Cover Story / GM Robert Byrne
At the start of his career in an undated photo, circa 1945-1950.
27. Nf3 Bxc3 28. Qxc3 Qd1+ 29. Kh2 Nd5 30. Qe5 Nd7 31. Qe4 Qe2, White resigned.
Byrne’s fine run ended here as he went
on to lose his 1974 match to Spassky who, in turn, lost to Karpov, who then secured the title when Fischer refused to defend his title. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Candidates’ Match 1974 1 23 45 6
Spassky ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 41 Byrne ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 11
⁄2 ⁄2
Byrne competed in the next world
championship cycle and was eliminated at the Biel Interzonal in 1976 by a mere half
point. Larsen recovered to win the top spot ahead of Tigran Petrosian and Lajos Portisch. All three advanced to the Candidates matches. Byrne’s final success before cutting back
to focus on his column was at the 1976 Chess Olympiad in Haifa. The Soviet Union boycotted the event and the U.S. team did not let the opportunity pass as they won the gold medal ahead of the Netherlands and England. Byrne anchored the team that included Lubomir Kavalek, Larry Evans, James Tarjan, William Lombardy and Kim Commons. His teammate Kavalek said of Byrne, “He was a great asset to U.S. Olympiad teams: poised and composed all the time, he brought stability and confidence to the team.” His final record in Chess Olympiads is remarkable: 116
games, 51 wins, only 12 losses and 53 draws. He was one of the early inductees into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame and was recognized by Chess Journalists of America with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Fortunately, Robert Byrne left dozens of sparkling games beyond those presented in this short tribute plus 34 years of insightful chess columns for our instruc - tion and enjoyment. For those who knew him best, he left memories of a thoughtful, deliberate, patient and respectful friend and competitor who brought creativity and integrity to everything he did.
Chess Life is grateful for the advice and suggestions of Dr. Anthony Saidy and IM John Donaldson during the production of this article.
www.uschess.org 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76