Chess Trivia

The man standing next to was one of America’s best players in his prime. I just recently visited him in Los Angeles.

He competed against players such as Fischer, Benko, Reshevsky, Lombardy, Evans, Soltis, Mednis, Browne, Bisguier, Byrne, Christiansen, Benjamin, Dzidzichashvili, Kaidanov, Wolff, DeFirmian, Shulman, Ibragimov, Rossolimo, Petrosian, Karpov, Spassky, Portisch, Tal, Larsen, Mecking, Korchnoi, Keres, Polugaevsky, Andersson, Timman, Ljubojevic, Taimanov, Bronstein, Gulko, Hort, Gligoric, Ribli, Szabo, Kavalek, Unziker, Stein, Miles, Psakhis, Panno, Granda, Ehlvest, Torre, Sokolov, etc.

He is considered one of the top amateurs in the world during his time. He can defeat just about anyone. He is also one of the nicest people in chess. Who is he?

Fischer, Robert James – Mystery Man
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e5 7.Nf5 Be6 8.Bb3 Bxf5 9.exf5 Be7 10.Bg5 0-0 11.0-0 Nd4 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qd3 Qd7 14.f4 Nxb3 15.axb3 exf4 16.Rxf4 Be5 17.Rf3 Qd8 18.Nd5 Qh4 19.Ra4 Qxh2+ 20.Kf2 Qh5 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.Rh3 Qg5 23.Rxh7+ Kxh7 24.f6+ g6 25.Qh3+ Qh5 26.Rh4 Bxf6 27.Rxh5+ gxh5 28.Qxh5+ Kg7 29.Nf5+ Kg8 30.c3 Rae8 31.Nxd6 Re5 32.Qg4+ Rg5 33.Qf4 Rg6 34.Ne4 Bg7 35.g3 Re8 36.Kg2 Be5 37.Qf5 b6 38.b4 Bg7 39.Qf3 Rge6 40.Ng5 Rf6 41.Qh5 Re5 42.Qh7+ Kf8 43.Ne4 Rg6 44.Qh4 Re8 45.Qf4 Be5 46.Qf5 1/2-1/2

Mystery Man – Benko, Pal
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 c6 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Ne8 10.Bg2 Bf6 11.d3 Nc7 12.Be3 Ne6 13.Qd2 Nd7 14.Ne2 Nd4 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.f4 a5 17.Kh2 Rb8 18.Rac1 Nc5 19.h4 h6 20.Ng1 g6 21.Nf3 Bg7 22.Rfe1 Qb6 23.Rcd1 Qa7 24.e5 dxe5 25.Nxe5 Qb6 26.Re2 Qc7 27.Rde1 Rfe8 28.Nf3 Rxe2 29.Qxe2 Qd6 30.h5 Qf6 31.hxg6 Qxg6 32.Ne5 Qd6 33.Qh5 Rf8 34.Be4 Nxe4 35.Rxe4 a4 36.Qf5 a3 37.b3 Qb4 38.Re2 Qd6 39.Nf3 Qg6 40.Nh4 Qd6 41.Qg4 Qf6 42.Nf5 b5 43.c5 Rd8 44.Nd6 Kh7 45.Qh5 Kg8 46.Re5 Bf8 47.Ne4 Qg7 48.Qh4 Ra8 49.Nf6+ Kh8 50.Rg5 Qxf6 51.Rg8+ Kxg8 52.Qxf6 Re8 53.Qxc6 Re2+ 54.Kh3 b4 55.Qb5 Rxa2 56.Qxb4 Ra1 57.Kg4 a2 58.Qa3 Bxc5 59.Qb2 h5+ 60.Kf5 Rd1 61.Qxa2 Rxd3 62.b4 Bf8 63.b5 Rxg3 64.b6 Bd6 65.Qd5 Rg6 66.b7 Kf8 67.Qxd4 Ke7 68.Qxd6+ Rxd6 69.b8Q Rd5+ 70.Ke4 Rd6 71.Qc7+ Rd7 72.Qe5+ Kf8 73.Qxh5 Ke8 74.Ke5 Ke7 75.Qh4+ Kf8 76.f5 Rb7 77.Qh8+ Ke7 78.f6+ Kd7 79.Qf8 Kc6 80.Qa8 Kc7 81.Qxb7+ Kxb7 82.Kd6 1-0

Mystery Man – Byrne, Robert
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nc6 8.Bd3 e5 9.d5 Nd4 10.Nge2 Nd7 11.Bb1 c5 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Bxd4 Ne5 15.0-0 Nxc4 16.Qf2 Ne5 17.f4 c5 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Rd1 Qa5 20.f5 Rd8 21.Rf1 c4 22.Nd5 Kh8 23.Nb6 Rd2 24.Qe3 Bf8 25.Kh1 Bc5 26.Qh6 Rf2 27.Bc2 Rxf1+ 28.Rxf1 Qxb6 29.f6 1-0

