Fischer had not played any “name” players save Santasiere leading up to this event in the fall of 1956. He became the youngest USA Junior Chess Champion earlier that year, scoring 8.5/10. One can reasonably infer that he was invited to this particular tournament, which featured well-known American players such as Reshevsky, Mednis, Bisguier and Larry Evans, all of whom would make their mark in the American chess world.
The tournament was the Rosenwald Memorial, held at the fabled Marshall Chess Club (23 West 10th Street #2, likely never to be relocated). The game was played on a Wednesday, so it likely took place that evening.
Exactly one week earlier Ebbets Field hosted Game 7 of the World Series; Yogi Berra hit two two-run home runs to deep right field and Johnny Kucks pitched a 3-hit complete game shutout. The Yankees Beat The Dodgers Again 9-0 for Yet Another NYY Championship during the longest continuous athletic sports dynasty on record.
Donald Byrne (1930-1976) was in his mid-twenties and had already established his name on the contemporaneously-thin international chess world. He won the US Open in 1953, and was a frequent competitor/captain for the USA in five Olympiads from 1962-1972. One notable performance was in the USA v USSR 1954 NYC match where he scored 3/4 against none other than Yuri Averbakh; the Soviets nevertheless demolished the Americans 20-12.
Byrne was known as outgoing and encouraging to his fellow chess players. One recorded incident of his ability to get along with all stripes of the chess zebra was during the 1966 Olympiad in Havana, when Fischer was scheduled to play on a Friday, the day of the sabbath in his religion at the time. Due to Byrne’s efforts, all sides saved face, the game was rescheduled, and Fidel Castro (the official host of the Olympiad) gave Byrne a handsome hand-carved chess set as a token of gratitude.
For the thirteen-year old Robert James Fischer, this was a coming-of-age game that was followed by a horde of remarkable performances for most of his next sixteen years which culminated in his becoming the 11th World Chess Champion.
Hans Kmoch was the arbiter of the event, and allegedly immediately dubbed it “The Game of the Century”. A picture of Fischer during the game graced the December issue of Chess Review that year.
