William Lombardy
Encyclopedia
William James Lombardy is an American
Grandmaster
of chess
, writer, teacher, and one-time Catholic priest.
. In 1956, at the age of 18, he lost a closely contested match versus Samuel Reshevsky
by the score of 3.5-2.5. In 1957, Lombardy became the first American to win the World Junior Chess Championship
and, in so doing, the first American World Chess champion of any kind. He won the tournament in Toronto
with a perfect score of 11-0, the only time such a result has been achieved.
Lombardy played first board for the US Team that won the 1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad
, USSR, the first time the US Team won that event (they would win again at Haifa
1970) (http://www.olimpbase.org). Lombardy defeated future World Chess Champion Boris Spassky
in their individual game. Lombardy won a gold medal
for best result on his board in that event.
Lombardy represented his country in several Chess Olympiad
s, and played many times in the US Chess Championship. Lombardy finished second in the 1960-61 US Chess Championship behind Bobby Fischer
and ahead of Raymond Weinstein
and a star-studded field. With this result, Lombardy qualified to compete in the World Interzonal
tournament in Stockholm
for the World Chess Championship
. However, Lombardy decided instead to retire from chess to become a Catholic
priest. Before retiring, he lost a tightly contested match to Larry Evans
by the score of 5.5-4.5. He was ordained in 1967.
In 1972, Bobby Fischer
was scheduled to play a match against Boris Spassky
for the World Chess Championship
. However, Fischer had a falling out with Grandmaster
Larry Evans
who had been Fischer's second in his successful matches against Tigran Petrosian
and Bent Larsen
. Fischer called upon his old friend William Lombardy to help him out with the match. Although Lombardy was still a Catholic
priest
, he was allowed to take time off from the priesthood to go to Reykjavík
, Iceland
to serve as the official "second" to Fischer during the World Chess Championship 1972, between Fischer and Boris Spassky
. Nevertheless Fischer often did not make use of his services. Don Schultz remembers the following conversation: Lombardy to Fischer 'That's a difficult position. Let's go back to the hotel and analyze it.' Fischer replied 'What do you mean, analyze? That guy's a fish. Let's go bowling.' According to Lombardy, this story is inaccurate. Fischer won the match and became World Chess Champion.
Lombardy won or tied for first in the U.S. Open Chess Championship
three times. He took clear first at Chicago 1963 and twice tied with Pal Benko
; first at Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1965 and then at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975.
In 1978 and 1979, Lombardy served as the lead instructor at an "all day" week long chess camp at Michigan State University
. This was perhaps the first camp of its type in the United States and attracted juniors from all over the country. Participants who subsequently made at least U.S. Chess Federation Master included Alex Cherniak, Jeff Ginsburg, David Glueck, David Hahn, Bill Mason, and Steve Mayer, among others.
In addition to his victory against Spassky, Lombardy scored at least one win- in some cases multiple wins- against such world class players as Ulf Andersson
, Pal Benko
, Walter Browne, Robert Byrne, Larry Christiansen, Larry Evans
, Vlastimil Hort
, Victor Korchnoi, Bent Larsen
, Ljubomir Ljubojević
, Tony Miles
, Lev Polugaevsky
, Lajos Portisch
, Samuel Reshevsky
, and Jan Timman
.
In the early 1980s, Lombardy left the priesthood and subsequently married. He is now retired and lives in the East Village
of New York City
, where he is writing a chess book and sells chess lessons at his home and by appointment elsewhere.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
of chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, writer, teacher, and one-time Catholic priest.
Life and career
He won the 1956 Canadian Open Chess ChampionshipCanadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada....
. In 1956, at the age of 18, he lost a closely contested match versus Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
by the score of 3.5-2.5. In 1957, Lombardy became the first American to win the World Junior Chess Championship
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
and, in so doing, the first American World Chess champion of any kind. He won the tournament in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
with a perfect score of 11-0, the only time such a result has been achieved.
