Donald Byrne
(1930-1976 )
Byrne neared the pinnacle of world chess in the 1950s, armed with an aggressive, no-draw style. In the 1954 USA-USSR team match, he stunned world title candidate and Soviet champion Averbakh, +3 – 1, and then won a brilliancy prize against the great Efim Geller in the 1955 return match. Byrne won the 1953 US Open and was on 3 US Olympiad teams. Although plagued by illness, Byrne still beat or drew world champions Smyslov, Fischer, Petrosian and Tal. Professionally, Byrne was an associate professor at Penn State University, where he was beloved by the chess team he coached.