Peter Biyiasas
Encyclopedia
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster. He was Canadian champion in 1972 and 1975, represented Canada with fine success on four Olympiad teams, played in two Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
s. He moved to the United States in 1979, settling in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He has been retired from competitive play since the mid-1980s, and works as a computer programmer. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a frequent training partner of Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
, who stayed at his home in San Francisco for extended periods.
Early years
Biyiasas was born in Athens, Greece, moved to Canada as a young boy, and grew up in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. He won the first of his four British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
chess championships in 1968; he would repeat in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He played in the 1969 Closed Canadian Chess Championship
Canadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
in Pointe Claire, and finished in the middle of the field, as Duncan Suttles
Duncan Suttles
Duncan Suttles is an International Grandmaster of chess who was the strongest Canadian player between the eras of Abe Yanofsky and Kevin Spraggett. He is one of the few over-the-board grandmasters who also holds the title of Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess. Suttles has been inactive in...
won. Biyiasas was of National Master strength by this time. He represented Canada as second reserve on its bronze medal-winning team at the 1971 World Students' Olympiad in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, where he scored 5/7 (+4 −1 =2). He graduated from the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He won the first of his three British Columbia Open titles in 1972, and repeated in 1976 and 1978.
Canadian Champion, International Master
Biyiasas won the Zonal Closed Canadian Championship, TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
1972, with 12/17, half a point ahead of Lawrence Day
Lawrence Day
Lawrence Day is a Canadian chess International Master, author, and journalist. He has represented Canada at 13 Chess Olympiads.- Early life :...
and George Kuprejanov. For this, he earned the International Master title, as did Day and Kuprejanov. It marked an enormous leap in class for him in just one year, from second reserve on the Canadian student team to national champion.
Biyiasas tied for 1st–4th places at Norristown 1973 at 7.5/11, along with Kenneth Rogoff
Kenneth Rogoff
Kenneth Saul "Ken" Rogoff is currently the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He is also a chess Grandmaster.-Early life:...
, Bruno Parma
Bruno Parma
Bruno Parma is a Slovene chess player and Grandmaster.Parma was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia . He first played in the World Junior Chess Championship in 1959, sharing second place...
, and Herman Pilnik
Herman Pilnik
Herman Pilnik was an Argentine chess Grandmaster.-Career:...
. He struggled in his first super-strong tournament, the 1973 Petropolis
Petrópolis
Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro....
Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
, with 6.5/17, for 15th place, as Henrique Mecking
Henrique Mecking
Henrique Mecking was a leading Brazilian chess Grandmaster in the 1970s. He was a very strong player at an early age , drawing comparisons to Bobby Fischer, although he did not achieve the International Grandmaster title until 1971...
won. But he stayed on in Brazil for the São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
event, and placed respectably with 6.5/13. Biyiasas won the British Columbia Diamond Jubilee Open in 1973, and repeated in 1974 and 1976.
He notched a strong third place at the 1974 Pan American Championship in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
with 11/15, as Walter Browne won. He tied with Kim Commons for the American Open title in 1974. He repeated as Canadian champion in the Zonal at Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
1975 with 12/15, half a point ahead of Kevin Spraggett
Kevin Spraggett
Kevin Spraggett is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He is the fourth Canadian to earn the grandmaster title, after Abe Yanofsky, Duncan Suttles and Peter Biyiasas. Spraggett is the only Canadian to have qualified for the Candidates' level, having done so in 1985 and 1988...
. This earned him another Interzonal chance at Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
1976, but he again found the company too strong, finishing with 6/19 for 17th place, as Mecking won again.
Medals in Olympiads
Biyiasas made four appearances for Canada in chess OlympiadOlympiad
An Olympiad is a period of four years, associated with the Olympic Games of Classical Greece. In the Hellenistic period, beginning with Ephorus, Olympiads were used as calendar epoch....
competition. He won board medals on three occasions, including a silver and two bronzes, scored (+28 −7 =18) overall, for 70 per cent, and helped Canada to some of its best-ever team finishes in 1976 (8th) and 1978 (11th).
- 1972 SkopjeSkopjeSkopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
board 4: 11.5/15 (+8 −0 =7), bronze medal; - 1974 NiceNiceNice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
board 2: 9.5/17 (+7 −5 =5); - 1976 HaifaHaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
board 1: 7.5/10 (+6 −1 =3); bronze medal; - 1978 Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
board 2: 9/12 (+7 −1 =4); silver medal.
