Arthur Bisguier

American Grandmaster

Has Arthur Bisguier (phonetic: bisk-wire) played chess with more Americans than anyone else in history_ When you consider the innumerable exhibitions, tournaments and casual games this tireless chess lover has played, it's difficult to imagine that anyone could ever best his total.

Here are a few highlights of Bisguier's chess career:

Bisguier was awarded the International Master title in 1952 and the International Grandmaster title in 1956. The May, 1970 Chess Life magazine cover shows Bisguier, with fellow Hall of Famer Larry Evans by his side, pointing out a move to an organizer of the National Open.

Like Marshall, Bisguier is a natural attacking player who enjoys playing lines not always favored by other grandmasters, including the Petroff's Defense.

Bisguier was a second for world champion Bobby Fischer, as shown on the cover of the Fall, 1962 American Chess Quarterly, which featured an interview with Bisguier about the controversial 1962 Curaco Candidates Tournament.

Throughout many lean years for U.S. chess, Bisguier tilled the vineyard. For years, he noted:

"The USCF would send me to any godforsaken tournament anywhere on the planed so long as the organizers would also accept one of two of our younger players. This helped us get title norms for players who otherwise might never have had the opportunity."

For decades, Bisguier has toiled for the benefit of chess, giving untold numbers of lectures and simultaneous exhibitions for just about any type of organization that he and the USCF thought could benefit from the prestige of a GM's visit: hospitals, schools and local clubs. These did wonders to improve the reputation of chess and chess players throughout the country. The typical reaction to one of Bisguier's simuls was something like the following from Pete Shaw, after a 1978 simul in Pulaski, Virginia:

The exhibition was great. I followed him around. Fantastic! I now know what Bobby Fischer means when he says chess is simply a matter of timing. Simply! He had everyone tied up in knots after the first ten moves or less.

On occasion, Bisguier would even refuse to accept prizes he had won if he thought an organizer was taking a loss on a tournament.

Bisguier learned to play chess at age six, and before long the youngster was too strong for his friends relatives. He began tournament play at age twelve.

Bisguier is a graduate of Pace College in New York City and has worked in the field of computer programming/data processing. His friends know him as a man with a great love of life and chess.

In recognition of his significant contributions to American chess, Arthur Bisguier was inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame in Washington, DC in 1994.

Other Views of Arthur Bisguier

[O]ne of the most important truths about Arthur is that he's still out there, accessible, giving lectures, shaking hands, meeting people. If you're one of those isolated folks he hasn't met yet, don't despair. There is world enough and time, I believe, for Arthur Bisguier to get around to each and every one of you.

--Don Maddox, former Chess Life editor

Wherever he went, Bisguier took with him an all--out attacking style, the antipode of Evans or Reshevsky.

--NM Macon Shibut, The U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, 1995