Robert Eugene Byrne (2 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. xii+258 pages with diagrams. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers. First edition. Describes the strategies and analyzes the plays used by the great chess players in recent tournaments. Condition: Light edge wear else very good.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Complete set of fourteen scores sheets in Robert Byrne's hand, including the Evans game, and both the the carbon and original of the Shamkovich game. All signed except the Reshevsky score sheet. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") The 28th U S Championship and Zonal Qualifier was a hard fought contest which ended with a tie for first place and two co-champions, Grandmasters Walter Browne and Yasser Seirawan. Since the top three finishers automatically qualify for the Zonal, a playoff between Larry Christiansen, Lubomir Kavalek and Sammy Reshevsky, who tied for third would have to be held to determine which one would join Seirawan and Browne. The event got under way on July 9 at the Americana Hotel in South Bend, Indiana. The 9th was the opening ceremonies and players' meeting. The draw for pairing numbers allowed Seirawan a piece of luck, assuring him an extra White over the course of the tournament. In the first round the game were hard fought, and the only "grandmaster draw" coming from Browne. Browne decided to negotiate an early truce after consuming a great deal of time trying to crack Boris Kogan's solid opening. Sergey Kudrin, a last minute replacement for John Grefe, made his debut in the tournament an exciting one, sacrificing a piece. Sammy Reshevsky grabbed the offer and sent his King on a long hike. After time control Kudrin admitted that his attack had failed and the first decisive game was recorded. John Fedorowicz methodically turned back Leonid Shamkovich's attempt to squeeze an advantage from an English opening. Kavalek tested Lev Alburt's favorite Alekhine's Defense in the tensest struggle of the round and managed to convert an extra pair of pawns into a win. Christiansen chose a Caro-Kann against fellow Californian GM Jim Tarjan and a theoretical battle ensued. Christiansen neutralized Tarjan's slight edge with a series of characteristically aggressive moves and won after Tarjan lost the thread of the game shortly before adjournment. Evans and Lein had the best game of the round, a beautiful strategically effort by the émigré GM who displayed originality and fine control to defeat defending co-champion Larry Evans. Seirawan and Byrne played a Queen's Gambit Declined in which Robert Byrne's hurry to simplify brought him unexpected difficulties; Seirawan reached a Bishop ending and exploited his opponent's weak Kingside to win a pawn. Byrne resisted staunchly and managed to thwart all of White's winning attempts. Joel Benjamin, the youngest entrant, replaced invitee Nick deFirmian, who chose to play in Europe, and his game with Jack Peters was the longest to the round. It was a graduation of sorts for Benjamin, who would have otherwise been defending his U S Junior title. At the end of the first round Reshevsky, Kavalek, Lein, Peters and Christiansen all had one point each. Round two saw only two draws, Lein and Kogan and Christiansen and Shamkovich. This vicious and exciting session resulted in wins for Reshevsky, Kudrin, Byrne, Seirawan, Alburt and Kavalek. In one of the crispest battles, Alburt's violence paid dividends as he ran Tarjan's King around the board, picking off most of his pawns in the process. At the end of this round Reshevsky and Kavalek each had two points. Round three had a shocking development. As Fedorowicz awaited the arrival of Evans, a search by the tournament staff disclosed that Evans had checked out of the hotel! Browne bemoaned the fact that he now had two more Blacks than Whites. While Lein and Byrne, Evans' first two opponents, dropped for +1 to and equal score as a result of his departure (Evans' score would have to be erased since he had completed less than half his games). Later in the day Assistant TD Larry Paxton explained that the evening of the second round Evans had notified him that he was feeling ill and this was the reason he had come late for his game with Byrne. The reduction in the number of aspirants to 15 was unfortunate for the championship. In this round, one of the most interesting games was between Shamkovich and Alburt. After the third round Reshevsky and Kavalek each had 2 ½ points. In round four Benjamin and Brown followed the Reshevsky and Browne game for a short time but the U S Junior champion played more ambitiously for White with a highly unclear and difficult position arising. Benjamin made the most of his chances in the time scramble and put Browne away. The barn burner was definitely Seirawan and Peters in the fifth round. Seirawan playing the English and Peters trying out the variation that brought Viktor Korchnoi the deciding victory in his latest match with Lev Polugaevsky. As Korchnoi's second, Seirawan was conversant with the possibilities for White and started offering material wholesale, an all-out tactical brawl resulting. Seirawan's style of play was a real departure from earlier days, with an added dimension of tactical ambition that was missing in his not-to-distant past, making him an even more difficult opponent to face. Peters was up to the task, defending with great accuracy and emerging from the complications two pawns up. Seirawan stayed cool and showed his pressure was sufficient, and the game ended in a forced repetition of moves. In round six Christiansen and Alburt was another Alekhine's Defense and, once again, Christiansen came out looking for an early knockout. He sacrificed a pawn for a quick attack and, when Alburt missed his best chance, Christiansen bashed him flat with a Bishop sacrifice. A fine display of justifiable violence and the highlight of the round. In round seven Kavalek unveiled an original idea in the English and, despite tough resistance, overcame Fedorowicz in the second session. This win put Kavalek at the head of the pack, passing Reshevsky, who had to watch from the sidelines with a bye. Tarjan and Byrne also began as a theoretical discussion, Byrne defending the Sozin variation of the Narjordf. The game angled toward the well-known Noguieras-Tarjan contest, until Byrne produ. Signed by Author(s).