Robert S. Brieger

     Texas Expert (Elo 2000-2199) Robert S. Brieger (1925-2012) was primarily a problem composer who authored several books on problems, but he was also played both over the board and correspondence chess and he won the Houston city champion many times.

     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.

[Event "US Open, San Antonio"] [Site "San Antonio, TX USA"] [Date "1962.08.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert S. Brieger"] [Black "George Kane"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "1962.??.??"] {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 Qxd5 {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.} Nc6 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. cxd4 Bg4 ( 6... e5 {is most common.} 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Bd2 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 e4 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ne7 12. Be2 {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. Nc3 Bxf3 8. Nxd5 (8. gxf3 {is not played nearly as often. The following example shows why this is so even though Stockfish thinks it's best.} Qxd4 9. Qxd4 Nxd4 10. Nb5 Nc2+ 11. Kd1 Nxa1 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Nxa8 {White is better!} e6 14. Bb5+ Kc8 15. Bf4 g5 16. Bxg5 Bg7 17. Kc1 Kb8 18. Kb1 Kxa8 19. Kxa1 Nf6 20. Rd1 Nd5 21. Bc4 Rd8 22. Bxd8 {Black resigned. Sotnikov,A (2362)-Meshkov,A (2390)/Tula 2007} ) 8... Bxd1 9. Nc7+ Kd7 10. Nxa8 Bh5 {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 Nb4 {Threatening ...Nc2+ but the N is on the wrong square.} (11... Nd4 12. Bf4 e5 {Excellent!} (12... Nc2+ {is suicidal.} 13. Kd2 Nxa1 14. Bb5+ Kd8 15. Bc7+ Kc8 16. Rc1) 13. dxe6+ fxe6 14. f3 Bd6 {Safest.} (14... Nc2+ 15. Kd2 Nxa1 16. Bb5+ Ke7 17. Rxa1 {White's advantage, if any, is minimal as black should be able to untangle himself.}) 15. Bxd6 Kxd6 16. Rc1 {with about equal chances.}) 12. Be3 {This allows black to equalize.} (12. Bf4 Nxd5 (12... Nc2+ { This is still not playable...compare to the last note.} 13. Kd2 Nxa1 14. Bb5+ Kd8 15. Bc7+ Kc8 16. Rc1) 13. Bb5+ Kd8 14. Bb8 a6) (12. Bb5+ {was also good. After} Kd8 13. O-O Nc2 14. Bd2 Nxa1 15. Rc1 e5 16. Ba5+ b6 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. Bxb6+ Ke7 19. Bc5+ {White wins.}) 12... Nc2+ 13. Kd2 {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.} Nxa1 {A natural, but losing move.} (13... Nxe3 14. Bb5+ Kd8 15. Kxe3 Nf6 16. Kd4 Kc8 17. Rac1+ Kb8 18. Nc7 g5 {So as to bring his N and R into play. 18...g6 would leave the B on h5 trapped.} 19. h4 gxh4 20. Rxh4 Bg7 { and the chances are equal.}) 14. Bb5+ Kd6 15. Rc1 {Not bad, but both 15.Bxa7 and 15.Rxa1 were better.} Bg6 (15... Nf6 16. Bxa7 Nxd5 17. Bb8+ Ke6 18. Nc7+ Nxc7 19. Bxc7 Bg6 20. Rxa1 {In this line, too, white is better.}) 16. Bc5+ Kxd5 {The K has no safe haven.} 17. Nc7+ Ke5 18. Re1+ Kf4 (18... Be4 {is no better.} 19. Bd3 Nf6 20. Bxe4 Nxe4+ 21. Kd3 {and wins.}) 19. Nd5+ (19. Rxa1 {Unlike earlier when this was quite playable, at this point white doesn't have time to stop and play this.} Nf6 20. Bxa7 e5 21. Be3+ Kg4 22. Rc1 Bd6 23. Be2+ Kf5 { White is still winning, but black can put up a manly defense.}) 19... Kg5 20. Re5+ (20. Rxa1 {would now be a blunder throwing away all of his advantage!} Nf6 21. Be3+ Kf5 {Amazing! There is no way to get to black's K.} 22. Bd3+ Ke5 23. Nxf6 Kxf6 24. Rc1 e6 25. Rc7 Bb4+ 26. Ke2 Bxd3+ 27. Kxd3 b5 28. Rxa7 Rd8+ 29. Ke4 Bd2 {For all practical purposes black has equalized.}) 20... f5 (20... Bf5 {is met by} 21. h4+ Kg6 22. h5+ {winning the B.}) 21. Be3+ Kh5 {21...Kh4 avoids the mate in 4...not that it matters.} 22. Be2+ Kh4 23. f4 {Kane resigned. What a game!} (23. f4 Nb3+ 24. Ke1 a6 25. Bf2#) 1-0