Grandmaster
Biyiasas made an excellent tied 3rd–4th at New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
1977 with 8.5/14, as Leonid Shamkovich
Leonid Shamkovich
Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich was a chess Grandmaster, and chess writer.He was born in a Jewish family in Rostov-on-Don in Russia...
and Andrew Soltis
Andrew Soltis
Andrew Eden Soltis is a chess Grandmaster, author and columnist.He won at Reggio Emilia 1971–72 and was equal first at New York 1977. He was awarded the International Master title in 1974 and became a Grandmaster in 1980...
won. In the Canadian Zonal, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
1978, he finished 2nd with 10/15, as Jean Hebert
Jean Hébert
Jean Hébert is a Canadian International Master of chess, an International Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and a chess writer, journalist, and commentator. He is the current Canadian chess champion, a title he first won in 1978. He tied for this title in 2007 as well, but lost in playoffs...
won. He was granted the Grandmaster title in 1978 for his strong New York and Buenos Aires Olympiad performances.
Biyiasas scored 7.5/14 at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1978–79 to tie for 7th–10th places, as Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972 .-Career:...
won. He won the 1979 Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
Memorial tournament in Vancouver. He immigrated to the US in 1979, working in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
as an IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
computer programmer. Biyiasas scored 6.5/15 at Hastings 1979–80 for 13th place, as Andersson won again. One of his strongest career results came in a very strong field at Wijk aan Zee
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
1980, where he made 7.5/13 to tie for 4th–6th places, as Browne and Yasser Seirawan won. He scored an excellent 2nd place at Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the Central Banat District of Serbia...
1980. He played in the United States Chess Championship at Greenville
Greenville
Greenville is the name of several places:In Canada:* Laxgalts'ap, British Columbia, formerly named Greenville*Greenville, Nova Scotia, in Yarmouth County*Greenville Station, Nova Scotia, in Cumberland County...
1980, finishing just below 50 per cent.
Biyiasas won several tournaments in the San Francisco area, while visiting, and after moving there. These included four titles in the Carroll Capps Memorial (1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985); and four titles in the Arthur Stamer Memorial (1978, 1979, 1982, and 1984). These events were organized by the Mechanics Institute Chess Room. During a four-month period in 1981, Biyiasas played 17 five-minute games with Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
, who was staying in his apartment at the time. Fischer, although he had been absent from competitive play for nine years, won all 17 games. Biyiasas said that he didn't think Fischer had lost anything in form, despite the layoff.
Biyiasas generally favoured unusual openings, staying away from mainline Sicilians after opening with 1.e4. He tended towards King's Indian Attack formations, and aimed to get play into maneuvering channels.
Biyiasas has been retired from competitive chess since 1985. He was married to Ruth Haring, a Women's International Master. They have three children, Lauren, Tina, and Theodore. His current FIDE rating is 2450. The site chessgames.com has a selection of 140 of his games.
Notable chess games
- Peter Biyiasas vs Werner Hug, Petropolis Interzonal 1973, Sicilian Defence (B40), 1–0 A very attractive miniature.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Efim Geller, Petropolis Interzonal 1973, Sicilian Defence, Moscow / Rossolimo Variation (B52), 1–0 The young Canadian knocks off one of the world's top players.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Mato Damjanovic, Lone Pine 1975, Sicilian Defence / King's Indian Attack (B30), 1–0 Typical Biyiasas win with an unusual opening and plenty of maneuvering.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Kevin Spraggett, Canadian Zonal Championship, Calgary 1975, Sicilian Defence / King's Indian Attack (B40), 1–0 The key game which decided that tournament, between the top two finishers.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Eugenio Torre, Manila Interzonal 1976, King's Indian Defence, Saemisch Variation (E81), 1–0 Broadening his opening repertoire.
- Stefano Tatai vs Peter Biyiasas, Haifa Olympiad 1976, Ruy Lopez, Fianchetto / Smyslov Defence (C60), 0–1 Another unusual opening brings success.
- Jonathan Speelman vs Peter Biyiasas, Lone Pine 1978, English Opening, Great Snake (A10), 0–1 Experimental but successful.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Evgeni Vasiukov, Hastings 1978–79, King's Indian Attack (A07), 1–0 A strong Soviet GM learns to respect the eccentric style of Biyiasas.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Jan Timman, Wijk aan Zee 1980, Sicilian Defence, Moscow / Rossolimo Variation (B50), 1–0 Timman was one of the highest-rated players in the world for 20 years.
- Peter Biyiasas vs Lev Alburt, Lone Pine 1981, Zukertort Opening (A00), 1–0 Another patient strategical grind.