Arthur Bisguier

by Bill Wall

Arthur Bernard Bisguier

(pronounced bis-GUY-er) was
born in the Bronx on October 8,
1929.

One source says he was taught

chess at the age of four by his
father, a mathematician. Another
source says he learned to play
chess when he was seven by
watching games between his
older sister and a cousin. One of Bill Wall
his cousins was International
Master Raymond Weinstein
(1941- ).

Bisguier was later coached by

Alexander Kevitz (1902-1981). Life is too short for chess. —Lord
Byron
In 1944, aged 15, Bisguier took
3rd place at the Bronx Empire
Chess Club.

In July 1946, aged 17, he took

5th place in the 47th U.S. Open
at Pittsburgh. Herman Steiner
took 1st. It was the 1st Swiss
System pairing for the US Open
because of so many entries (58
players).

He won the New York High

School Championship while still
in junior high school.

In 1947, Bisguier graduated

from the prestigious Bronx High
School of Science.
In 1948, he took 7th place at the
49th U.S. Open at Baltimore.

On July 24, 1948, Bisguier, age

18, won the 3rd annual U.S.
Junior Championship at Oak
Ridge, Tennessee. Biguier won
on Sonnenborn-Berger tiebreaks
over Frank Anderson (1928-
1980) of Toronto, Canada.
Bisguier and Anderson each
scored 8-2.

In 1948, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In 1948-49, he played in the

New York International
tournament at the Manhattan
Chess Club. He took 7th place.
The event was won by Reuben
Fine.

In July 1949, Bisguier tied for

1st place with Larry Evans and
Jim Cross in the 4th annual U.S.
Junior Championship at Fort
Worth, Texas. Bisguier won on
tiebreak.

In 1949, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In July 1950, he won the 51st

U.S. Open at Detroit, scoring 9-
3. There were 120 players. On
his way back to New York after
the tournament, he was in a car
wreck near Batavia, New York.
He suffered broken ribs and a
gashed forehead.

In 1950, he tied for 1st with

Tartakower at the 2nd Stevenson
Memorial at Southsea, England.

In 1950, he was awarded the

International Master title by
FIDE.

In 1951, Bisguier was the 8th

highest rated player in the
United States.

From 1951 to 1953, Bisguier

served in the U.S. Army as an
enlisted soldier.

In August 1952, he represented

the USA and played board 4 in
the 10th Chess Olympiad in
Helsinki. The USA team took
5th.

In 1952-53, he won the 3rd

annual Christmas tournament at
Vienna, scoring 9-2.

In August 1953, he played in the

54th U.S. Open at Milwaukee.
Donald Byrne won the event.

In 1953, he took 1st place at the

Philadelphia Candidates'
Tournament for the U.S. Chess
Championship.

In July 1954, Bisguier won the

U.S. Chess Championship at the
Marshall Chess Club in New
York at the age of 24, scoring
10-3. Bisguier was fresh out of
the Army and attended college
classes at Pace College in
Manhattan during the day. He
slept at night in of the Marshall
Chess Club's upstairs
apartments.
In 1954, he won the 2nd Pan
American Chess Championship
at Los Angeles, organized by the
Hollywood Chess Group.

In 1955, Bisguier was the 4th

highest USCF rated player in the
country, with a 2587 rating.
Sammy Reshevsky, Larry
Evans, and Robert Byrne were
the three highest rated players.

In September 1955, he played in

the Interzonal at Gothenburg,
Sweden. The event was won by
David Bronstein.

In 1955, he graduated from Pace

College (now Pace University)
in New York.

In 1955-1956, Bisguier tied with

Larry Evans in the 2nd
Rosenwald tournament at New
York. Both scored 6 out of 10.

In August 1956, he won the 57th

U.S. Open at Oklahoma City on
tiebreaks over Jimmy Sherwin.
Both scored 9.5 out of 12.

In October 1956, Bisguier took

2nd in the 3rd Rosenwald
tournament at New York. The
event was won by Sammy
Reshevsky. Bisguier beat
Fischer in the first game they
ever played. After that, Bisguier
lost 13 consecutive games
against Fischer over the years.

