Arthur Bisguier

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Arthur Bisguier
Bisguier at the National Open, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2009
Full nameArthur Bernard Bisguier
CountryUnited States
Born(1929-10-08)October 8, 1929
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 5, 2017(2017-04-05) (aged 87)
Framingham, Massachusetts, U.S.
TitleGrandmaster (1957)
Peak rating2455 (January 1980)

Arthur Bernard Bisguier (October 8, 1929 – April 5, 2017) was an American

FIDE title of Grandmaster
(GM).

Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), three

Interzonal
tournaments (1955, 1962).

On March 18, 2005, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) proclaimed him "Dean of American Chess."

Early years

Bisguier was born in a Jewish family in New York City and graduated from the

Master Alexander Kevitz
.

In 1949 he retained the U.S. Junior Championship title, and also won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship. In 1950 he won the first of his three U.S. Open titles, and also won at Southsea in England.[2]

Army service interrupted his U.S. chess career during 1951 to 1953, but he managed to get leave to play in two European events. He played at the

International Master
title in 1950 from his Southsea victory.

U.S. Champion, Grandmaster

Bisguier vs. Matanovic (Utrecht, 1961)

After a poor performance in the U.S. Open in 1953, he entered the

International Grandmaster title in 1957. He tied with Bobby Fischer for first–second places at the U.S. Open at Cleveland 1957, where Fischer was awarded the title on tiebreak.[3]

At the Olympiads

Bisguier represented the United States at five Chess Olympiads; his totals over 82 games are (+29−18=35), for 56.7 per cent. His detailed results, from olimpbase.org:

Further achievements

Following his U.S. title in 1954, Bisguier regularly returned to compete for the national championship, but was never able to repeat his success. The late 1950s saw the sensational rise of Bobby Fischer, who swept the eight U.S. Championship tournaments that he contested. Bisguier and Fischer were tied for first place going into the last round of the 1962–1963 event, and they still had to face each other. Bisguier had a promising position but made a mistake, which Fischer punished spectacularly, allowing Fischer to take the game and the title.[4] Fischer scored 8/11, with Bisguier a point back in clear second place.[5] Bisguier also served as a second to Fischer at several international events.

Most of Bisguier's play after the mid-1960s was limited to U.S. events. He won National Opens in 1970 (jointly), 1974, and 1978. He won the

world champion Boris Spassky in the international tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico
in 1969, and took first place in the first-ever Grand Prix in 1980. He took first place in the U.S. Senior Open in 1989, thus winning a U.S. championship at every age level of chess. He won the Senior Open again in 1997 and 1998.

Bisguier continued to play regularly at the Metrowest Chess Club in

Natick, MA until 2014. He qualified for and competed in the 2011 Metrowest Club Championship.[6]

Chess promoter

For many years, Bisguier was hired to play in towns throughout the U.S. to give exhibitions, and to popularize chess and the USCF. For about 20 years, Bisguier was the representative the USCF chose to send to a state for one or two days to play at a hospital, college, or prison, so the public could get a chance to play the Grandmaster and former U.S. Champion. He commented: "I was delighted to do it. I was very lucky to get so much out of chess. I tried to give something back."

Victor Niederhoffer, the hedge fund manager, took chess lessons from Bisguier as an adult.[7]

Bisguier was a regular contributor to Chess Life magazine. In 2003 he wrote a book on his best games from 1945–1960 titled The Art of Bisguier.[8] A second volume, The Art of Bisguier: Selected Games 1961-2003, was released in 2008.

Notable games

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

The following game is Bisguier's sole win against

Game of the Century against Donald Byrne
in this same tournament.

Bisguier vs. Fischer, Rosenwald Memorial, New York 1956
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 c5 7.Be2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Nc2 Bd7 10.0-0 Rc8 11.Be3 Na5 12.b3 a6 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Ne8 15.Nd5 Rc6 16.Nd4 Rc8 17.Nc2 Rc6 18.Ncb4 Re6 19.Bg4 Rxe5 20.Bb6 Qc8 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.Bxa5 e6 23.Nd3 Rh5 24.N3f4 Rf5 25.Bb4 exd5 26.Bxf8 Bxa1 27.Qxa1 Kxf8 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Re1+ Kd8 30.Nxd5 Qc6 31.Qf8 Qd7 32.Rd1 Rf6 33.Qxe8+
1–0[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bronx High School of Science".
  2. ^ http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables21.htm[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ The Games of Robert J. Fischer, by Robert Wade and Kevin O'Connell, London, Batsford 1972.
  4. ^ My 60 Memorable Games, by Bobby Fischer, New York, 1969.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 14, 2006. Retrieved 2012-02-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), the Arthur Bisguier player file
  6. ^ "MCC 2011 Championship". Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  7. ISBN 9781118045671
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-9740156-0-6
    .
  9. ^ Arthur Bisguier vs. Robert James Fischer, Third Rosenwald Trophy (1956) Chessgames.com

External links

Preceded by
Larry Evans
United States Chess Champion

1954–1958 		Succeeded by
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