Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian Chess Champion.

Early life

Yanofsky was born to a Jewish family in

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

, Poland (now western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), and moved to Canada when he was eight months old, settling with his family in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Life in chess

Early successes

He learned to play chess at the age of eight. Yanofsky won his first

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

provincial championship at age 12 in 1937, also making his debut in the Closed

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 World Cup s ...

that same year in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. In 1939, just 14 years old, he played for Canada at the

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...

. Yanofsky was the sensation of the tournament, making the highest score on second board. He won his first

in 1941 at age 16, at home in Winnipeg. He won at Ventnor City 1942 with 6.5/9, and tied 1st-2nd with

Herman Steiner Herman Steiner (April 15, 1905 – November 25, 1955) was an American chess player, organizer, and columnist. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1948 and became International Master in 1950. Even more important than his playing career were his ...

on 16/17 in the 1942 U.S. Open at

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

First Commonwealth GM

In 1946, at age 21, Yanofsky entered the first top-class post-war tournament, at Groningen, and defeated Soviet champion and tournament winner Mikhail Botvinnik, winning the brilliancy prize. During the next two years, he played several more European events, where his best result was second place behind

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

1946. Yanofsky represented Canada at the

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the C ...

s held in

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon W ...

1948 and Stockholm 1962. He won the British Championship in 1953. At Dallas 1957 chess tournament, Yanofsky achieved his first grandmaster norm with wins over

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...

, Friðrik Ólafsson and Larry Evans. His performance at the Tel Aviv 1964 Olympiad earned him his second grandmaster norm, and the title, thereby becoming the first grandmaster raised in the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

Eight-time Canadian champion

Yanofsky, winner in 1941, repeated as Canadian Champion in 1943, 1945, 1947, 1953, 1959, 1963, and 1965; his eight titles is a Canadian record (tied with

Maurice Fox Maurice Fox (14 January 1898 in Ukraine, Russian Empire – 25 June 1988 in Montreal) was a Canadian chess master. He won the Canadian Chess Championship eight times, and is tied for the most Canadian titles with Abe Yanofsky. Biography At ...

Eleven Olympiad appearances

He represented Canada at eleven Olympiads: ( Buenos Aires 1939, 2nd board, , Amsterdam 1954 1st board, , Munich 1958, 1st board, , Tel Aviv 1964, 1st board, , Havana 1966, 1st board, , Lugano 1968, 1st board, , Siegen 1970, 1st board, , Skopje 1972, 2nd board, , Nice 1974, 3rd board, , Haifa 1976, 3rd board, , and La Valletta 1980), 3rd board, ). His Olympiad totals are: (+50 =54 -37), for 54.6 per cent. His eleven Olympiad appearances is surpassed among Canadians only by IM

Lawrence Day Lawrence Alexander Day (born 1 February 1949 in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Canadian chess player, author, and journalist who holds the FIDE title of International Master. He represented Canada at 13 Chess Olympiads. Early life As a youth in O ...

(thirteen). His total of 141 games played in Olympiads is the Canadian record among men, second only to Nava Starr's 147.

Further tournament successes

Further tournament titles included

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1946 (tied with Karel Opocensky and Ludek Pachman),

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

1947,

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

1952-53 (tied with

Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth to ...

, Jonathan Penrose, and Antonio Medina), and the Canadian Open Chess Championship 1979 (

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

). Yanofsky placed second at Hastings 1951-52 behind

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...

, and second at Netanya 1968 behind Robert Fischer.

Later years

Yanofsky had the lead organizer role for Canada's first supergrandmaster tournament at Winnipeg 1967, to mark Canada's Centennial, and also played in the tournament, winning the Brilliancy Prize for his victory over László Szabó. The Winnipeg tournament was jointly won by

Bent Larsen Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second strongest non-Soviet player, behind Bobby Fischer, for much of the 19 ...

and

Klaus Darga Klaus Viktor Darga (born 24 February 1934) is a German chess grandmaster. Chess career In 1951, Darga became German Junior Champion after winning the national under-20 championship. He also proved his strength as a young chess player by sharing ...

