Notable Games
William Lombardy
15 celebrated games · 340 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Selimanov – Lombardy · 1957 · 0–1
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.
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Gerusel – Lombardy · 1957 · 0–1
"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.
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Cardoso – Lombardy · 1957 · 0–1
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.
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Reshevsky – Lombardy · 1957 · 0–1
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.
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Spassky – Lombardy · 1960 · 0–1
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.
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Lombardy – Portisch · 1960 · 1–0
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.
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Lombardy – Byrne · 1960 · 1–0
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.
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Berliner – Lombardy · 1961 · 0–1
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.
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Larsen – Lombardy · 1961 · 0–1
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.
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Bisguier – Lombardy · 1968 · 0–1
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.
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Lombardy – Hort · 1969 · 1–0
A Rossolimo Sicilian win over Czech grandmaster Vlastimil Hort, one of the world's elite and a Candidate, at Zagreb 1969.
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Lombardy – Quinteros · 1973 · 1–0
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."
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Timman – Lombardy · 1974 · 0–1
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.
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Lombardy – Filip · 1974 · 1–0
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.
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Lombardy – Polugaevsky · 1978 · 1–0
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.
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