Arthur Bisguier (October 8, 1929 – April 5, 2017) is well known. He won two US Junior Championships (1948, 1949), three US Open Championships (1950, 1956, 1959) and in 1954 he was the US Champion. He also played in five Olympiads and two Interzonal tournaments (1955, 1962). On March 18, 2005, the USCF proclaimed him "Dean of American Chess."
His lesser known opponent was IM Bernard Zuckerman (born March 31, 1943 in Brooklyn) who competed in seven US Championships (1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1977 and 1978), his best result being a tie for fourth place with William Addison in 1965. He was on the US team in the World Student Team Championships of 1964, 1967 and 1969. At Brooklyn College, Zuckerman was a prominent player, along with Raymond Weinstein, on its national champion college chess team.
For more than forty years Zuckerman (known as Zook the book) was a respected authority on openings which Bisguier claimed was second only to that of Bobby Fischer. Bisguier wrote that if he played carefully, Zuckerman was very hard to defeat because he seldom got bad positions. According to Bisguier, Zuckerman's problem was likely a matter of temperament in that he never milked good positions to their maximum potential. His last FIDE rating was 2455 and he has not played in a serious tournament since 1990.
The following game isn't filled with flashy Bisguier-like tactics, but it's an instructive positional game that made an impression on me when I saw it.
Bisguier met the Sicilian with what later became known as the Kopec System. Bisguier had first used the system against Oscar Panno at the Interzonal at Gothenberg in 1955 and he used it in this game about 15 years before Kopec got around to fine tuning the system.
What was impressive about this game was Bisguier's 22nd move which was entirely positional in nature. It shut out Zuckerman's B on g7 leaving it unable to take part in the coming action of the Q-side.
In annotating the game in the book of his best games Bisguier left the impression that after 22.e5 black's game was totally helpless. Zuckerman sacrificed a couple of Ps in hopes of getting counterplay, but Bisguier countered by giving up a B for a N just to get a passed c-Pawn which proved to be sufficient to score the point. But were things really that clearcut? As usual, analyzing with Stockfish and Komodo revealed hidden resources for both sides. By the way, in preparing the book in 2008 Bisguier analyzed with Fritz 5 and Comet which were already stronger than most players.
Nevertheless, Stockfish and Komodo weren't playing the game, humans were and I am impressed with Bisguier's non-engine-like idea demonstrated by 22.e5 and the way he subsequently engineered the win.
Arthur Bisguier - Bernard Zuckerman
Result: 1-0
Site: US Championship, New York
Date: 1966.12.14
Sicilian Defense, Kopec Sysytem
[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 d6 3.c3 This is a deferred Alapin named after the Russian master Semyon Alapin (1856-1923). For many years, it was not held in high regard because it was thought to allow black easy equality Today, the Alapin is considered to be one of the most solid and respectable Anti-Sicilians. 3...♘f6 4.♗d3 The Kopec System which was developed by IM Dr. Danny Kopec, it has proven to be effective against all Sicilian set-ups. The B settles on c2 from where it eyes the K-side and white will followup with d4 obtaining a nice center. 4...♘c6 5.♗c2 ♗g4 This is by far the most effective reply. Moves like 5...g6, 5...e5 and 5...e6 have been tried with poor results. 6.h3 ♗xf3 7.♕xf3 g6 8.d3 ♗g7 9.O-O O-O 10.♕e2 Clearing the way for the f-Pawn. 10...b5 Black must move quickly to establish counterplay on the Q-side against white's coming advance on the K-side. 11.f4
11.♘d2 turned out to be too slow after 11...♘d7 12.♘f3 b4 13.♗d2 ♖b8 14.♗a4 ♕c7 15.♖fc1 ♖fc8 16.d4 bxc3 17.bxc3 ♖b2 Svidler,P (2689)-Van Wely,L (2643)/ Polanica Zdroj 2000
11.♗e3 lacks punch. 11...♘d7 12.♖d1 e5 13.a4 White's is playing on the wrong side and so gets nothing. 13...b4 14.♗b3 ♖b8 Mischuk,D (2382)-Shaydullina, S (2211)/Moscow 2018 (16)
11...b4
11...♖b8 This extra prepatory move is not necessary. 12.g4 But this is too rash. 12.Be3 was better because after 12...b4 13.♗a4 ♕b6 14.♗xc6 bxc3 15.♘xc3 ♕xc6 black has the better chances. Runic,Z (2250)-Todorovic,G (2490)/Banja Vrucica 1991
12.♗e3 ♘d7 13.♗a4 Bisguier is fighting to play d4. 13...bxc3 14.bxc3 To support the advance of the d-Pawn. 14...♕c7 15.♖c1
15.d4 Still isn't playable because of 15...cxd4 16.♗xc6 (16.cxd4 ♘xd4 would win) 16...d3 17.♕xd3 ♕xc6 and white is left with a miserably weak c-Pawn.
