 Bisguier at the National Open, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Arthur Bernard Bisguier (1929-10-08)October 8, 1929 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 5, 2017(2017-04-05) (aged 87) |
| Chess career | |
| Country | United States |
| Title | Grandmaster (1957) |
| Peak rating | 2455 (January 1980) |
Arthur Bernard Bisguier (October 8, 1929 – April 5, 2017) was an Americanchess player, chess promoter, and writer who held theFIDE title ofGrandmaster (GM).
Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), threeU.S. Open Chess Championship titles (1950, 1956, 1959), and the 1954United States Chess Championship title. He played for the United States in fivechess Olympiads. He also played in twoInterzonal tournaments (1955, 1962).
Bisguier died of respiratory failure on April 5, 2017, at age 87. On March 18, 2005, theUnited States Chess Federation (USCF) proclaimed him "Dean of American Chess".
Bisguier was born in a Jewish family in New York City and graduated from theBronx High School of Science.[1] He was taught chess at the age of 4 by his father Jesse (born Jechiel Max Bisgeier), a mathematician. In 1944, aged 15, he was third at theBronx Empire Chess Club. In 1946, aged 17, he came fifth in theU.S. Open atPittsburgh, followed by seventh place in 1948. Later that year, he took the U.S. Junior Championship and was invited to theNew York City 1948–49 International Tournament. Throughout the 1940s, he was considered one of the United States' best players, with Larry Evans, George Kramer, and Walter Shipman. As he gained in strength, Bisguier was coached byMasterAlexander Kevitz.
In 1949 he retained the U.S. Junior Championship title, and also won theManhattan Chess Club Championship. In 1950 he won the first of his three U.S. Open titles, and also won atSouthsea 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 theHelsinki Olympiad 1952, and then won the third annual Christmas tournament atVienna 1952 with a 9–2 score. He earned theInternational Master title in 1950 from his Southsea victory.
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After a poor performance in the U.S. Open in 1953, he entered thePhiladelphia Candidates' Tournament for the U.S. Championship and came through with a first-place finish and another over-2600 performance. His meteoric rise culminated in winning the 1954United States Chess Championship at New York. He also won the 2ndPan American Chess Championship at Los Angeles 1954. In 1956 atOklahoma City, he added theU.S. Open Chess Championship title to his U.S. Championship. Bisguier achieved theInternational Grandmaster title in 1957. He tied withBobby Fischer for first–second places at the U.S. Open atCleveland 1957, where Fischer was awarded the title on tiebreak.[3]
Bisguier represented the United States at fiveChess Olympiads; his totals over 82 games are (+29−18=35), for 56.7 per cent. His detailed results, from olimpbase.org:
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 ofBobby 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 1962–63 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.[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 theLone Pine tournament in 1973, tied for second place behind reigningworld championBoris Spassky in the international tournament inSan 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 inNatick, MA until 2014. He qualified for and competed in the 2011 Metrowest Club Championship.[6]
Bisguier was the leading early proponent of theBerlin Defense to the Ruy Lopez, which was rarely used by grandmasters before him but later became popular at the highest levels. His successes with it included a draw with futureworld championAnatoly Karpov at the 1970 tournament inCaracas, Venezuela.[7]
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, thehedge fund manager, took chess lessons from Bisguier as an adult.[8]
Bisguier was a regular contributor toChess Life magazine. In 2003 he wrote a book on his best games from 1945 to 1960 titledThe Art of Bisguier.[9] A second volume,The Art of Bisguier: Selected Games 1961–2003, was released in 2008.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |||
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| 8 |  |  | |  |  | | | | 8 | |
| 7 | |  | |  | | | | | 7 | |
| 6 | | | | | |  | | | 6 | |
| 5 | | | |  | | | | | 5 | |
| 4 | | |  | | | | | | 4 | |
| 3 | | | | | | | | | 3 | |
| 2 | | | | | | | |  | 2 | |
| 1 | | | |  | | |  | | 1 | |
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
The following game is Bisguier's sole win againstBobby Fischer, their first game played. Their second game was a draw, after which Fischer won 13 straight—perhaps the longest unbroken winning streak between grandmasters in history. Fischer was aged 13 at the time of this game, but already a strong player and won his celebratedGame of the Century againstDonald Byrne in this same tournament.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), the Arthur Bisguier player file| Preceded by | United States Chess Champion 1954–1958 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
