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Larry Evans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Larry Evans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Larry Melvyn Evans (March 22, 1932 November 15,

2010) was an American chess grandmaster, author, and
journalist. He won or shared the U.S. Chess Championship
five times and the U.S. Open Chess Championship four
times. He wrote a long-running syndicated chess column and
wrote or co-wrote more than twenty books on chess.

Larry Evans

Contents
1 Chess career
1.1 Early years
1.2 U.S. champion
1.3 Grandmaster
1.4 Olympiad successes
1.5 Best international results
1.6 Working with Bobby Fischer
2 Chess journalism
2.1 Criticism of writings

Full name

Larry Melvyn Evans

Country

United States

Born

March 22, 1932

New York, New York

Died

November 15, 2010 (aged 78)

Reno, Nevada

Title

Grandmaster (1957)

Peak rating

2555 (January 1977)

3 Death
4 Selected books
5 Selected games
6 References
7 External links

Chess career
Early years
Evans was born in Manhattan on March 22, 1932, and learned much about the game by playing for ten cents an
hour on 42nd Street in New York City, quickly becoming a rising star. At age 14, he tied for 4th5th place in the
Marshall Chess Club championship. The next year he won it outright, becoming the youngest Marshall champion at
that time. He also finished equal second in the U.S. Junior Championship, which led to an article in the September
1947 issue of Chess Review. At 16, he played in the 1948 U.S. Chess Championship, his first, tying for eighth
place at 117.[1] Evans tied with Arthur Bisguier for first place in the U.S. Junior Chess Championship of 1949.

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By age 18, he had won a New York State championship as well as a gold medal in the Dubrovnik 1950 Chess
Olympiad. In the latter, his 90% score (eight wins and two draws) on sixth board tied with Rabar of Yugoslavia for
the best result of the entire Olympiad.[2]

U.S. champion
In 1951, he first won the U.S. Championship, ahead of Samuel
Reshevsky, who had tied for 3rd4th in the 1948 World Championship
match-tournament.[3] Evans won his second championship the following
year by winning a title match against Herman Steiner.[4] He won the
national championship three additional times: in 196162, 196768,[5]
and 1980, the last in a tie with Walter Browne and Larry
Christiansen.[6][7][8]

Grandmaster
FIDE awarded Evans the titles of International Master (1952) and
International Grandmaster (1957). In 1956 the U.S. State Department
appointed him a "chess ambassador".
Evans performed well in many U.S. events during the 1960s and 1970s,
but his trips abroad to international tournaments were infrequent and less
successful. He won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1951, 1952,
1954 (he tied with Arturo Pomar but won the title on the tie-break) and

Larry Evans (1964)

tied with Walter Browne in 1971. He also won the first Lone Pine tournament in 1971.[9]

Olympiad successes
He represented the U.S. in eight Chess Olympiads over a period of twenty-six years, winning gold (1950), silver
(1958), and bronze (1976) medals for his play, and participating in team gold (1976) and silver (1966)
medals.[10][11][12]

Best international results

His best results on foreign soil included two wins at the Canadian
Open Chess Championship, 1956 in Montreal, and 1966 in
Kingston, Ontario. He tied for first-second in the 1975 Portimo,
Portugal International[13] and for second-third with World
Champion Tigran Petrosian, behind Jan Hein Donner, in Venice,
1967.[14] However, his first, and what ultimately proved to be his
only, chance in the World Chess Championship cycle ended with
a disappointing 14th place (10/23) in the 1964 Amsterdam
Interzonal.[15]

Working with Bobby Fischer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Evans

Evans (right) helping Fischer prepare for his

World Championship match
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He never entered the world championship cycle again, and concentrated his efforts on assisting his fellow American
Bobby Fischer in his quest for the world title. He was Fischer's second for the Candidates matches leading up to
the World Chess Championship 1972 against Boris Spassky, though not for the championship match itself, after a
disagreement with Fischer.
At his peak in October 1968 he was rated 2631 by the United States Chess Federation.

