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Arthur Bisguier (1929-2017)
April 5, 2017
From the New York Times Obituary:
Arthur Bisguier, a largely self-taught chess grandmaster who brought a native Bronx brashness to his style of play in defeating some of the game’s greatest players while finding mostly frustration when he faced Bobby Fischer, died on Wednesday in Framingham, Mass. He was 87.
His daughter Erica Bisguier said the death, at a care facility, was caused by respiratory failure.
Mr. Bisguier (pronounced biss-GUY-er) learned to play chess when he was 7 by watching games between his older sister and a cousin. He won the New York High School Championship while still in junior high school.
He was not yet 20 when he won the United States Junior Championship in 1948; the next year, he successfully defended the title. He went on to win the United States Open in 1950, the first of five times he would triumph or tie for first in that tournament. And in 1954 he won the United States Championship, an invitation-only event.
Mr. Bisguier might have won more United States Championships — or at least one more — if not for Mr. Fischer. When Mr. Fischer came along he was 14 years younger, than Mr. Bisguier, but he began to dominate the American chess scene almost immediately, winning his first championship, in 1957-58, before he was 15.
Mr. Bisguier’s one taste of victory against Mr. Fischer came in the first game they ever played, when Mr. Fischer was a child prodigy of 13. But he would not beat him again. Mr. Bisguier’s career record against him consisted of that one win, one draw (in their second game) and 13 consecutive losses.
Though he could never overcome Mr. Fischer again, Mr. Bisguier counted some formidable opponents among his vanquished, including the former world champion Boris Spassky; Samuel Reshevsky, who, like Mr. Fischer, won the United States Championship eight times; and Svetozar Gligoric, who was a candidate for the world championship three times.
Arthur Bernard Bisguier was born in the Bronx on Oct. 8, 1929, and attended the Bronx High School of Science.
As a student there he was already one of the best players in the country, and also at the center of a spirited rivalry with its cross-city rival Brooklyn Tech, whose team was led by Robert Byrne, a future grandmaster and chess columnist for The New York Times.
After high school, Mr. Bisguier served in the Army from 1951 to 1953, though he was given time off to play for the United States at the Helsinki Chess Olympiad, where Mr. Byrne was among his teammates. He played for the United States in four more Olympiads, including in 1960 (with Mr. Fischer and Mr. Byrne as teammates), when the United States took silver, behind the Soviet Union.
After his Army service, Mr. Bisguier graduated from Pace College (now Pace University) in New York in 1955. He married Carol Collins in 1959; they honeymooned in Omaha, where Mr. Bisguier was playing in a chess tournament, his daughter Erica said. His wife died in 2014.
Besides Erica Bisguier, with whom he lived in Wellesley, Mass., he is survived by another daughter, Cele Bisguier; a sister, Sylvia Prival; two granddaughters; and three step-grandchildren.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/u...cher.html?_r=0
April 5, 2017
From the New York Times Obituary:
Arthur Bisguier, a largely self-taught chess grandmaster who brought a native Bronx brashness to his style of play in defeating some of the game’s greatest players while finding mostly frustration when he faced Bobby Fischer, died on Wednesday in Framingham, Mass. He was 87.
His daughter Erica Bisguier said the death, at a care facility, was caused by respiratory failure.
Mr. Bisguier (pronounced biss-GUY-er) learned to play chess when he was 7 by watching games between his older sister and a cousin. He won the New York High School Championship while still in junior high school.
He was not yet 20 when he won the United States Junior Championship in 1948; the next year, he successfully defended the title. He went on to win the United States Open in 1950, the first of five times he would triumph or tie for first in that tournament. And in 1954 he won the United States Championship, an invitation-only event.
Mr. Bisguier might have won more United States Championships — or at least one more — if not for Mr. Fischer. When Mr. Fischer came along he was 14 years younger, than Mr. Bisguier, but he began to dominate the American chess scene almost immediately, winning his first championship, in 1957-58, before he was 15.
Mr. Bisguier’s one taste of victory against Mr. Fischer came in the first game they ever played, when Mr. Fischer was a child prodigy of 13. But he would not beat him again. Mr. Bisguier’s career record against him consisted of that one win, one draw (in their second game) and 13 consecutive losses.
Though he could never overcome Mr. Fischer again, Mr. Bisguier counted some formidable opponents among his vanquished, including the former world champion Boris Spassky; Samuel Reshevsky, who, like Mr. Fischer, won the United States Championship eight times; and Svetozar Gligoric, who was a candidate for the world championship three times.
Arthur Bernard Bisguier was born in the Bronx on Oct. 8, 1929, and attended the Bronx High School of Science.
As a student there he was already one of the best players in the country, and also at the center of a spirited rivalry with its cross-city rival Brooklyn Tech, whose team was led by Robert Byrne, a future grandmaster and chess columnist for The New York Times.
After high school, Mr. Bisguier served in the Army from 1951 to 1953, though he was given time off to play for the United States at the Helsinki Chess Olympiad, where Mr. Byrne was among his teammates. He played for the United States in four more Olympiads, including in 1960 (with Mr. Fischer and Mr. Byrne as teammates), when the United States took silver, behind the Soviet Union.
After his Army service, Mr. Bisguier graduated from Pace College (now Pace University) in New York in 1955. He married Carol Collins in 1959; they honeymooned in Omaha, where Mr. Bisguier was playing in a chess tournament, his daughter Erica said. His wife died in 2014.
Besides Erica Bisguier, with whom he lived in Wellesley, Mass., he is survived by another daughter, Cele Bisguier; a sister, Sylvia Prival; two granddaughters; and three step-grandchildren.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/u...cher.html?_r=0
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