Elod Macskasy ( hu, Macskásy Előd) (7 April 1919 – 21 January 1990) was a Hungarian-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 disti ...

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

. He was a

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

professor, and also competed in

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

for

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

at the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Early life and education

Elod Macskasy was born in Arad, which at the time was part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, but was shortly afterwards ceded to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in ...

. He completed his early schooling there, and at the age of 16 won the chess championship of the city. He studied

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

from 1937 to 1942, at the Pázmány Péter University, earning his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

. During this time, he competed with some success in team and student chess tournaments.

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 ...

''100 Years of Chess in Canada''
Chess Federation of Canada, 1967 Macskasy scored 1/1 on the first reserve board for Hungary at the 2nd Balkaniad,

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

1947, and his team won the gold medals. In 1947, he gained the Hungarian

National 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 pre ...

title following his performance in the 1947 Hungarian championship. Perhaps his best Hungarian result occurred in 1952, when he won a Master tournament ahead of

Árpád Vajda Árpád Vajda (2 May 1896, Rimaszombat (Rimavská Sobota) – 25 October 1967, Budapest) was a Hungarian chess master. He was also a Doctor of Law and State Science, and worked as chief of police in Budapest. Vajda was Hungarian Champion in 192 ...

István Bilek István Bilek (11 August 1932 – 20 March 2010) was a Hungarian chess grandmaster. He was a three-time Hungarian Chess Champion. Biography Bilek was a three-time Hungarian Champion (1963, 1965, and 1970), and he played in interzonals in 196 ...

and

Károly Honfi Károly Honfi (October 25, 1930 in Budapest – August 14, 1996 in Budapest) was a Hungarian chess player who held the chess title of International Master. Honfi was posthumously awarded the title of Grandmaster. Biography Honfi was born in Bud ...

. Macskasy co-authored a book on the 1952 Hungarian championship.

Life in Canada

Following the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, he emigrated to Canada, where he secured a position as professor of mathematics at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He was a surprise winner of the 1958 Canadian Open championship, at

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 749,6 ...

, ahead of Grandmaster Larry Evans, with 9/10.bcchesshistory.com Macskasy won the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Championship for five straight years, from 1958 to 1962, and shared this title in 1967. He continued to play often in this event, generally scoring well, into the late 1980s. In 1961, he played an eight-game match with

, Canada's top player, in Vancouver, losing by (+2 =1 -5); the match assisted Yanofsky's preparation for the 1962 Interzonal. Macskasy competed several times in the

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 st ...

, generally with good results. At

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...

1961, he tied for 5-6th, with 6/11. At Winnipeg 1963, he was third, with 10/15. At Vancouver 1965, he finished tied 4-5th, with 6.5/11. At

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 ancho ...

1972, he scored 8.5/17 for a tied 12-13th. At Calgary 1975, at age 56, he struggled with 5/15 for a shared 12-13th. In the early 1960s, he had a Canadian Chess Federation rating of 2400, indicating a player of

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 ...

strength, however, he was never awarded a title by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

. Macskasy served as co-editor of the magazine ''Canadian Chess Chat'' for many years from the late 1950s. Macskasy represented Canada twice at

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

s: 1964 at

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

on board 4: 5/13 (+3 = 4 -6); 1968 at

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

on board 3: 6.5/13 (+4 =5 -4).olimpbase.org, the Elod Macskasy player file He remained a strong player throughout his life, maintaining a rating of over 2200 until his last tournament, the 1989 Paul Keres memorial in Vancouver. Macskasy died unexpectedly on 21 January 1990, at age 70.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macskasy, Elod 1919 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Hungarian mathematicians 20th-century chess players Canadian chess players Canadian chess writers Canadian mathematicians Chess Olympiad competitors Eötvös Loránd University alumni Hungarian chess players Hungarian chess writers Hungarian emigrants to Canada Hungarian refugees Olympic swimmers of Hungary People from Arad, Romania Swimmers from Vancouver University of British Columbia faculty Writers from Vancouver