Arthur Bisguier
Encyclopedia
Arthur Bernard Bisguier is an American chess
Grandmaster, chess promoter, and writer. Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), three U.S. Open Chess Championship
titles (1950, 1956, 1959), and the 1954 United States Chess Championship title. He played for the United States in five chess Olympiad
s. He also played in two Interzonal
tournaments (1955, 1962). On March 18, 2005, the United States Chess Federation
(USCF) proclaimed him "Dean of American Chess".
at Pittsburgh
, followed by seventh place in 1948. Later that year, he took the U.S. Junior Championship and was invited to the New York
1948–49 International Tournament.
As he gained in strength, Bisguier was coached by 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 (http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables21.htm).
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 Helsinki
Olympiad 1952, and then won the third annual Christmas
tournament at Vienna
1952 with a 9–2 score. He was made an International Master in 1950 from his Southsea victory.
. He also won the 2nd Pan American Chess Championship
at Los Angeles 1954. In 1956 at Oklahoma City
, he added the U.S. Open Chess Championship
title to his U.S. Championship. Bisguier was made an International Grandmaster
in 1957. He tied with Bobby Fischer
for first–second places at the U.S. Open at Cleveland 1957, but Fischer was awarded the title on tiebreak (The Games of Robert J. Fischer, by Robert Wade
and Kevin O'Connell, London, Batsford 1972).
s. His detailed results, from olimpbase.org, follow. His totals over 82 games are (+29 −18 =35), for 56.7 per cent.
, who swept the eight U.S. Championship tournaments which he contested. Bisguier and Fischer were tied for first place going into the last round of the 1962–63 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 (described in My 60 Memorable Games
, by Bobby Fischer, New York, 1969). Fischer scored 8/11, with Bisguier a point back in clear second place (http://www.chessmetrics.com, the Arthur Bisguier player file). 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 Lone Pine tournament
in 1973, tied for second place behind reigning 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.
Bisquier continues to play regularly at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, MA. He qualified for and competed in the 2011 Metrowest Club Championship (http://www.metrowestchess.org/Compete/Championships/2011/2011_Championship_standings.htm)
Victor Neiderhoffer, the hedge fund manager, took chess lessons from Bisguier as an adult (mentioned in his book Practical Speculation).
Bisguier has been a regular contributor to Chess Life
magazine. In 2003 he wrote a book on his best games from 1945–60 titled The Art of Bisguier.
, their first game played. (Their second game was a draw, then Bobby won 13 straight—perhaps the longest unbroken winning streak between grandmasters in history.) Fischer, although only 13 at the time of this game, was decidedly no pushover: in the same tournament he defeated Donald Byrne
in his celebrated Game of the Century
.
Bisguier–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
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster, chess promoter, and writer. Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), three U.S. Open Chess Championship
U.S. Open Chess Championship
The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...
titles (1950, 1956, 1959), and the 1954 United States Chess Championship title. He played for the United States in five chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s. He also played in two Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
tournaments (1955, 1962). On March 18, 2005, the United States Chess Federation
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
(USCF) proclaimed him "Dean of American Chess".
Early years
Bisguier was born in New York City. He was taught chess at the age of four by his father, a mathematician. In 1944, aged 15, he was third at the Bronx Empire Chess Club. In 1946, aged 17, he came fifth in the U.S. OpenU.S. Open Chess Championship
The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...
at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, followed by seventh place in 1948. Later that year, he took the U.S. Junior Championship and was invited to the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
1948–49 International Tournament.
As he gained in strength, Bisguier was coached by Master
Chess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....
Alexander Kevitz
Alexander Kevitz
Alexander Kevitz was an American chess master, of at least International Master strength at his peak, although he was never awarded this title. Kevitz also played correspondence chess, and was a creative chess analyst and theoretician. He was a pharmacist by profession.-Early life:Kevitz was born...
.
In 1949 he retained the U.S. Junior Championship title, and also won the Manhattan Chess Club
Manhattan Chess Club
The Manhattan Chess Club in Manhattan was the second-oldest chess club in the United States . The club was founded in 1877 and started with three dozen players; membership later reached into the hundreds before the club ended its existence in 2002...
Championship. In 1950 he won the first of his three U.S. Open titles, and also won at Southsea
Southsea
Southsea is a seaside resort located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire in England. Southsea is within a mile of Portsmouth's city centre....
in England (http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables21.htm).
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 Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
Olympiad 1952, and then won the third annual Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
tournament at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
1952 with a 9–2 score. He was made an International Master in 1950 from his Southsea victory.
