Larry M. Evans
It is certainly arguable that Evans' impact on chess journalism and politics is as dramatic as Fischer's impact on play and the nature of the world championship. Like Fischer, Evans was a rising young star, a 14-year-old wonder and the youngest U.S. champion ever. The key difference between Evans and Fischer was advanced by Evans after his victory in the 1961-1962 U.S. Championship.
Early on, Evans was absorbed by the game. "In order to be good at chess, you had to play in New York City. I played for 10 cents an hour on 42nd Street. I loved the game and continued to play despite admonitions to the contrary."
By 1950, Evans had three Marshall championships, a New York State championship and a gold medal in the Dubrovnik Olympiad. The 19-year old left no doubt in anyone's mind about his world-class credentials. He blitzed through 1951 U.S. championship ahead of Reshevsky who, to that point, had never been second in any U.S. championship he participated in. Evans had also tied for first with Fine in the Sextangular Masters' Tournament in New York and won the first of four U.S. Open championships. In 1952, Evans defended his U.S. title by decisively defeating Herman Steiner for the championship.
After 1954, his major U.S. tournament successes were to be three more U.S. championships (1961-62, 1968 and 1980 with Browne and Christiansen), one more U.S. Open (1971 with Browne), a national Open (1970 with Bisguier), the first Lone Pine tournament (1971), American Open (1971) and the U.S. Senior Championship (with Curdo) in 1982. He was a member of eight Olympiad teams over 26 years.
International tournaments, though infrequent, demonstrated his high level of play: Buenos Aires, 1960, fourth ahead of Fischer; Capablanca Memorial, 1964, fourth; Venice, 1967, second equal (with Petrosian) and a first in the 1975 Portiman International in Portuagal.
He has been a columnist for 40 years and wrote at least 23 books. Before he was 18, he had already published Dave Bronstein's Best Games of Chess, 1944-1949 and the Vienna International Tournament, 1922, both of which are collector's items today. His New Ideas in Chess (1957) became such a classic that his concepts are still being copied by today's authors. Modern Chess Openings (10th edition), more than any other edition, was practically revered as an openings manual by an entire generation of chess players.
Evans has been a chess ambassador for the U.S. State Department to Europe. He founded The American Chess Quarterly (1961-65). He was a guest commentator for ABC's "Wide World of Sports." His syndicated column has appeared in everything from the Denver Post and Washington Post to Boy's Life.