Donald Byrne

Donald Byrne ( born June 12, 1930 in New York City; † 8 April 1976 in Philadelphia ) was in the 1950s and 1960s, one of the best chess players in the United States.

Chess career

In 1953 he won the U.S. Open Chess Championship. In 1954 he succeeded to the Competition USA - USSR 3-1 win against Yuri Averbakh. In 1962 he obtained the title of " International Master " and 1962-1968, he played with the U.S. team three chess olympiads and scored 25 points from 34 games. 1970 and 1972 he was Head of Delegation of the Olympic team. His brother Robert Byrne GM was also a leading player at that time.

In 1956, he lost to the only 13 -year-old Bobby Fischer, who was then hardly known, in a game with a spectacular course ( part of the century ).

Donald Byrne worked from 1961 until his death at Penn State University as an English teacher and headed the chess group.

After the death Byrnes he was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2003. His best historical Elo rating was 2633 in April 1955, that he was ranked 38 in the world rankings.

Private

His wife Madge he learned during their studies at the University of Michigan know. With her he had two sons. Donald Byrne died from kidney disease for which he was on dialysis since 1974.