The Game of the Century (chess) The Game of the Century (chess) In chess, The Game of the Century is a chess game played between 26-year-old Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956, which Fischer won. The competition took place at the Marshall Chess Club. It was nicknamed "The Game of the Century" by Hans Kmoch in "Chess Review". Kmoch wrote, "The following game, a stunning masterpiece of play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matches the finest on record in the history of chess prodigies." Donald Byrne (1930–1976) was
School of chess his ideas of defense-based chess. He is considered the first true chess world champion, and remained so for 21 years despite not playing actively for almost 15 of them. In addition, he became the first chess master to make a living exclusively from professional chess, while most players up to this time played the game merely as a hobby or way to earn extra money while having other professions as their main occupation. Steinitz's ideas were controversial and widely criticized--some older players such as Adolf Anderssen never fully accepted them. He wrote numerous articles in chess publications defending his ideas,