American Chess Quarterly

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

The American Chess Quarterly was a chess magazine that was published in the United States from 1961 to 1965 by Nature Food Centres. Sixteen issues were published, in four volumes of four issues each, from Summer 1961 through April-May-June 1965.[1] Its principal editor was American grandmaster Larry Evans.

The most famous article[2][3] published in its pages was "A Bust to the King's Gambit" by U.S. Champion and future World Champion Bobby Fischer, which appeared as the first article in the first issue.[4][5] In that article, Fischer advocated what became known as the Fischer Defense to the King's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6), brashly claiming, "In my opinion the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force."[6] Remarkably, Fischer later played the King's Gambit himself with great success, including winning all three tournament games in which he played it.[7][8][9] However, he played the Bishop's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4) rather than the King's Knight's Gambit (3.Nf3), the only line that he analyzed in his article.

Notes

  1. ^ Douglas A. Betts, Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published in the English Language 1850-1968, Moravian Chess Publishing House, 2005, p. 54. ISBN 80-7189-557-1.
  2. ^ Nick de Firmian refers to "A Bust to the King's Gambit" as "Bobby Fischer's famous article". Nick de Firmian, Modern Chess Openings (15th edition), McKay Chess Library, 2008, p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.
  3. ^ Andrew Soltis calls it "a celebrated article". Andrew Soltis, in Karsten Müller, Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion, Russell Enterprises, Inc., 2009, p. 29. ISBN 978-1-888690-68-2.
  4. ^ Bobby Fischer, "A Bust to the King's Gambit", American Chess Quarterly, Summer 1961, pp. 3-9.
  5. ^ A Bust to the King's Gambit. ChessCafe.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.
  6. ^ Fischer, "A Bust to the King's Gambit", p. 4.
  7. ^ Fischer-Evans, 1963-64 U.S. Championship. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.
  8. ^ Fischer-Minic, Vinkovci 1968. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.
  9. ^ Fischer-Wade, Vinkovci 1968. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.