Chess journalism
Evans had always been interested in writing as well as playing. By the age of eighteen, he had already published
David Bronstein's Best Games of Chess, 19441949 and the Vienna International Tournament, 1922. His
book New Ideas in Chess was published in 1958, and was later reprinted. He wrote or co-wrote more than 20
books on chess.[16]
He wrote the tenth edition of the important openings treatise Modern Chess Openings (1965), co-authored with
editor Walter Korn. He also wrote the introductions to Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games (1969) and urged the
future World Champion to publish when he had initially been reluctant to do so.[17] Some of Evans's other books
are Modern Chess Brilliancies (1970), What's The Best Move (1973), and Test Your Chess I.Q. (2001).
Evans began his career in chess journalism during the 1960s, helping to found the American Chess Quarterly,
which ran from 196165. He was an editor of Chess Digest during the 1960s and 1970s. For over thirty years,
until 2006, he wrote a question-and-answer column for Chess Life, the official publication of the United States
Chess Federation (USCF), and has also written for Chess Life Online. His weekly chess column, Evans on Chess,
has appeared in more than fifty separate newspapers throughout the United States. He also wrote a column for the
World Chess Network.
Evans also commentated on some of the most important matches for Time magazine and ABC's Wide World of
Sports, including the 1972 Fischer versus Spassky match, the 1993 PCA world title battle between Garry
Kasparov and Nigel Short and the Braingames world chess championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and
Kasparov in 2000.
Evans also contributed a large amount of tutorial and other content to the Chessmaster computer game series,
most notably an endgame quiz and annotations of classic chess games. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of
Fame in 1994.

Criticism of writings
Larry Evans was a prolific author, with many who both liked and disliked his works.
Noted chess author and trainer International Master John L. Watson made the following observations on Evans's
books and columns: huge bias; long histories of ignoring and distorting evidence and Evans absurd arguments.
[18]

By contrast, chess author and strong player International Master Anthony Saidy noted that Evans brought to his
journalism a "taste for intriguing chess", his personal experience at "the summit of US chess", and "sharp opinions"
regarding the politics of chess, which contributed to his "spicy, concise columns"[19]
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Author and USCF National Master Bruce Pandolfini described Larry Evans's New Ideas in Chess as influential
and a "first-rate chess book."[20]
However, leading chess historian Edward Winter has noted numerous factual errors in Evans' work as well as
several examples of possible plagiarism.[21]
In page 175 of Evans book, Modern Chess Brilliancies, he claims Lodewijk Prins adjourned a clearly lost
position against Cuban master Quesada and was lucky enough when the latter died of a heart attack the "next day".
Prins noted that he had actually resigned the position, as is proven by the tournament crosstables showing it as a
loss for him, and that Quesada played 3 more games in the tournament before dying 5 whole days after the game
against Prins. While Evans acknowledged the error, he defended it with "you must admit it makes a good story."
[22]

Death
On November 15, 2010, Evans died in Reno, Nevada, from complications following gallbladder surgery.[23][24][25]

Selected books
What's the Best Move? (1995). ISBN 0-671-51159-9.
The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes (1998). ISBN 1-58042-009-5.
How Good Is Your Chess? (2004). ISBN 1-58042-126-1.
New Ideas in Chess (1958). Pitman. ISBN 0-486-28305-4 (1984 Dover edition). Revised edition in 2011,
Cardoza Publishing, ISBN 978-1-58042-274-1.
Modern Chess Brilliancies (1970). Fireside Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-22420-4.
Modern Chess Openings (1965). 10th edition, revised by Larry Evans, edited by Walter Korn. Pitman
Publishing.
Evans on Chess (1974). Cornerstone Library.
This Crazy World of Chess (2007). Cardoza Publishing. ISBN 1-58042-218-7.

Selected games
This game, against future grandmaster Abe Yanofsky, was Evans's first victory against a noted player:
Daniel YanofskyLarry Evans, U.S. Open 1947;[26] Alekhine Defence (ECO B05)
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 dxe5 7.dxe5 e6 8.a3 Nc6 9.Bb5 Qd7 10.c4
Nde7 11.0-0 Qd4 12.Bg5 a6 13.Bxe7 axb5 14.Bxf8 Rxf8 15.cxb5 Nxe5 16.Qe2 0-0-0 17.Nc3 Ng6
18.Rad1 Qe5 19.Qc2 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Rd8 21.Rc1 Nf4 22.Kh1 Qh5 24.Kh2 Rd3 25.f3 (see diagram)
25...Rxf3! 26.Rd1 Nxh3! 27.gxf3 Nf2+ 28.Kg3 Qh3+ 29.Kf4 Qh2+ 30.Ke3 01
In his book Modern Chess Brilliances, Evans listed four of his own wins:
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Evans vs. Berger, 1964

(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1161182)
Evans vs. Blackstone, 1965
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1483701)
Evans vs. Zuckerman, 1967, U.S. Championship
Koehler vs. Evans, 1968, U.S. National Open

