As a composer some of his favorite themes were minor promotions, reciprocal Zugzwang and other problem specialties. As a player he reveled in tactical chess.
Brieger, who learned to play chess at the age of 17, passed away at the age of 86 on April 26, 2012, in Houston. He was born on October 18, 1925 and in 1926, he moved with his parents to a house located in the NW of Houston where he resided his entire life except for brief jobs away from Houston. Besides teaching math in Houston and other Texas districts, he worked two years for Convair Aeronautics in San Diego, California.
He graduated with B.S. in Mathematics from University of Houston in 1946 and obtained a teaching certificate in 1951.
A lover of classical music, he played clarinet in high school and university orchestras and later enjoyed attending concerts and opera. Also later in life he enjoyed all types of ballroom dancing. He loved classical movies and collected his favorites, especially winners of awards in Cannes and Venice, as well as Hollywood.
The following game was played in the last round of the 1962 U.S. Open which was held in San Antonio, Texas. Breiger finished with a score of +5 -2 =5 (7.5-4.5) and tied for places 20-30. His opponent, George Kane, finished with 6.5 points and tied for places 43-64. The event was won by Antonio Medina of Spain ahead of Pal Benko and William Lombardy.
Robert S. Brieger–George Kane1–0B22US Open, San AntonioSan Antonio, TX USA25.08.1962Stockfish 14.1
Sicilian Defense, Alapin Variation 1.e4 c5 2.c3 For many years the Alapin
Variation was not held in high regard, since 2...d5 was thought to allow black
easy equality. Today it's considered to be one of the most solid and
respectable Anti-Sicilians around. d5 This is the main alternative to 2...Nf6
3.exd5 xd5 This line is known as the Barmen Defense. The main alternative
is 3...Nf6 4.d4 For the next couple of moves black has tried just about
every reasonably playable move you can think of. c6 5.f3 cxd4 6.cxd4 g4 6...e5 is most common. 7.c3 b4 8.d2 xc3 9.xc3 e4 10.e5 xe5 11.dxe5 e7 12.e2 Black can play either 12...Bd7 or 12...O-O witjh a fully
equal position. Jonkman,H (2470)-Adly,A (2473)/Wijk aan Zee 2006 7.c3 xf3 8.xd5 8.gxf3 is not played nearly as often. The following example shows
why this is so even though Stockfish thinks it's best. xd4 9.xd4 xd4 10.b5 c2+ 11.d1 xa1 12.c7+ d7 13.xa8 White is better! e6 14.b5+ c8 15.f4 g5 16.xg5 g7 17.c1 b8 18.b1 xa8 19.xa1 f6 20.d1 d5 21.c4 d8 22.xd8 Black resigned. Sotnikov,A (2362)-Meshkov,A (2390)/Tula 2007 8...xd1 9.c7+ d7 10.xa8 h5 White's N is doomed, so eliminating it
from the material count, black has two Ns vs a R...a very unclear situation. 11.d5 b4 Threatening ...Nc2+ but the N is on the wrong square. 11...d4 12.f4 e5 Excellent! 12...c2+ is suicidal. 13.d2 xa1 14.b5+ d8 15.c7+ c8 16.c1 13.dxe6+ fxe6 14.f3 d6 Safest. 14...c2+ 15.d2 xa1 16.b5+ e7 17.xa1 White's advantage, if any, is minimal as black
should be able to untangle himself. 15.xd6 xd6 16.c1 with about equal
chances. 12.e3 This allows black to equalize. 12.f4 xd5 12...c2+
This is still not playable...compare to the last note. 13.d2 xa1 14.b5+ d8 15.c7+ c8 16.c1 13.b5+ d8 14.b8 a6 12.b5+ was also good.
After d8 13.0-0 c2 14.d2 xa1 15.c1 e5 16.a5+ b6 17.xb6 axb6 18.xb6+ e7 19.c5+ White wins. 12...c2+ 13.d2 Here is the critical
position. Naturally, black black chooses to capture the big R on a1, but he
should have captured the agile B on e3. In that case the chances would have
been equal. xa1 A natural, but losing move. 13...xe3 14.b5+ d8 15.xe3 f6 16.d4 c8 17.ac1+ b8 18.c7 g5 So as to bring his N and R into
play. 18...g6 would leave the B on h5 trapped. 19.h4 gxh4 20.xh4 g7
and the chances are equal. 14.b5+ d6 15.c1 Not bad, but both 15.Bxa7
and 15.Rxa1 were better. g6 15...f6 16.xa7 xd5 17.b8+ e6 18.c7+ xc7 19.xc7 g6 20.xa1 In this line, too, white is better. 16.c5+ xd5 The K has no safe haven. 17.c7+ e5 18.e1+ f4 18...e4 is no better. 19.d3 f6 20.xe4 xe4+ 21.d3 and wins. 19.d5+ 19.xa1 Unlike
earlier when this was quite playable, at this point white doesn't have time to
stop and play this. f6 20.xa7 e5 21.e3+ g4 22.c1 d6 23.e2+ f5
White is still winning, but black can put up a manly defense. 19...g5 20.e5+ 20.xa1 would now be a blunder throwing away all of his advantage! f6 21.e3+ f5 Amazing! There is no way to get to black's K. 22.d3+ e5 23.xf6 xf6 24.c1 e6 25.c7 b4+ 26.e2 xd3+ 27.xd3 b5 28.xa7 d8+ 29.e4 d2 For all practical purposes black has equalized. 20...f5 20...f5 is met by 21.h4+ g6 22.h5+ winning the B. 21.e3+ h5 21...Kh4
avoids the mate in 4...not that it matters. 22.e2+ h4 23.f4 Kane
resigned. What a game! 23.f4 b3+ 24.e1 a6 25.f2# 1–0
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