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
White and Black in chess The checkering of the squares was a European innovation, introduced in the thirteenth century. The convention of White having the first move is much more recent than that. François-André Danican Philidor in the original (1749) edition of his famous treatise "Analyse du jeu des Échecs" cited one game in which Black moved first. Johann Horny, in a book published in Germany in 1824, wrote that Black moves first. Phillip Sergeant wrote in his book "A History of British Chess" of the great Alexander McDonnell (1798–1835), remembered today for his series of matches with Labourdonnais: He preferred to have Black, as