William Lombardy
Notable Games

William Lombardy

16 celebrated games · 340 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 340 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1957.08.04 Selimanov, Vladimir vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Rossolimo Defense 40 moves World U20-ch04 1957 World Junior Championship, Toronto, where the 19-year-old Lombardy won all 11 games for the only perfect score in the event's history. Playing Black in a Ruy Lopez, he beat the Soviet representative Vladimir Selimanov in a line Lombardy himself had worked out.
  • 1957.08.06 Gerusel, Mathias vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Zurich Variation 18 moves World U20-ch04 "Mass Lombardment," an 18-move Nimzo-Indian miniature from Lombardy's perfect run at the 1957 World Junior Championship, won as Black over Mathias Gerusel, who finished second. A queen-hunting knight dance leaves White's queen trapped; chessgames.com later made it a Game of the Day.
  • 1957.08.11 Cardoso, Rodolfo Tan vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation 67 moves World U20-ch04 Another win from Lombardy's 11/0 sweep of the 1957 World Junior Championship in Toronto, a long Najdorf Sicilian as Black against Filipino talent Rodolfo Cardoso, who a year later would beat Bobby Fischer in a match.
  • 1957 Reshevsky, Samuel Herman vsLombardy, William James 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System 40 moves USA-ch A King's Indian win as Black over Samuel Reshevsky, the reigning giant of American chess, at the U.S. Championship. Lombardy had already stunned Reshevsky by nearly winning their 1956 match; here he beat him outright over the board.
  • 1960.07.30 Spassky, Boris Vasilievich vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation 29 moves WchT Students 07th Lombardy's most celebrated game: playing Black in a Najdorf Sicilian, he defeated future World Champion Boris Spassky at the 1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad. The win, in the heart of the Soviet chess world, helped the U.S. take gold ahead of the USSR, and Lombardy earned the board-one gold medal.
  • 1960.11.02 Lombardy, William James vsPortisch, Lajos 1-0 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Ultra-Symmetrical Variation 58 moves Olympiad-14 Final A A win with the English Opening over Hungarian star Lajos Portisch, a future world top-tier grandmaster and perennial Candidate, played in the final group of the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad.
  • 1960.12.22 Lombardy, William James vsByrne, Robert Eugene 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Makogonov Variation 40 moves USA-ch A King's Indian victory over grandmaster Robert Byrne at the U.S. Championship, part of the strong 1960/61 event in which Lombardy finished second behind Bobby Fischer.
  • 1961.01.02 Berliner, Hans Jack vsLombardy, William James 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Normal Attack 35 moves USA-ch A sharp King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack won as Black over Hans Berliner at the U.S. Championship. Berliner would go on to win the world correspondence championship, making this a notable scalp.
  • 1961.05.30 Larsen, Bent vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Classical Variation 96 moves Zuerich A marathon 96-move Grünfeld win as Black over Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen, one of the West's strongest players and a future Candidate, at the 1961 Zurich tournament.
  • 1968.07.28 Bisguier, Arthur Bernard vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations 40 moves USA-ch19 Rosenwald Trophy A Sicilian win as Black over grandmaster Arthur Bisguier at the 1968 U.S. Championship (the Rosenwald Trophy event), one of Lombardy's wins over a fellow American GM during his priesthood years.
  • 1969.04.25 Lombardy, William James vsHort, Vlastimil 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation 43 moves Zagreb A Rossolimo Sicilian win over Czech grandmaster Vlastimil Hort, one of the world's elite and a Candidate, at Zagreb 1969.
  • 1973.11.03 Lombardy, William James vsQuinteros, Miguel Angel 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Browne Variation 24 moves Manila International A 24-move Najdorf Sicilian attacking miniature over Argentine grandmaster Miguel Quinteros at Manila 1973, finishing with a queen sacrifice and mate. chessgames.com titles it "I'm Just a Bill."
  • 1974.07.30 Timman, Jan H vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Dyckhoff Variation 40 moves IBM A win as Black in the aggressive Ruy Lopez Schliemann over Jan Timman at the 1974 Amsterdam IBM tournament, when the young Dutchman was rising toward the world's top handful of players.
  • 1974.06.29 Lombardy, William James vsFilip, Miroslav 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense 29 moves Olympiad-21 Final A A crisp 29-move Ruy Lopez win over veteran Czech grandmaster and two-time Candidate Miroslav Filip in the final group of the 1974 Nice Olympiad, where Lombardy scored heavily on the U.S. team.
  • 1978.02 Lombardy, William James vsPolugaevsky, Lev 1-0 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Nimzo-English 35 moves Reykjavik International-08 An English Opening win over Soviet grandmaster and Candidate Lev Polugaevsky at Reykjavik 1978, one of Lombardy's finest late-career results against a genuine world-elite opponent.
  • 1979.04.01 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich vsLombardy, William James 0-1 Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation 55 moves Lone Pine op Louis D. Statham Masters At Lone Pine 1979, Lombardy defeated Viktor Korchnoi with Black, a celebrated late-career upset over the recent World Championship challenger.
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