Come join us to pay tribute to Shelby Lyman.

Scheduled speakers (listed alphabetically):

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Obituaries

New York Times
Newsday
US Chess

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Tribute by FM Asa Hoffman

Shelby Lyman recently passed away.

I first met Shelby Lyman in the early 60’s at the Chess and Checker Club of New York, aka the Flea House. He was already a well-known master, having been taught by his uncle Harry Lyman from New England. We played many spirited sessions of blitz chess and Scrabble. He was ferociously competitive and a worthy opponent. I also played him a couple of games in the Marshall Chess Club Championship, which he won in 1964.

In 1972, Shelby began his famous show on PBS covering the games of the World Championship Match in Iceland between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. I well remember some of his regular guests on the show: GM Reshevsky, IM Mednis, IM Sherwin, NM Bruce Pandolfini, WIM Rachel Crotto (and especially NM Steve Brandwein who was dragged off the show for making inflammatory political statements). The show also featured guest appearance by many others including talented junior players. The show caught the public’s eye and soon had over a million viewers!

Many famous players started playing chess as a result of watching Shelby’s show, including IM Jay Bonin. My wife, Virginia D’Amico Hoffmann was also inspired by his show and rose to be one of the top female players. The show had a mesmerizing effect on people and inspired thousands to start playing serious chess. Shelby’s show was a big part of the “Fischer-boom” in the early 70’s. Alas, the video tapes of the shows appear to have been lost. And now the chess world had lost Shelby Lyman as well. Rest in Peace