The Art of Bisguier: Painting Gligoric Into a Corner

Arthur Bisguier was born October 8, 1929 in the Bronx in New York City. In 1950, the first year of FIDE titles, he became an International Master. He became the 39th International Grandmaster in 1957. He has told me "there were so few of us." Now there are so many grandmasters, that they probably do not all know each other. He was the US Junior Champion in 1948 and 1949. He was the US Open Champion in 1950, 1956, and 1959. Fischer won the US Open in 1957 on tiebreaks when he was tied for first with Bisguier. In 1954, Bisguier won the US Championship. Bisguier played in five Olympiads for the US. He was in two interzonals (1955 and 1962). He won the US Senior Championship in 1989, 1997, and 1998. Bisguier is believed to have played more chess players than anyone in history in tournaments and exhibitions. In 2005, he was named "Dean of American Chess." Two volumes of his games have been published under the title "The Art of Bisguier" in 2003 and 2008.

His opponent in the following game, Svetozar Gligoric, was the champion of Yugoslavia many times and a world class player for years. Gligoric played the Najdorf Variation. Bisguier responded with 6.Be2. Black’s 6...e5 kept the game in the style of the Najdorf, rather than the Scheveningen’s 6...e6 mode. The event the game was played in was Zagreb 1955. Gligoric came in 4th with 12/19. Bisguier came in 8th with 10.5