chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

32 BIRD
cNz'E; Manchester 1890, third prize shared witt
Mackenzi. alter rARMscs and BLAcsuNL. He
also played in numerous minor loumamen$j
notably lying wnh clNsBERc lor 6rt prizc at
London 1889. His most inportant match was
against stlNrrz in 1866for the list lo win eleven
ganes. He was adjudged thc loser when he was
called to ihe USAon bNiness, the scorc slanding
+5=5-7 i. lavour of bn opponeni. This sas a
creditable rcsult in the circuBshnces. for he
played each Aame after a dayt work. (Steinitz,
however, N6 not s strong a player as he later
becane.) In 1886 Bird drew a Datch with B0RN
(+9 9). One oI lhe host itrsenious raciicians of his
timc, Bird played in the !tlacting slyte prevalenr in
his yo uth. He usu a lly chose openinSs that *ere regarded
6 bizare, allhough nany ofthen, e.B. the
Dragon Yariation, hale since gained acceprance,
Bird was probably the besl known and longest
seriag habitu€ ol the t ndon coF.trD-Eoustr
known as Simpson's Divan. A rosy-cneeked,
blue-eyed, Iair-headed boy , he n6l aitended
arcund 1846 and was a co61an1 visiior tor more
tnan 50 years, alter which ne was dcscdbed as
'naj esric in stattrre, in girlh, in the baldrcss oI his
grealhead, le$ majesticin thelitteroltobaco'ash
upo, hh waisrcoat . . , with a pleasanr sniline
omtenancei. He suffered from goui shich eve.
tually so incapacitaied hin lhai he was largely
co.fif,ed 10 his home for the last yeas of his life.
Besides wdting booHets on .aitway Iinance he
wrole several books on chess. Thev a.e noi withoul
inreresl althotrgh the mnlent is so:netines ina(urare
and often disrganized. And s Mo.lern Chess
and chess Mdsterpi.ce! (taa7) coniai.s more than
200 ganes, about halt of theh bis own. Cr.rr
Historf und Reminiscences (1893) conrai.s an
a.@untolcontemporaryplayem and chess aflairs.
Bnl M,rcn Ncv York rs76 French Dei.id Fx
1c,l e6 2 d,l d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 cxd5 exds 5 Na Bd6 6
Bd3G0 7n-0h6 SRer Nc6 9Nb5Bb4 10c3Ba5 l1
Na3 Bg4 l2 Nc2 Qd7 13 M ts66 11h3 Bh5 15 Ne3
Rtc3 16 b5 Ne7 r7 94896 13 Nc5 Qca 19 a4c6 20
b(6 bxc6 21 Ba3 Ne4 22 Qd Ng5 2l BxcT Itie? 2,1
Bxg6lxg6 25Qxg6Nxh3+ 26Kh2Nf.4 2rQf5Nc6 23
*mm
rytw^w
"wLWgw
m
'&&, w wtw
frmwwt
wr&w
uw%w
29a5 Bn5 30Ria5 RI3 31Ra6Rf,l5
Nr4Q.a 34Nlc6Re3 35 Nxc6Qc?+
33
Rc3 Od2 Ir,g2 Oxda 39f68xl6 40Rxr6Ne6,11Rs3
Ng5 ,12 Nc4 Kg7 43 Nl,l Qe4+ 44 Kh2 Nh7 45 Nh5+
KI3,l6Rlh6()c2 47Nbf6Re7 43 Kg2 ,i4 ,t9 Nc5 Qo3
50 Ng6+ Blrcl Esigns. For thh E.ne tsnd *as awardcn
BIRD AIlACr, 484, vdiation in the nA!^N
opENrN( strongly advocatd by sr^MMA and noless
stongly by BND. In May 1843 sArNr AMNr played
i1 agaisl srAUNroN in then 6st match .dd 6ve
yea6 later Bird adopled fte variation. playing it in
may iour.ameols, notably with lair snacss a1
Vien.a i882, Lo.don 1883, and Nuredberg 1883.
BIRD DEFENCE, 421, reply to the srNrss
oENrNc gilen in the list edilion oI Bilguer\
oaNDBUcH, 18,13. Pionecred by BrRoi e.g. against
ANDERSSEN in 1854, and med on occasion by
grandm.sleB su.h as rA*Mscs, sflELuNN, and
spAsso. this deferce has not gai.ed widc aceptancc.
(scc
'-F!Ar-r.'s
rRAP.)
BIRD OPENING, 693, someiimes caled th€ Dutch
Altack by analogy with the Durcn DEFEN.E. lo
I873, alter an absen@ ol six yea6 lrom cness. BIRD
played a malcn Mrh wrsEx. 'Having fo.gotteo
familiar openin8s, I comnerced adopling rBP lor
nrst mo!e, and linding n bd to highly inreresring
gamcs oul ofthe usual groove,l be€me parrial lo
ir. Birdhadalsolorgoitentrnlamiliaropenings.lor
I 14 (siven by LUC!N^) had been played by
rouRDoNNNs, MLLAMS, and others of that Period.
Hoaever Bird\ consistent adoption of the move
led to its bemming a slanda.d opening, allhough
never poPular. (see BAUET.)
BISGUTER, ARTHUR BERNARD 0929 ),
American player, Inlcrnational Grmdnaster
(1957). winner or the Us chanpionship in 1954
andolthe Swiss systen US Open Championships
-of1950, 1956, and 1959, he played for his comtry
in 6ve Ollmpiads from 1952 to 1972. His besl
loumanent achievenenl was in the us cham
pionship 1962-3. a s{ond pl.ce (+6=6-l) after
rrs.!R. and hisbesttournamentwinswereatNew
York 1955, whcn hc and !!aNs came equal lirst
aheadorREsHEvs(t, and ar Lone Pine 1973. a Swiss
BIsfloP, a minor piece represented by the symbol
B or the ngurine A . It is a line pi€ce that is
moved on diagonals ofonc @lour and can neilher
oEupy nor altack ihe 32 squares of lhe opposite
colour. On an otherwise enpry board il controls an
odd number of sqnares in the range 7 ro 13
depending o. its posilio.. At ihe begi.ning ol tnc
game While\ bishops sland on cl and fl, Black\
on c8 aod 18. Those on c1 and 18 aie dark bisbops
(rhey are moved on dark squarc, and the other
lwo are light bishops. In descriptive nolalio.. and
generally, the bishops on c1 and c8 a.e called
queen! bishops hymbol:OB) and those on i1 and
18 ki.s's bishops (symbol: KB),