Mystery Man – Reshevsky, Samuel
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.a3 Ba5 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.0-0 Qe7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.d4 c4 11.Bg5 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nbd7 13.Rfe1 h6 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Ne5 Be6 16.e4 Qc7 17.exd5 Nxd5 18.Rab1 a6 19.f4 Rad8 20.Ng6 fxg6 21.Rxe6 Qf7 22.Bxd5 Rxd5 23.Qxg6 Qxg6 24.Rxg6 Rf7 25.Rb4 Ra5 26.a4 b5 27.Rc6 bxa4 28.Rc5 Rxc5 29.dxc5 a3 30.Ra4 Ra7 31.Kf2 Kf7 32.Ke3 Rd7 33.Rxa3 Rd3+ 34.Ke4 Ke7 35.Rxa6 Rxc3 36.Ra7+ Kf6 37.c6 Rc1 38.c7 Re1+ 39.Kd4 Re8 40.Kxc4 Ke6 41.Kc5 Kd7 42.c8Q+ 1-0

Mystery Man – Unzicker, Wolfgang
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.g3 c6 9.Bg2 Na6 10.0-0 Nc7 11.f3 c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.b4 Bd6 14.Qd3 Re8 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.Nd4 Bd7 17.Bd2 Rac8 18.Rdc1 Qe5 19.Nce2 Na8 20.Rxc8 Bxc8 21.Re1 Nb6 22.Nc3 Bd7 23.f4 Qh5 24.e4 dxe4 25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26.Bxe4 Rb8 27.Nc6 Bxc6 28.Qxd6 Rf8 29.Bxc6 bxc6 30.Qxc6 h6 31.Be3 Rc8 32.Qe4 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.Qe8+ Kh7 35.a5 Nd5 36.Qb5 Rxb4 37.Qd3+ g6 38.Bxa7 Rb2 39.Bf2 Ra2 40.Re5 Nb4 41.Qb3 1-0

Mystery Man – Spassky, Boris
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4 Be7 4.Nc3 f5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 c6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bg5 Nbd7 9.e3 b6 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Rc1 Ne4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Qa4 Bb7 14.Ne2 Qd6 15.Nf4 g5 16.Nd3 a5 17.Nfe5 Nef6 18.Rc3 Rfc8 19.Rfc1 Nf8 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 21.Rxc8 Bxc8 22.Qc6 Qxc6 23.Nxc6 Kf7 24.Nde5+ Ke8 25.Bf1 Bd7 26.Bb5 Bxc6 27.Nxc6 Kf7 28.Na7 g4 29.Nc8 N6d7 30.Kf1 Kf6 31.Ke2 h5 32.Kd2 h4 33.gxh4 Kg6 34.Ke2 Kh5 35.Kf1 Kxh4 36.Kg2 Kg5 37.Kg3 Kf6 38.Kf4 Ng6+ 39.Kg3 Ngf8 40.Bc6 Kg5 41.Ba4 Kh5 42.h3 gxh3 43.Kxh3 Kg6 44.Kh4 Kh6 45.f3 Kg6 46.Bc6 Kf6 47.Bb5 Kg6 48.a4 Kf6 49.Kh5 f4 50.exf4 Kf5 51.Kh6 Kxf4 52.Kg7 Kxf3 53.Kf7 Ke4 54.Bxd7 Nxd7 55.Kxe6 Nb8 56.Nxb6 Kxd4 57.Kd6 Na6 58.Kc6 Nc5 59.Nxd5 1/2-1/2

Mystery Man – Petrosian, Tigran
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 a6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5 10.Qc2 Rb8 11.b3 b5 12.Bb2 Re8 13.Rae1 Bd7 14.h3 bxc4 15.bxc4 e6 16.Rb1 Qe7 17.e4 Rec8 18.Rfe1 e5 19.Nd1 Bh6 20.Ne3 Nh5 21.Ndf1 Qd8 22.Bc3 Qc7 23.Rxb8 Rxb8 24.Rb1 Rxb1 25.Qxb1 Nb7 26.Kh2 1/2-1/2

Korchnoi, Viktor – Mystery Man
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Nb3 Bg7 7.e4 d6 8.Be2 Nd7 9.Be3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 b6 11.Bh6 Bb7 12.h4 Qc7 13.Rh3 0-0-0 14.Nd4 Nc5 15.Bg4+ e6 16.Bg5 Rd7 17.Bf6 Re8 18.Nb5 Qb8 19.Re3 a6 20.Na3 Ne5 21.Qe2 Nxg4 22.Qxg4 h5 23.Qg5 Nxe4 24.Rxe4 Bxe4 25.f3 Bc6 26.Rb1 Rb7 27.Nc2 Qc7 28.Ne3 Ba4 29.Rb4 Bd7 30.Qh6 Qc5 31.g4 Bc6 32.Kf2 Qa5 33.Rb2 Rd7 34.Bd4 e5 35.Bxb6 Qa3 36.Rd2 Qxc3 37.Rc2 Qb4 38.c5 d5 39.a3 Qf4 40.Qxf4 exf4 41.Ng2 d4 42.gxh5 gxh5 43.Nxf4 Re3 44.Nxh5 Rxf3+ 45.Ke1 d3 46.Rh2 Rd5 0-1