a6 24. Nd3 Nd5, which offers Black little advantage. But this error presents White with several various and strong ways of proceeding. 

17. Nf3?

But this is not one of those ways of advancing. It is the first missed opportunity against an opponent not well known for generosity in this respect. Let us look at three alternative options:

a) 17. a4!? Qe7 18. a5 Nd5 19. a6 Rb8 20. Rc1 c6 21. axb7 Bxb7 22. Nc5 Bc8 23. Nxc6 Nxc6 24. Bxd5 Nd8, White’s initiative is clear, a pawn up with good play against a vulnerable king;

b) 17. gxf4!? gxf4 18. Qc3 Qe7 19. Nf3 Rf5 20. e3 Kg8 21. exf4 Ng6 22. Rfe1 Rf8 23. Ng3 Qf6 24. Qb3+ Qf7, Black has yet to develop two pieces whereas White is a pawn up, fully active;

c) 17. Qc3! The most obvious and strongest, setting up a diagonal battery against the black king. Even Fischer might not have survived such latent pressure e.g. 17…Qe7 18. Nf3 Re8 19. gxf4 gxf4 20. e3 Kf8 21. Nxe5 Qxe5 22. Rd4 f3 23. Bxf3 Bh3 24. Rfd1 c6; White is ahead in development, material and attacking chances: almost winning.

17… Qxd2 18. Rxd2 Nec4 19. Rc2 Bf5?!

Even after the anti-climax of White’s 17th move, there is a residue of an advantage, further enhanced by this slight inaccuracy. Both 19… c6 and…Re8 offer less to White. 

20. Nfd2?! 

Attacking the e6-, f5- and b5 squares is more influential than the attempt to challenge the c4-knight, and 20. Nd4! achieves this. After 20… c6 21. Nxf5+ Rxf5 22. Rfc1 Rd8 23. Rxc4 Nxc4 24. Rxc4 Rd1+ 25. Bf1 Ra1 26 f3 Rxa2 27. Nd6 Rd5, White capitalises on his advantage.

20… Rae8 21. Nxc4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Rxe4 23. Nxb6 cxb6 24. gxf4?! 

Best was 24. Rd1, this slip discharges White’s remaining advantage and we are near to parity. 

24… gxf4 25. Rfc1?! 

The text is a further slip, when 25. Rd1 retains what slim initiative White still possesses.

25… Rf7 26. f3 Re3 27. Kf2 Rfe7 28. Rd1 Kg6?!

Impatient. Best was 28… R3e5.

29. Rd3?!

Stereotypical and ineffective. White should prefer 29. Rd6+, with some advantage.

29… Rxd3 30. exd3 Re3 31. Rd2 Kf5 32. d4 Ke6 33. Re2 Rxe2+ 34. Kxe2 Kd5 35. Kd3 a5?

One can only attribute this bad anti-positional pawn advance to a rush of blood. It hands a potentially winning advantage to White, when 35… b5 or …h5 were sufficient for equality.

36. a4 Kc6?

Two errors back-to-back; a rarity indeed, when 36… b5 37. axb5 a4, and 36… h5 37. h4 b5 were both available, which began to tackle Black’s problem of backward doubled pawns.

37. Ke4 b5 38. axb5+?

There is no threat and another winning move, the second, was immediately available in 38. d5+. For example, 38… Kd7 39. axb5 Kd6 40. Kd4 a4 41. h4 h5 42. Ke4 b6 43. Kd4 Kd7 44. Ke5 Ke7 45. d6+ Kd7 46. Kd5 Kd8 47. Kc6 Kc8 48. Kxb6 Kd7 49. Kc5 a3 50. bxa3 Kd8 51. b6 Kc8 52. Kc6 Kd8 53. d7 Ke7 54. b7 Kf6 55. b8=Q Ke6 56. d8=Q Kf5 57. Qd7+ Kf6 58. Qbd6 checkmate. White nevertheless still retains a winning control of the endgame.

38… Kxb5 39. d5?

Still (somehow) better but missing the third win, as it is mate after 39. Kxf4 Kc6 40. Ke5 Kd7 41. f4 b6 42. Kd5 b5 43. Kc5 b4 44. d5 b3 45. f5 Ke8 46. Kb5 Kd7 47. Kxa5 Kd6 48. f6 Kd7 49. Kb6 h5 50. h4 Kd6 51. Kb5 Kd7 52. Kc5 Ke8 53. Kd6 Kf7 54. Ke5 Ke8 55. Ke6 Kd8 56. f7 Kc7 57. f8=Q Kb6 58. Qb4+ Ka7 59. Kd6 Ka6 60. Kc6 Ka7 61. Qb7 checkmate.

39… Kb6 40. Ke5?

The pattern of missing mates continues with this fourth opportunity: 40. Kxf4 Kc7 41. Ke5 Kd7 42. f4 b5 43. f5 a4 44. f6 b4 45. Kd4 a3 46. bxa3 bxa3 47. Kc3 a2 48. Kb2 a1=Q+ 49. Kxa1 Kd6 50. Kb2 Kd7 51. Kc3 h5 52. h4 Ke8 53. d6 Kd7 54. f7 Kxd6 55. f8=Q+ Ke5 56. Qe7+ Kf4 57. Kd4 Kf5 58. Qf7+ Kg4 59. Ke3 Kg3 60. Qg8+ Kxh4 61. Kf3 Kh3 62. Qg3 checkmate. This time, however, after the text move, the position is once again level. White has lost all advantage.

40… Kc7 41. Kxf4 b5?

Black is still playing aggressively and eschews the opportunity for equality after 41. Kd6. The text hands a measure of control back to White, and offers more.

42. Ke5! b4 43. f4?

While there is no longer a mating threat, 43. Ke6 a4 44. Ke7 a3 45. bxa3 bxa3 46. d6+ Kc6 47. d7 a2 48. d8=Q a1=Q 49. Qd6+ Kb5 50. Qd5+ Kb4, places White in a winning endgame, and this represents the fifth clear opportunity White has had for victory. Against Fischer. There is to be no sixth offer, as the game culminates by moving towards its placid conclusion.

43… a4 44. Kd4 a3 45. bxa3 bxa3 46. Kc3 Kd6 47. Kb3 Kxd5 48. Kxa3 Ke4 49. Kb3 Kxf4 50. Kc3 Kg4 51. Kd3 Kh3 52. Ke3 Kxh2 53. Kf2 Game drawn ½-½

Destiny called many times in this game, but on every occasion, Stewart hung up. Still, drawing against Fischer was always an achievement.

Stewart Reuben: 14 March 1939 – 4 February 2025.

On Monday March 17, chess returns to UK television with a double helping. On BBC 2 at 8 pm Sue Perkins presents the second in the widely publicised series Chess Masters: The Endgame, with Grandmaster David Howell as expert commentator . Those who missed the first programme can find it on BBC iPlayer. And an hour later on the same evening (BBC 4 at 9 pm) Grandmaster Danny King and I present How to win at chess.

A Message from TheArticle

We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout these hard economic times. So please, make a donation.