Gyula Breyer

Gyula Breyer (April 30, 1893 Budapest – November 9, 1921) was a Hungarian chess player. In 1912 Breyer won the Hungarian championship in Temesvar. He had a plus record against Max Euwe (later world champion).

Breyer died in Bratislava of a heart attack in 1921. He was buried in Bratislava and after exhumation in 1987, was reburied in the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest.

Legacy

Breyer was a leading member of the hypermodern school of chess theory, which favored controlling the center with pressure from the flanks. He is recognized for the Breyer Variation in the Ruy Lopez, which involves Black re-routing his queen's knight to d7 for increased flexibility (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7). This line became fashionable in the 1960s, and a favourite of ex-world champion Boris Spassky. He is also recognized for the Breyer Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Qf3), a variation of the King's Gambit. He was an early adopter of the Slav Defense (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6) at a time when the Queen's Gambit Declined was Black's most common response to the Queen's Gambit. It is possible that Breyer was one of the Slavs who contributed to the defense's name.

Sample game

Euwe–Breyer, Vienna 1921: 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 e5 4.dxe5 Nxe5 5.f4 Nc6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 d6 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.0-0 Qd7 10.Qe1 0-0-0 11.Ng5 dxe5 12.Kh1 f6 13.Nf7 Na5 14.Nxd8 Nxc4 15.Qe4 Nd6 16.Qb4 Be7 17.fxe5 fxe5 18.Nxb7 Nxb7 19.Rf8+ Bxf8 20.Qxf8+ Qd8 21.Qxg7 Nf6 22.Bg5 Rg8 23.Qh6 Rg6 24.Qh4 Nd6 25.Rf1 Nf5 26.Qxg4 Nxg4 27.Bxd8 Nge3 28.Rf3 Kxd8 29.h3 Rg3 30.Rxg3 Nxg3+ 0–1

External links

• Gyula Breyer player profile and games at Chessgames.com
• An amazing game against Esser
• Gyula Breyer dictum: after 1 e4 White’s game is in the last throes
• A retrograde problem of Breyer