Cover Story / GM Robert Byrne
later the chess columnist for The New York Times, had discovered an even more dan - gerous weapon in the weak-looking yet powerful 10. Be2!
10. ... Qd5 11. Bg2 Qxe6+ 12. Be3 After 12. Be3, it was necessary to get my
queen off the semi-open e-file as soon as possible, but 12. ... Qc8 13. d5, threat - ening to open the game before I had finished my development, was dangerous.
12. ... c6 13. O-O Qc8 14. Re1 Kf7 15. axb5 White’s 15. axb5 was wrong because it
opened the a-file before he was ready to exploit it. He should have considered 15. h4 with the idea of 16. Kh2 and 17. Bh3. I am not sure I could have defended against an incursion on e6.
15. ... axb5 16. Rxa8 Bxa8 17. Qe2 Na6 18. Bf4 g6 19. Nd2 h5 20. h4 Bb7 21. Kh2 Kg7 22. Ra1 Kh7 23. Bh3 Qd8 24. Ne4 Bh6 25. Bxh6 Kxh6 26. Nc5 Nxc5 27. dxc5 Qc7 28. Qd2+ Kg7 29. Rd1 Bc8 30. Bg2 Be6 31. Qe3 Bf7 32. Ra1 Rd8 33. Ra6 Bd5 34. Bxd5 Rxd5 35. Qe6
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Ne4 5. Qc2 f5 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Ne1 Nc6 11. Ba3 d6 12. f3 Nf6 13. Rb1 g6 14. c5 dxc5 15. Bxc5 bxc5 16. Rxb7 Na5 17. Rb1 c4 18. Be2 Nd5 19. Qd2 Rb8 20. Nc2 Qd6 21. g3 Nf6 22. Rb4 Qc6 23. e4 fxe4 24. Rxb8 Rxb8 25. fxe4 Nxe4 26. Qe3 Rb2 27. Qf4 Qa8 28. Bf3 Nxc3 29. Qe3 Qb8 30. Qxc3 Rxa2 31. Bg4 Qb3 32. Bxe6+ Kg7 33. Rf7+ Kh8 34. Qe1 Nc6 35. Bxc4, Black resigned.
Byrne was U.S. Open co-champion in
Chicago 1963 and again in Seattle 1966, where he was an undefeated 13-2 with 11 wins. GM Pal Benko was the co-champion. He and GM William Lombardy had identical 11-2 scores in 1963, finishing a half point ahead of GMs Svetozar Gligoric and Benko. Byrne won his personal encounter versus the Yugoslavian grandmaster in round eight, an under-appreciated game display - ing both his strategic and tactical abilities.
King’s Indian Defense, Fianchetto Variation (E65) IM Robert Byrne GM Svetozar Gligoric
U.S. Open (8), August 19, 1963 Chicago, Illinois
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. dxc5 dxc5 9. Be3 Qa5 10. Bd2 Bf5 11. Nd5 Qd8 12. Nh4 Bg4 13. h3 Bd7 14. Bc3 Qc8 15. Kh2 Rd8 16. f4 Be8 17. e4 Nxd5 18. cxd5 Nd4 19. Rc1 e6 20. e5 Nb5 21. Bb4 b6 22. d6 Bc6
35. ... Re5 If 35. ... Rxc5, then 36. Ra8 would have
won for my opponent. But 35. ... Re5 virtually finished the struggle. If 36. Qxc6, then 36. ... Qxc6 37. Rxc6 Kf7 38. Rc8 Ke6 39. c6 Kd6 40. Kg2 Rc5 wins. So, hoping against hope, he played 36. Qh3.
36. Qh3 Rxc5 37. Ra8 Rf5 38. Qf1 Qb7 39. Rd8 Rd5 40. Re8 Qd7 41. Ra8 Rd3 42. Qe1 Rd5, White resigned.
Robert Byrne won the 1960 U.S. Open
Championship in St. Louis with a score of 10-2, finishing a half point ahead of Arthur Bisguier and Paul Poschel. After his only loss to Dr. Anthony Saidy in round six, he sealed the victory with consecutive wins in rounds nine through 11 over Raymond Weinstein, Bisguier and Larry Evans.
Nimzo-Indian Defense, Rubinstein Variation (E43) IM Robert Byrne GM Arthur Bisguier
U.S. Open (10), August 16, 1960 St. Louis, Missouri
20 July 2013 | Chess Life
23. Bxc5 Bxg2 24. Bxb6 Qb7 25. Bxd8 Bxf1 26. Be7 Nxd6 27. exd6 Bb5 28. Rc7 Qb8 29. a4 Be8 30. Qc2 Qb4 31. b3 g5 32. Ng2 gxf4 33. Nxf4 Bd4 34. Rc4 Qb6 35. Qd1 Be5 36. Nd3 Bg7 37. Nc5 Bc6 38. d7 Bd5 39. Rg4 f5 40. Bf6 Kf7 41. Rxg7+ Kxf6 42. Qd4+ e5 43. Qxd5 Kxg7 44. Qxa8, Black resigned.
Byrne earned his grandmaster title in Buenos Aires in 1964. A key victory from the tournament was his win over Miguel Najdorf with the black pieces against the classical King’s Indian.
(see next game, top of next column)
King’s Indian Defense, Classical Variation (E93) GM Miguel Najdorf IM Robert Byrne
Buenos Aires, Argentina 1964
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Nd2 Nf4 12. Bf1 Nc5 13. Qc2 f5 14. f3 c6 15. Bf2 fxe4 16. fxe4 cxd5 17. Bxc5 d4 18. Ba3 dxc3 19. Qxc3 Bg4 20. h3 Bh5 21. g4 Bg6 22. Qb4 Rf7 23. O-O-O Rd7 24. Kb1 Rc8 25. Ka1 Kh7 26. Qb3 a6 27. Qe3 b5 28. cxb5 d5 29. bxa6 dxe4 30. Bb5 Rd5 31. Be2 Nxe2 32. Qxe2 Rc2 33. a7 Rd3 34. Qe1 Rxa3 35. Nb3 Qe7 36. Na5 Qe6, White resigned.
In the mid-1960s, Robert Byrne made
the remarkable mid-career shift from queen pawn player to king pawn player with the white pieces. Prior to that time, he had developed several personal systems in the d-pawn openings that are still fashionable today. Dr. Saidy referred to the switch as follows: “In mid-career Robert Byrne performed the Herculean labor of switching from queen pawn to king pawn. This is like a Ford driver taking up a race car. And it vaulted him to the world candi dates’ level.” Perhaps his most famous game occurred
in 1965 when, shortly after gaining his grandmaster title, he successfully sacri - ficed a bishop and both knights against GM Larry Evans, in order to make a path for his rook to the kingside, and then followed it up with a beautiful queen transfer to e5 from h6 via h2 to wrap up the victory.
Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation (B97) GM Robert Byrne GM Larry Evans U.S. Championship (11), New York, NY December 30, 1965
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. Nc3 d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nfd7 12. Bc4 Bb4 13. Rb3 Qa5 14. O-O O-O
15. Bf6 gxf6 16. Qh6 Qxe5 17. Nf5 exf5 18. Ne4 Bd2 19. Nxd2 Qd4+ 20. Kh1 Ne5 21. Rg3+ Ng4 22. h3 Qe5 23. Rf4 Qe1+ 24. Nf1 Qxg3 25. Rxg4+ Qxg4 26. hxg4 Nd7 27. Ng3
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, JOHN G. WHITE COLLECTION
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