Peter Winston (chess player)


Peter Jonathan Winston was an American chess player from New York City. He shared first prize in the 1974 U.S. Junior Chess Championship. Winston disappeared in mysterious circumstances in January 1978. His last published FIDE rating was 2220.

Disappearance

In late 1977, Winston attended a FIDE-rated tournament at Hunter College High School in New York City. Despite being one of the highest-rated players in the tournament, Winston lost all nine of his games. A few months later, on January 26, 1978, following further surprising game losses, Peter Winston vanished and was never heard from again. According to some sources, Winston's disappearance occurred when he left his home without money, identification, or luggage during a severe winter storm. Many chess players who were close to or acquainted with Winston claim that the champion chess player's mental health had deteriorated, along with his game performance, in the last few years of his life, and that the decline in his mental health may have led to his disappearance.

Notable games

In the following game, Winston decisively defeats six-time U.S. Champion Walter Browne. Winston annotated the game in the October 1972 Chess Life & Review, pages 625–26.