In 1956, IBM was looking for

computer programmers. IBM
put an ad in the December 1956
issue of Scientific American and
the New York Herald Tribune
newspaper seeking anyone
interested in computer
programming. The ad featured a
black knight chess piece, and
said that "those who enjoy
playing chess or solving puzzles
will like this work." One of the
applicants that responded to the
ad was US chess champion
Arthur Bisguier. Bisguier was
then hired as an IBM
programmer. Bisguier became a
good programmer, but he
needed time off for chess
tournaments. Eventually,
Bisguier had to leave IBM to
spend more time playing chess
and becoming a chess
professional.

In 1957, Bisguier lost a training

match to Sammy Reshevsky at
New York. Reshevsky won 6-4.

In 1957, he was awarded the

International Grandmaster title
by FIDE.

In 1957, he tied for 1st place

with Bobby Fischer at the 58th
U.S. Open at Cleveland. Fischer
was awarded the title on
tiebreak. At the conclusion of
the U.S. Open, it was assumed
that Bisguier won the
tournament. He took the trophy
and prize money ($750) home.
When he got home, the
tournament director called
Bisguier to say he was not the
winner. After recalculating the
tie-break points, it was
determined that Fischer was the
winner on tie-breaks. Bisguier
later gave the trophy to Fischer.

In 1957, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In 1958, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In 1958, he played board 3 at the

13th Chess Olympiad in
Munich.

On October 8, 1958 at the 13th

Chess Olympiad in Munich,
Germany, Spain vs. USA were
matched. On third board Roman
Toran and Arthur Bisguier were
playing. When Bisguier
resigned, Toran said with a
smile, "I am so happy, it is the
best present for my birthday!"
Bisguier replied, "It's all right,
today happens to be my birthday
too."

In 1959, he married Carol

Collins and honeymooned in
Omaha, Nebraska. That's
because Bisguier was playing in
the 60th US Open, which he
won. Carol later became a
successful New York lawyer.

In 1960, Bisguier took 2nd place

in the U.S. Speed Chess
Championship. Pal Benko took
1st place. Bobby Fischer took
3rd place.

In October 1960, he played

board 4 at the 14th Chess
Olympiad in Leipzig.

In 1961, he played at Bled and

took 14th place. Tal took 1st,
followed by Fischer.

In November 1961, he won the

Bruno Forsberg Memoral in
New York.

In 1962, Bisguier acted as

Bobby Fischer's second in
international tournaments.

In April 1962, he played in the

Interzonal at Stockholm. Fischer
won the event.

In 1962, Bisguer gave a 12 game

clock simultaneous exhibition in
Vancouver, BC. He won 11 and
drew 1.

In the 1962-63 U.S.

Championship (15th US Ch and
FIDE Zonal Tournament), he
took 2nd place, behind Fischer.

In 1964, he won the Southern

Association Chess
Championship at Huntsville,
Alabama. Bisguier was invited
to the tournament and was the
highest rated player and the only
grandmaster in the event. He
almost didn't play in the event.
He promised to give a
simultaneous exhibition before
the tournament. A black man
wanted to participate in
Bisguier's simultaneous
exhibition as one of the
opponents. The organizers
refused to let the black man
play. Bisguier told the
organizers to allow the black
man to play; otherwise he would
not give the simul, and not
participate in the Southern
Association Chess
Championship. The organizers
reluctantly allowed the black
man participate in Bisguier's
simul.

In November 1964, he played

board 4 at the 16th Chess
Olympiad at Tel Aviv.

In July 1965, Arthur Bisguier

won the 4th annual Pacific
Southwest Open, played in
Santa Monica.

In 1966, he won the New York

Open.

In 1967, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In 1968, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In 1969, he won the Manhattan

Chess Club Championship.

In 1969, he took 2nd place,

behind Boris Spassky, at the San
Juan Internatonal in Puerto
Rico.

