AMarch 13 1962
Centre Daily Times, State College, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, March 13, 1962
And It Has a Senior Master as Coach: University Boasts Only Varsity Chess Team in the United States
Caption: Coach Donald Byrne and two of his Penn State chess players.
The University, rich in athletic lore, now boasts what is believed to be the only varsity chess team in the country.
“Moreover,” says Robert G. Bernreuter, special assistant to the President in charge of student affairs, ”our is the only team in the country with a Senior Master as coach.”
Even before 32-year-old Donald Byrne came on the scene, a small but enthusiastic band of students had persuaded the University to grant varsity status to its chess team.
The coming of Mr. Byrne, who has been ranked with the top 10 players in the country for a decade or more, gave new impetus to a movement which now has spread from the main campus to the University's 14 two-year centers scattered throughout the State.
“There's at least one chess board in every residence hall on our campus,” Mr. Bernreuter reports. “Some 40 or 50 chess players come together at least once a week to play and to learn more about the game from Coach Byrne.”
Mr. Byrne is dividing his time between chess and his teaching stint in the English department. He also has returned to tournament play, after several years of inactivity, and fully expects to retain his standing as one of the nation's top players.
“The campus-wide interest in chess intrigued me,” Mr. Byrne says, “and I accepted the Penn State position primarily because I was convinced there was a future for the sport here.”
In two short years, the “Blue and White Knights” have established themselves as a power to be reckoned with and this winter emerged victorious in their first six matches. A yearly schedule of 12 to 15 matches is contemplated.
Coach Byrne is no Botvinnik, but he has scored some impressive victories. He learned the game at age 7 from his brother, Robert, two years his senior, in their Brooklyn, N.Y., home. After that first day, the two brothers worked hard and rose in ability together. Both have been listed with America's top ten.
Donald Byrne became a recognized master in 1946 when, at the age of 16, he finished fourth in the U.S. Open chess tournament. He numbers among his achievements the defeat of the then Russian champion, Yuri Auerbach, three games out of four, in 1953.
He earned his bachelor's degree at Yale University, and his master's at the University of Michigan. He taught at Olivet College in Michigan for one year and at Valparaiso University in Indian for three years before accepting his present assignment.