1
a

Position after 25.f3

References
1. William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, pp. 3336. ISBN 0-67913042-X.
2. rpd Fldek, Chess Olympiads 19271968, Dover Publications, 1979, pp. 181, 183. ISBN 0-486-23733-8.
3. William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, pp. 3739. ISBN 0-67913042-X.
4. William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, p. 40. ISBN 0-679-13042X.
5. Strawberry Open (http://www.nwchess.com/articles/history/1968_StrawberryOpen.pdf)
6. William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, pp. 5456, 6971. ISBN 0679-13042-X.
7. Chess Informant, Volume 30, ahovski Informator, 1981, p. 290.
8. Larry Christiansen, 1980 U.S. Championship, Chess Enterprises, Inc., 1980, pp. 6, 108. ISBN 0-931462-09-6.
9. John Grefe and Dennis Waterman, The Best of Lone Pine: The Louis D. Statham Chess Tournaments 19711980,
R.H.M. Press, 1981, pp. 38, 42. ISBN 0-89058-049-9 ISBN 4-87187-816-3.
10. rpd Fldek, Chess Olympiads 19271968, Dover Publications, 1979, pp. 18183, 198202, 26469, 31115,
35864, 38389. ISBN 0-486-23733-8.
11. R.D. Keene and D.N.L. Levy, Siegen Chess Olympiad, CHESS Ltd., 1970, p. 214.
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12. R.D. Keene and D.N.L. Levy, Haifa Chess Olympiad 1976, The Chess Player, 1977, pp. 6378. ISBN 0-90604202-X, ISBN 978-0-906042-02-1
13. Chess Informant, ahovski Informator, Volume 20, 1976, p. 263.
14. Chess Informant, ahovski Informator, Volume 4, 1968, p. 282.
15. B.M. Kazic, International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, 1974, pp. 16768. ISBN 0273-07078-9.
16. Larry Evans, This Crazy World of Chess, Cardoza Publishing, 2007, back cover. ISBN 1-58042-218-7.
17. Larry Evans, This Crazy World of Chess, Cardoza Publishing, 2007, pp. 20, 29. ISBN 1-58042-218-7.
18. Watson, John. Chess and Politics (Kingpin, Spring 1999, pages 33-38)
19. Saidy, Anthony. Book review by IM Anthony Saidy This Crazy World of Chess
(http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/02/book-review-by-im-anthony-saidy.html). Susanpolgar blogspot.
February 2008.
20. Pandolfini, Bruce. ChessCafe (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/bruce07.pdf)
21. Edward Winter, "The Facts About Larry Evans" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/evans.html) (2001).
Retrieved on 2009-01-18.
22. "The Facts About Larry Evans" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/evans.html) (2001).
23. USCF: Eulogy (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10820/608/)
24. Chessbase: Eulogy (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6814)
25. McLain, Dylan Loeb (November 17, 2010), "Larry Evans, Chess Champ, Dies at 78"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/us/18evans.html?hpw), The New York Times
26. Yanofsky vs. Evans, 1947 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1508672) Chessgames.com

External links
Larry Evans (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=18982) player profile and games at
Chessgames.com
Larry Evans (http://www.supreme-chess.com/famous-chess-players/larry-evans.html) download 419 of his
games in PGN format
http://www.worldchessnetwork.com/English/chessNews/evans/bio.php
The Facts About Larry Evans (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/evans.html) critical article by
Edward Winter
Not Quicker Than the Mind's Eye (http://www.chesscity.com/PDF/Parr_on_Winter.pdf) response to Winter
article by Larry Parr
Grandmaster Larry Evans On Bobby Fischer
(http://www.chessville.com/Editorials/Interviews/GMLarryEvansInterviewOnBobbyFischer.htm)
Chessville.com, July 30, 2004
OlimpBase (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/a408ye8j.html)
Interview with GM Larry Evans (http://chessloser.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/interview-with-gm-larryevans/)
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The United States Chess Federation eulogy (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10820/608/)

Preceded by
Herman Steiner

United States Chess Champion

195154

Succeeded by
Arthur Bisguier

Preceded by
Bobby Fischer

United States Chess Champion

1961

Succeeded by
Bobby Fischer

Preceded by
Bobby Fischer

United States Chess Champion

1968

Succeeded by
Samuel Reshevsky

Preceded by
Lubomir Kavalek

United States Chess Champion

1980 (with Walter Browne and Larry
Christiansen)

Succeeded by
Walter Browne and Yasser
Seirawan

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Larry_Evans&oldid=650449674"

Categories: 1932 births 2010 deaths American chess players American instructional writers
Chess grandmasters American chess writers Chess theoreticians Chess Olympiad competitors
People from New York City
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