Arthur B. Bisguier
Arthur Bisguier is probably the U.S. grandmaster who has played more people than any other grandmaster. By 1944, at age 15, he placed third at the Bronx Empire Chess Club. He matured enough to graduate to the Manhattan C.C.'s championships, and by 1946, he was advancing at a feverish pace. The 17-year old kept his cool to tie for fifth in the U.S. Open at Pittsburgh, followed by seventh place in 1948. Later that year, he captured the U.S. Junior Championship and impressed enough people to win an invitation to the New York 1948-49 International Tournament.
In 1949, Bisguier recaptured the U.S. Junior Championship and paired that with winning the Manhattan C.C. championship. In 1950, he won the first of his three U.S. Open titles (two other first place ties lost on tiebreaks to Fischer in 1957 and Benko in 1969).
The United States army interrupted his chess career from 1951 to 1953; however, they did allow him to play in the Helsinki Olympiad in 1952. He capped off his stay in Europe by winning the third annual Christmas tournament in Vienna with a stunning 9-2 score and a 2680 performance rating!
After a mediocre performance in the U.S. Open in 1953, he entered the Philadelphia Candidates' Tournament for the U.S. Championship and came through with a first place finish and another over-2600 performance. His meteoric climb to the top culminated with a winning score in the 1954 U.S. Championship, one point ahead of Evans, who had held the title for three years. In 1956, he added the U.S. Open title to his U.S. championship. Most of his play after that was limited to U.S. events. He won National Opens in 1970 (with Evans), 1974 and 1978. He won Lone Pine in 1973, second place in the internal tournament in Puerto Rico in 1969, first place in the Grand Prix in 1980 and first place in the U.S. Senior Open in 1989, thus winning a U.S. championship at every age level of chess.
During Ed Edmondson's tenure as executive director of the USCF, Bisguier was hired to play in any town anywhere in order to give exhibitions and popularize chess and the USCF. For about 20 years, Bisguier was the representative they sent to a state for one or two days to play at a hospital or college or a prison, all so the public could get a shot at the grandmaster and former U.S. champion. He said, "I was delighted to do it. I was very lucky to get so much out of chess. I tried to give something back."