15...♘b6 Forcing the B to retreat and frustrating the advance d3-d4 16.♗d1 After 16.Bxc6 Qxc6 rgw advance of the d-Pawn still isn't possible because it would leave the e-Pawn unprotected.
16.♗xc6 ♕xc6 17.♘d2 To protect the e-Pawn, 17...♘a4 18.d4 Finally white gets this move in, but black will occupy c8 and b8 with his Rs which would give him sufficient play because white has made no progress with his ultimate goal of attacking on the K-side.
16...♖ab8 17.♘d2 ♘d7 18.♘f3 White is now in a position to advance the d-Pawn. 18...♕a5 19.d4 White has achieved his first objective. Now phase two begins...play e5. 19...♕a3 20.♗b3 ♘b6 After this black finds himself in serious trouble.
20...e6 was a must, after which the game would have taken an entirely different course. 21.e5 is rendered ineffective after 21...♘e7 22.exd6 ♘f5 23.♘e5 cxd4 24.cxd4 ♘xe3 25.♕xe3 ♕xd6 26.♖c6 ♕b4 with equal chances.
21.dxc5
21.f5 was also a good possibility as after 21...gxf5 22.exf5 black has a badly compromised K-side and his Q-side counterattack has run out of gas.
21...dxc5 22.e5 In addition to gaining space, after this move black's B is shut out of the game. Unless he can get some serious play with his Q and Rs black will, in effect, be playing the rest of the game a piece down because his B is out of play. 22...c4 Zuckerman makes a decision to shed a P in hopes of getting counterplay.
22...♖fc8 was probably better, but after 23.♘d2 black still has problems. Best is 23...c4 24.♗xb6 axb6 25.♘xc4 ♕c5+ 26.♔h1 ♗h6 27.g3 ♕b5 28.e6 with the initiative but with careful defense black should be able to survive.
23.♗xc4 ♘xc4 24.♕xc4 White's c-Pawn will become the star of the show! 24...♖fc8 25.♖ab1 In the book of his best games Bisguier crowed about how aggressive this move was, but in fact, it's a mistake that should have allowed black to equalize.
25.♕d3 allows black to equalize. 25...♖b2 26.♕d7 ♕a6 27.♘d4 ♘xd4 28.♗xd4 ♗f8 29.♗xa7 ♖c4 Lo and behold! Black's Rs have sprung into action and he has completely equalized!
25.♕e4 This move is best, but black still gets good counterplay. 25...♖b2 and the R on the second rank assures black of good counterplay, but is it enough? In Shootouts using Stockfish and Komodo both scored +2 -0 =3 for white.
25...♖a8 This is way too passive and as a result he has less than nothing for the P he just gave up.
25...♘xe5 may look attractive, but it loses outright to 26.fxe5 ♖xc4 27.♖xb8+ ♗f8 28.♗h6 ♕c5+ 29.♔f1 e6 30.♗xf8 ♕xf8 31.♖xf8+ ♔xf8
25...♘d8 This is a totally different story because black regains his P. 26.♕d3 ♖xb1 27.♕xb1 ♖xc3 28.♖xc3 ♕xc3 29.♗xa7 and black can probably draw.
26.♕b3 ♕a6 27.♘g5 ♘d8 28.c4 The star of the show begins its advance. 28...h6 29.♘e4 ♘e6
29...g5 30.fxg5 ♕g6 31.♕c2 hxg5 32.♘xg5 ♗xe5 33.♕xg6+ fxg6 at long last frees up the B, but the ending is highly favorable to white.
30.c5 ♕c6 31.♕c4 ♖d8 32.♖b4 ♘c7 33.♘c3 ♖ac8 34.♖a4 ♖a8 Naturally Zuckerman doesn't want to give away his a-Pawn, byr he could have gotten more counterchances with 34...g5.
34...g5 35.fxg5 hxg5 36.♗xg5 ♘e6 37.♗xe7 ♖d4 38.♕a6 ♕xa6 39.♖xa6 ♗xe5 40.♖xa7 ♖c4 but here, too, white is winning.
35.♖b1 ♘d5
35...g5 is now even less effective than it was a move ago. 36.fxg5 hxg5 37.♗xg5 ♘e6 38.♗xe7 ♖d4 39.♕a6 ♕xa6 40.♖xa6 ♖c8 41.♖xa7 ♖c4 42.♘d5 ♗xe5 43.♘b6
36.♘xd5 ♕xd5 37.♕xd5 ♖xd5 38.c6 ♖c8 39.♖c4 ♔f8 40.♗xa7 ♔e8 41.♖b7 f6 42.e6 ♖d6 43.♖b8 ♖d1+ 44.♔f2 ♖xb8 After making this move Zuckerman realized the hopelessness of his position and resigned. Powered by Aquarium
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