Gyula Breyer

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Gyula Breyer (April 30, 1893 – November 9, 1921) was a Hungarian chess player. He was a leading member of the hypermodern school of chess theory, which favored controlling the center with pieces on the wings.

Breyer was born in Budapest. In 1912 he won the Hungarian championship. He had a plus record against Max Euwe (later world champion). He beat Euwe with black pieces in Vienna in 1921 (moves given in Algebraic chess notation):

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 e5 4.dxe5 Nxe5 5.f4 Nc6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 d6 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.O-O Qd7 10.Qe1 O-O-O 11.Ng5 dxe5 12.Kh1 f6 13.Nf7 Na5 14.Nxd8 Nxc4 15.Qe4 Nd6 16.Qb4 Be7 17.fxe5 fxe5 18.Nxb7 Nxb7 19.Rf8+ Bxf8 20.Qxf8+ Qd8 21.Qxg7 Nf6 22.Bg5 Rg8 23.Qh6 Rg6 24.Qh4 Nd6 25.Rf1 Nf5 26.Qxg4 Nxg4 27.Bxd8 Nge3 28.Rf3 Kxd8 29.h3 Rg3 30.Rxg3 Nxg3+ 0-1

Breyer is also recognized for the Breyer Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 ef 3.Qf3), a variation of the King's Gambit. In the Closed Ruy Lopez, a system named after him, involves black re-routing his queen's knight to d7 for increased flexibility; this became a fashionable variation of the 1960s and a favourite of ex-world champion Boris Spassky.

Breyer died in Bratislava of a heart attack. He is buried in the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest.