Richard Reti in New York 1924
"During the month of December, 1923, interest in chess was at a high level on this side of the Atlantic, largely due to the presence of Alexander Alekhine and his remarkable performances. At a social gathering on New Year's Eve the possibility of holding an international tournament in New York was discussed..." writes Norbert L. Lederer, then Secretary of the Manhattan Chess Club, in the introduction of the tourney book [New York 1924, by A. Alekhine, p. 15], hence New York 1924 super tournament was organized for March - April 1924. It wasn't only the strong comeback of the 55 year old former champion Lasker, but also Reti's new ideas...
1. Nf3 as a starting move, can be found in Zukertort's games since 1883, but was followed by a 2. d4 leading to a QGD setup. Reti's opening idea was based on a 2. c4 leading to an English opening setup. "The natural opening move in such a system is 1. Nf3. The move directs pressure against the centre, prevents 1... e5, and keeps open almost all the possibilities for the first player." as Reti writes in his Masters, 1933. Adding some paragraphs below: "It is upon this idea that the opening system introduced by the author of this book is based. After 1. Nf3 d5, white directs the attack not against the weak e5-point, but against d5, continuing with 2. c4, g3 and Bg2. In the nomenclature of the theory of openings, this opening system has been given the author's name, in accordance with the suggestion of the Serbian master Vukovic." [Masters of the Chessboard by Richard Réti]
However I must add an inner debate concerning the opening's origin, found in Wiener Schachzeitung 1924. In WSZ 1923, 298 a game Reti-Spielmann, Vienna 1923, is presented under the name Reti-Eröffnung with the starting moves 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4. In WSZ 1924, 55, same moves are said to be the so-called Landstrasser Gambit attributed to Alfred Wolf, then recently late. While on pages 90-91 a letter by Landstrasser Schachbund is repeating and underlining the Wolf's origin, followed by a game Wolf vs Teich, Vienna Mar 4, 1923, with an open letter to Reti for response. But on p. 128, presenting the Reti-Yates game in NY 1924, the opening is clearly mentioned again as Reti opening. Anyway...
Two games
Reti played 1. Nf3 in all his games with white, facing mainly 1...d5 as response. It can be considered a success, as he won 7, lost 2 and drew 1.
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Some beautiful tactics
Reti played some brilliant chess in this super tournament. Four tactics played in his games are following. The game vs Bogoljubov had won the 1st brilliancy prize....
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