Larry Evans, Chess Champ, Dies at 78

[madinmaryland]

Larry Evans, a five-time United States chess champion and prolific writer who helped Bobby Fischer win the world championship in 1972, died Monday in Reno, Nev. He was 78.

Mr. Evans, who lived in Reno, died of complications of gall bladder surgery, according to the Web site of the United States Chess Federation, the governing body for the game.

Though Mr. Evans was a grandmaster, he was best known for his writing; he had a syndicated chess column for decades and wrote more than 20 books, among them “New Ideas in Chess,” “Modern Chess Brilliancies” and “The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes.”

Mr. Evans was an editor of the 10th edition of “Modern Chess Openings,” long a mainstay for tournament players. He also founded American Chess Quarterly and edited it from 1961 to 1965. The book that Mr. Evans was probably most famous for was one on which he assisted: Mr. Fischer’s “My 60 Memorable Games.” He cajoled and exhorted Mr. Fischer to finish the book, edited and helped him with the prose and wrote introductions to all the games.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/us/18evans.html?hpw

[Jack Rabbit]

1. He was the runner up to Bobby Fischer in the 1964 US Championship

Fischer score a perfect 11 points in 11 rounds. At the awards ceremony, Hans Kmoch congratulated Evans for winning the tournament and Fischer for winning the exhibition.

[bluedigger]

2. RIP, Mr. Evans.

I'd like to think I was instrumental in his research for “The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes.”