In 1969, Bisguier tied for 1st

place at the 70th U.S. Open at
Lincoln, Nebraska. Pal Benko
won on tiebreak.

In March 1970, he tied for 1st

place with Larry Evans at the
National Open at Sparks,
Nevada.

In March 1970, he won the 3rd

Goldwater Invitational
Tournament at New York.

In February 1971, he took 2nd at

the 11th Costa del Sol
International Tournament in
Malaga, Spain. The event was
won by Arturo Pomar. His
second place prize included a
monster-sized trophy cup.
Bisguier would rather have had
the 3rd place prize, a very nice
wrist watch, won by Pal Benko.
Bisguier tried to leave the big
trophy cup in his hotel room, but
a bellman found it and chased
Bisguier down to give it back to
him. Bisguier gave the bellman
some money to have him mail
the cup back to him in the
United States. When it did
arrive, it was broken into a
thousand pieces.

In May 1971, he won the

Marshall Chess Club Rapid
Tournament championship.

In February 1972, he won the

5th Goldwater Invitational
Tournament at New York.

In 1972, Bisguier did television

commentary during the Fischer-
Spassky world championship
match.

In 1972, he played board 4 at the

20th Chess Olympiad in
Skopje.
In March, 1973, Bisguier won
the 3rd annual Louis D. Statham
International Tournament at
Lone Pine, California.

In April 1973, he tied for 2nd

with Andras Adorjan at the
Birmingham, England
International Tournament. The
event was won by Tony Miles.

In 1974, he won the National

Open.

In 1974, he co-wrote (with Andy

Soltis) American Chess Masters
from Morphy to Fischer.

In 1978, he won the 12th

National Open at Charleston,
SC.

In 1979, he tied for 1st in the

World Open at Philadelphia.

In 1980, he took 1st place in the

first-ever U.S. Grand Prix,
sponsored by Church's Fried
Chicken.

In 1981, he won the 22nd Mid-

South Open at Memphis.

In 1988, Bisguier played 49

games simultaneously over a
chess computer.

In 1989, he took 1st place in the

U.S. Senior Open, held in New
Jersey.

In 1994, he was inducted into

the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.
In 1997, he took 1st place in the
U.S. Senior Open.

In November 1998, Bisguier

(2386), age 69, took 1st place in
the U.S. Senior Open at Denver.

In April 2000, Bisguier (2379)

tied for 3rd in the New York
State Open. Ed Formanek and
Dmitry Schneider tied for 1st.

In November 2002, Bisguier

(2282) took 10th place at the US
Senior Open in Ventura,
California. Anthony Saidy and
Stephen Jones tied for 1st.

In 2003, he wrote The Art of

Bisguier: The Early Years:
1945-1960.

In 2004, at the age of 74, he won

the Yanofsky Memorial in
Winnipeg, scoring 5-1.

On March 18, 2005, the USCF

proclaimed Bisguier as the
"Dean of American Chess." That
title had previously belonged to
Arnold Denker (1914-2004)
until his death two months
earlier.

In June 2005, Bisguier (2239)

tied for 8th place at the US
Senior Open in Las Vegas.
Walter Browne won the event.

In 2008, he wrote The Art of

Bisguier: Selected Games 1961-
2003.
On May 22, 2014, his wife,
Carol, died at the age of 80.

In October 2014, Bisguier

played in his last USCF rated
tournament in Natick,
Massachusetts. He was still
actively playing at the
MetroWest Chess Club, 15
miles west of Boston.

He died on April 5, 2017 at a

care facility in Framingham,
Massachusetts, at the age of 87.
He died of respiratory failure.

Until his death, Bisguier was the

oldest active grandmaster in the
U.S.

He is survived by his daughters,

Erica and Cele, and a sister,
Sylvia Prival.

Bisgueir has likely played more

people than any other U.S.
grandmaster, giving exhibitions
at hospitals, colleges, prisons,
and other locations around the
country.

Bisguier was such a generous

man that in some of the chess
tournaments he won, he returned
his cash prizes back to the
tournament directors when they
lost money on an event.

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