William Lombardy - Life and Career

Life and Career

He won the 1956 Canadian Open Chess Championship. In 1956, at the age of 18, he lost a match versus Samuel Reshevsky by the score of 3.5-2.5. In 1957, Lombardy became the first American to win the World Junior Chess Championship. He won the tournament in Toronto with a perfect score of 11-0, the only time such a result has been achieved.

Lombardy played first board for the US Team that won the 1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad, USSR, the first time the US Team won that event (they would win again at Haifa 1970). Lombardy defeated future world champion Boris Spassky in their individual game. Lombardy won a gold medal for best result on first board in that event.

Lombardy represented his country in several Chess Olympiads, and played many times in the US Chess Championship. Lombardy finished second in the 1960-61 US Championship behind Bobby Fischer and ahead of Raymond Weinstein and a star-studded field. With this result, Lombardy qualified to compete in the Interzonal tournament in Stockholm for the right to advance to a match for the world championship. However, Lombardy decided to retire from chess to become a Catholic priest. Before retiring, he lost a match to Larry Evans by the score of 5.5-4.5. Lombardy was ordained in 1967.

In 1972, Fischer was scheduled to play a match against Spassky for the world championship]. However, Fischer had a falling out with Evans, who had been Fischer's second in his successful matches against Tigran Petrosian and Bent Larsen. Fischer called upon Lombardy to help him with the match. Although Lombardy was still a priest, he was allowed to take time off from the priesthood to go to Reykjavík, Iceland to serve as the official second to Fischer during the World Chess Championship 1972, between Fischer and Spassky. Nevertheless Fischer often did not make use of his services. Don Schultz remembers the following conversation: Lombardy to Fischer 'That's a difficult position. Let's go back to the hotel and analyze it.' Fischer replied 'What do you mean, analyze? That guy's a fish. Let's go bowling.' According to Lombardy, this story is inaccurate. Fischer won the match and became world champion.

Lombardy won or tied for first in the U.S. Open Chess Championship three times. He took clear first at Chicago 1963 and twice tied with Pal Benko; first at Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1965 and then at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975.

In 1978 and 1979, Lombardy served as the lead instructor at an "all day", week long chess camp at Michigan State University. This was perhaps the first camp of its type in the United States and attracted juniors from all over the country.

In addition to his victory against Spassky, Lombardy scored at least one win against such world class players as Ulf Andersson, Pal Benko, Walter Browne, Robert Byrne, Larry Christiansen, Larry Evans, Vlastimil Hort, Victor Korchnoi, Bent Larsen, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Tony Miles, Lev Polugaevsky, Lajos Portisch, Samuel Reshevsky, and Jan Timman.

In the early 1980s, Lombardy left the priesthood and subsequently married. He is now retired and lives in the East Village of New York City, where he is writing and sells chess lessons at his home and by appointment elsewhere. He has published his biographical games collection: Understanding Chess: My System, My Games, My Life.