U.S. Champion, Grandmaster
After a poor performance in the U.S. Open in 1953, he entered the Philadelphia Candidates' Tournament for the U.S. Championship and came through with a first place finish and another over-2600 performance. His meteoric rise culminated with a winning score in the 1954 United States Chess Championship at New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He also won the 2nd Pan American Chess Championship
Pan American Chess Championship
The first Pan-American Championship was held in Hollywood, 28 July - 12 August 1945. The line-up was as follows: 1. Samuel Reshevsky 10.5, 2. Reuben Fine 9, 3. Herman Pilnik 8.5, 4. Israel Horowitz 8, 5. Isaac Kashdan 7, 6. Hector Rossetto 6.5, 7-8. Weaver Adams , Herman Steiner 5.5, 9-10....
at Los Angeles 1954. In 1956 at Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, he added the U.S. Open Chess Championship
U.S. Open Chess Championship
The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...
title to his U.S. Championship. Bisguier was made an International Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
in 1957. He tied with Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
for first–second places at the U.S. Open at Cleveland 1957, but Fischer was awarded the title on tiebreak (The Games of Robert J. Fischer, by Robert Wade
Robert Wade (chess player)
Robert Graham Wade OBE , was a British chess player, writer, arbiter, coach, and promoter. He was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiads and one Interzonal tournament...
and Kevin O'Connell, London, Batsford 1972).
At the Olympiads
Bisguier represented the United States at five Chess OlympiadChess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s. His detailed results, from olimpbase.org, follow. His totals over 82 games are (+29 −18 =35), for 56.7 per cent.
- Helsinki 195210th Chess OlympiadThe 10th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland.-References:* OlimpBase...
, board 4, 7/15 (+3 −4 =8); - Munich 195813th Chess OlympiadThe 13th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 30 and October 23, 1958, in Munich, West Germany.-References:...
, board 3, 8.5/17 (+6 −6 =5); - Leipzig 196014th Chess OlympiadThe 14th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 26 and November 9, 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany.-References:...
, board 4, 11.5/16 (+9 −2 =5), team silver medal; - Tel Aviv 196416th Chess OlympiadThe 16th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 2 and November 25, 1964, in Tel Aviv, Israel.-References:* OlimpBase...
, board 4, 11.5/18 (+8 −3 =7); - Skopje 197220th Chess OlympiadThe 20th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 18 and October 13, 1972, in Skopje, Yugoslavia ....
, board 4, 8/16 (+3 −3 =10).
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 FischerBobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
, who swept the eight U.S. Championship tournaments which he contested. Bisguier and Fischer were tied for first place going into the last round of the 1962–63 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 (described in My 60 Memorable Games
My 60 Memorable Games
My 60 Memorable Games is a chess book by Bobby Fischer, first published in 1969. It is a collection of his games dating from the 1957 New Jersey Open to the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. Unlike many players' anthologies, which are often titled My Best Games and include only victories, My 60 Memorable...
, by Bobby Fischer, New York, 1969). Fischer scored 8/11, with Bisguier a point back in clear second place (http://www.chessmetrics.com, the Arthur Bisguier player file). 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 Lone Pine tournament
Lone Pine International
Lone Pine International was a series of chess tournaments held annually in March or April from 1971 through 1981 in Lone Pine, California. Sponsored by Louis D. Statham , millionaire engineer and inventor of medical instruments, the tournaments were formally titled the Louis D. Statham Masters...
in 1973, tied for second place behind reigning World Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
in the international tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
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.
Bisquier continues to play regularly at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, MA. He qualified for and competed in the 2011 Metrowest Club Championship (http://www.metrowestchess.org/Compete/Championships/2011/2011_Championship_standings.htm)
Chess promoter
For many years, Bisguier was hired to play in towns throughout the U.S. in order 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 Neiderhoffer, the hedge fund manager, took chess lessons from Bisguier as an adult (mentioned in his book Practical Speculation).
Bisguier has been a regular contributor to Chess Life
Chess Life
Chess Life is a monthly chess magazine published in the United States. The official publication of the United States Chess Federation , it reaches more than a quarter of a million readers every month. A subscription to Chess Life is one of the benefits of Full Adult, Youth, or Life membership in...
magazine. In 2003 he wrote a book on his best games from 1945–60 titled The Art of Bisguier.
Sample game
The following game is Bisguier's sole win against Bobby FischerBobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
, their first game played. (Their second game was a draw, then Bobby won 13 straight—perhaps the longest unbroken winning streak between grandmasters in history.) Fischer, although only 13 at the time of this game, was decidedly no pushover: in the same tournament he defeated Donald Byrne
Donald Byrne
Donald Byrne was one of the USA's strongest chess players during the 1950s and 1960s.Born in New York City, he won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1953, was awarded the International Master title by FIDE in 1962, and played for or captained five U.S. Chess Olympiad teams between 1962 and 1972...
in his celebrated Game of the Century
The Game of the Century (chess)
The Game of the Century usually refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956. It was nicknamed "The Game of the Century" by Hans Kmoch in Chess Review...
.
Bisguier–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