Robert Byrne

Robert E. Byrne was born on April 20, 1928. He and his younger brother Donald grew up in New York city and were among the "Collins Kids", promising young players who benefited from the instruction and encouragement of John W. Collins. In 1952, he won a silver metal at the Chess Olympiad held at Helsinki. Based on his results, he was awarded the title of International Master. Also in 1952, he graduated from Yale University. He went on to become a professor of philosophy at Indiana University, and his academic career left him little time for chess.

In 1960, Byrne returned to serious play. He won the U.S. Open and won a gold medal at the Olympiad in Leipzig. He earned an International Grandmaster title in 1964 by finishing in 3rd place at the Buenos Aires tournament behind Tigran Petrosian and Paul Keres. He was playing chess professionally by the late 1960s. He had many other tournament successes, notably a 3rd place finish at the Leningrad Interzonal in 1973. This made him only the third American to qualify for the Candidates tournament; Bobby Fischer and Pal Benko were the other two.

Byrne became a columnist for the New York Times in 1972. Since then, he has been less active as a player. Nevertheless, he did win tournaments at Torremolinos (1976 - 1977), Harare (1983), and Lagos (1993). He has also been a frequent contributor to Chess Life magazine, the official publication of the United States Chess Federation. He has also chaired USCF's committee on masters' affairs and been one of its vice presidents. In 1994, he was inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame.

Download 576 chess games by Robert Byrne

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