. Yanofsky earned the FIDE

International Arbiter {{No footnotes, date=April 2022 In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed. International Arbiter ''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed ...

title in 1977. He played in his final Canadian Championship in 1986 at age 61 at home in Winnipeg, and qualified for another

appearance, placing tied 3rd-5th with 9.5/15, but generously ceded that opportunity in favour of a younger player. He returned to Groningen in 1996 for the 50th anniversary reunion tournament among the 1946 event's surviving players. Following Yanofsky's death in 2000, an annual Memorial Tournament has been held in Winnipeg to honor his wide-ranging contributions to Canadian chess.

Education, naval service, and professional legal career

Except for a short period, from 1946 to 1948, Yanofsky never concentrated full-time on chess. He entered the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

during World War II (1944-1946). He graduated with a law degree from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

(1951–1953). Following graduation, he practised law in Winnipeg, with his brother Harry, who was also a chess master. Daniel Yanofsky argued several cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Political career

He was mayor of the Winnipeg suburb of West Kildonan, and served on the

Winnipeg City Council The Winnipeg City Council (french: Conseil municipal de Winnipeg) is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gen ...

in the 1959 provincial election as a candidate of the Liberal-Progressive Party. He finished third against Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate David Orlikow in the St. Johns constituency. He was also a contributor to the development of the Seven Oaks General Hospital and the Wellness Institute.

Honours

In 1972, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. In 1980, he was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

. In 2000, he was inducted as a charter member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.

Major writings

* ''Chess The Hard Way'' (1st and 2nd editions) * ''How to Win End-games'' * ''100 Years of Chess in Canada'' (1967) * served as Editor of the magazine ''Canadian Chess Chat'' for many years * wrote a weekly chess column for the newspaper ''Winnipeg Free Press'' * wrote the tournament book for the ''First Canadian Open, Montreal 1956''. * edited the tournament book for the Winnipeg 1967 Grandmasters' tournament.

Notable chess games

Daniel Yanofsky vs Alberto Ismodes, Buenos Aires Olympiad 1939, French, Classical (C11), 1-0
14-year-old Yanofsky unleashes a pretty rook sacrifice against Alberto Ismodes Dulanto to win the game, which was highly praised by World Champion

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

.
Daniel Yanofsky vs Mikhail Botvinnik, Groningen 1946, Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin (C99), 1-0
In a Brilliancy Prize game, the young Canadian stuns the Soviet champion and Groningen event winner.
Viacheslav Ragozin vs Daniel Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden Interzonal 1948, French, Classical (C13), 0-1
Yanofsky coolly gives up his queen to forestall the experienced Soviet GM's dangerous attacking chances.
Samuel Reshevsky vs Daniel Yanofsky, Tel Aviv Olympiad 1964, Grunfeld (D93), 0-1
Yanofsky sacrifices a piece to entomb White's bishop and ruin his pawn structure, leading to a strategical masterpiece.
Laszlo Szabo vs Daniel Yanofsky, Winnipeg 1967, King's Indian (E70), 0-1
A lovely thematic dark-square King's Indian game which won the Brilliancy Prize.

References

External links

* * * *

at CanadianChess.info * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanofsky, Daniel 1925 births 2000 deaths People from Brody Chess grandmasters Canadian chess players Canadian military personnel of World War II Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish Canadian writers Lawyers in Manitoba Sportspeople from Winnipeg Writers from Winnipeg Jewish chess players Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Polish emigrants to Canada Ukrainian Jews Officers of the Order of Canada Liberal-Progressive Party candidates in Manitoba provincial elections University of Manitoba alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Canadian chess writers Chess arbiters Chess Olympiad competitors Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent 20th-century Canadian lawyers Canadian King's Counsel Robson Hall alumni 20th-century chess players 20th-century non-fiction writers