Lombardy played first board for the US Team that won the 1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, USSR, the first time the US Team won that event (they would win again at Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
1970) (http://www.olimpbase.org). Lombardy defeated future World Chess Champion Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
in their individual game. Lombardy won a gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
for best result on his board in that event.
Lombardy represented his country in several Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s, and played many times in the US Chess Championship. Lombardy finished second in the 1960-61 US Chess Championship behind Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
and ahead of Raymond Weinstein
Raymond Weinstein
Raymond A. Weinstein is an American chess master from Brooklyn, New York, who was awarded the FIDE International Master title in 1962. He has been incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital since killing a man in 1964.-Chess career:...
and a star-studded field. With this result, Lombardy qualified to compete in the World Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
tournament in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
for the World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
. However, Lombardy decided instead to retire from chess to become a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priest. Before retiring, he lost a tightly contested match to Larry Evans
Larry Evans
For the football player of the same name, see Larry Evans .Larry Melvyn Evans 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...
by the score of 5.5-4.5. He was ordained in 1967.
In 1972, Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
was scheduled to play a match against Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
for the World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
. However, Fischer had a falling out with Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
Larry Evans
Larry Evans
For the football player of the same name, see Larry Evans .Larry Melvyn Evans 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...
who had been Fischer's second in his successful matches against Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
and Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
. Fischer called upon his old friend William Lombardy to help him out with the match. Although Lombardy was still a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, he was allowed to take time off from the priesthood to go to Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
to serve as the official "second" to Fischer during the World Chess Championship 1972, between Fischer and Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
. Nevertheless Fischer often did not make use of his services. Don Schultz remembers the following conversation: Lombardy to Fischer 'That's a difficult position. Let's go back to the hotel and analyze it.' Fischer replied 'What do you mean, analyze? That guy's a fish. Let's go bowling.' According to Lombardy, this story is inaccurate. Fischer won the match and became World Chess Champion.
Lombardy won or tied for first in the U.S. Open Chess Championship
U.S. Open Chess Championship
The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...
three times. He took clear first at Chicago 1963 and twice tied with Pal Benko
Pál Benko
Pal Benko is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.- Early life :Benko was born in France but was raised in Hungary. He was Hungarian champion by age 20. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, after defecting following the World Student Team...
; first at Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1965 and then at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975.
In 1978 and 1979, Lombardy served as the lead instructor at an "all day" week long chess camp at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
. This was perhaps the first camp of its type in the United States and attracted juniors from all over the country. Participants who subsequently made at least U.S. Chess Federation Master included Alex Cherniak, Jeff Ginsburg, David Glueck, David Hahn, Bill Mason, and Steve Mayer, among others.
In addition to his victory against Spassky, Lombardy scored at least one win- in some cases multiple wins- against such world class players as Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972 .-Career:...
, Pal Benko
Pál Benko
Pal Benko is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.- Early life :Benko was born in France but was raised in Hungary. He was Hungarian champion by age 20. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, after defecting following the World Student Team...
, Walter Browne, Robert Byrne, Larry Christiansen, Larry Evans
Larry Evans
For the football player of the same name, see Larry Evans .Larry Melvyn Evans 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...
, Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.Hort was born in Kladno,...
, Victor Korchnoi, Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
, Ljubomir Ljubojević
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
Ljubomir Ljubojević is a Grandmaster of chess. He was born on November 2, 1950, in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia . Ljubojević was awarded the International Master title in 1970 and the GM title in 1971. He was Yugoslav champion in 1977 and 1982. He won the 1974 Canadian Open Chess Championship...
, Tony Miles
Tony Miles
Anthony John Miles was an English chess Grandmaster.- Early achievements in chess :Miles was born in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...
, Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title...
, Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
, Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
, and Jan Timman
Jan Timman
Jan Timman is a Dutch chess Grandmaster who was one of the world's leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as "The Best of the West"...
.
In the early 1980s, Lombardy left the priesthood and subsequently married. He is now retired and lives in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he is writing a chess book and sells chess lessons at his home and by appointment elsewhere.