Albert Sidney Pinkus (20 March 1903 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– 4 February 1984 in New York) was an American

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

and writer. In 1943 and 1944, he published an analysis of the

Two Knights Defense The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensiv ...

in ''

Chess Review ''Chess Review'' was a U.S. chess magazine published from January 1933 to October 1969 (Volume 37 Number 10). Until April 1941 it was called ''The Chess Review''. Published in New York, it began on a schedule of at least ten issues a year but lat ...

''. His main career was as an

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

of remote regions, from which he brought back zoological and botanical specimens.

Biography

Pinkus won the Hallgarten Tournament in 1925, and the Junior Masters' Tournament in 1927. In both events he out-scored

Isaac Kashdan Isaac Kashdan (November 19, 1905 in New York City – February 20, 1985 in Los Angeles) was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was twice U.S. Open champion (1938, 1947). He played five times for the United States in chess Olymp ...

Explorer

In 1932, he embarked on a series of ten expeditions to the jungles of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

to collect zoological and botanical specimens.

Stockbroker

In 1939, he returned to New York to work on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

as a stockbroker and resumed his chess career. He tied for fourth/fifth at New York 1940 (

US Chess Championship The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the United States chess champion. Begun as a challenge match in 1845, the U.S. Championship has been decided by tournament play for most of its long history. Since 1936, i ...

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-1960 ...

won), tied for third/fourth at Ventnor City 1941 ( Jacob Levin won), tied for third at New York 1942 (US championship, Reshevsky won), shared third at Ventnor City 1942 (

Daniel Yanofsky Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian chess player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian ...

won), took fifth place at New York 1944 (US championship,

Arnold Denker Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 21, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player and author. He was U.S. champion in 1944 and 1946. In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States ...

won), and tied for second/third at Ventnor City 1944 (Levin won). Pinkus won twice in the

Manhattan Chess Club The Manhattan Chess Club in Manhattan was the second-oldest chess club in the United States (next to the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco) before it closed. The club was founded in 1877 and started with three dozen men, eventually ...

Championship (1941 and 1945) and shared second in 1955. He also won the New York State Chess Championship in 1947. He played in several radio matches: USA vs. USSR (1945), New York vs. La Plata (1947), USA vs. Yugoslavia (1950). Although he was never awarded an international title in chess, his peak playing strength places him at or close to the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

class.

References

External links

* 1903 births 1984 deaths American explorers American naturalists 20th-century American Jews American chess players Jewish chess players American chess writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century chess players 20th-century naturalists {{US-chess-bio-stub