Francisco (Franz) Benkö (Benkő, Benko) (24 June 1910 – 11 January 2010) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

–

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

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 and problemist. He was born in Berlin into a Jewish family. His father, Richard Wilhelm Benkö, came from Hungary, and his mother, Alice Josephine Helene Pick, from Austria. In 1928 and 1929, he drew simultaneous games with

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 ...

in Berlin. In 1935, Franz Benkö was the first Jewish chess master in Berlin.''Die Schwalbe'', Heft 226, August 2007 – Archiv Aktuelles > Personalia
/ref> In spring 1936, he emigrated from Germany via Holland to Argentina, because of Nazi policy. Francisco Benkö has played many times in

Argentine Chess Championship The first Argentine Chess Championship was held in 1921. The Champion's title was granted after victorious or drawn match between previous champion and challenger, a winner of ''Torneo Mayor'' (this or the next year). The matches were done away in 1 ...

, from 1937 till 2004 (aged 94). Among others, he took 11th in ''Torneo Mayor'' 1937 (

Jacobo Bolbochán Jacobo Bolbochán (26 December 1906 – 29 July 1984) was an Argentine chess master. He played many times in the Argentine Chess Championships. He won twice (1931 and 1932), both ahead of Isaías Pleci. In 1933, he took 2nd, behind Luis Piazzini. ...

won), took 20th in 1938 ( Roberto Grau won), took 11th in 1939 (

Juan Traian Iliesco Juan Traian Iliesco (born Ion Traian Iliescu) (18 April 1898 in Brăila, Romania – 2 February 1968 in La Plata) was a Romanian Argentine chess master. He played several times in Argentine championships (''Torneo Mayor''). In 1931, he took 12th ...

won), took 12th in 1940 (

Carlos Guimard Carlos Enrique Guimard (6 April 1913 – 11 September 1998) was an Argentine chess Grandmaster. He was born in Santiago del Estero. His granddaughter Isabel Leonard is a celebrated mezzo-soprano. Biography Guimard was thrice Argentine Cha ...

won), tied for 9–10th in 1941 (

Markas Luckis Markas (Marcos) Luckis (17 January 1905, in Pskov – 9 February 1973, in Buenos Aires) was a Lithuanian–Argentine chess master. Biography Luckis twice won the Kaunas City Chess Championship in 1927 and 1928. Markas Luckis played for Lithua ...

won), took 13th in 1945 (

Herman Pilnik Hermann Pilnik (8 January 1914, Stuttgart, Germany – 12 November 1981, Caracas, Venezuela) was a German Argentine chess Grandmaster. Career In 1929, he won the championship of Stuttgart. Pilnik emigrated from Germany to Argentina in 1930. ...

won), shared 5th in 1947 (

Héctor Rossetto Héctor Decio Rossetto (8 September 1922 in Bahía Blanca, Argentina – 23 January 2009 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentinian chess player. He earned the title of International Master in 1950 and the Grandmaster title in 1960. He was a five-ti ...

won), took 5th in 1948 (

Julio Bolbochán Julio Bolbochán (Buenos Aires, 20 March 1920 – Caracas, 28 June 1996) was the Argentine chess champion in 1946 and 1948. He learned the game from his older brother, Jacobo Bolbochán, later an International Master. He represented Argenti ...

won), tied for 5–6th in 1949, and tied for 5–7th in 1953. At last, he has taken part in the 2004 Argentine Championship, finishing 91st. In other tournaments, he tied for 9–10th at Buenos Aires 1939 (''Círculo de Ajedrez'',

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 a ...

and

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

won), took 13th at Buenos Aires 1941 (Najdorf won), took 8th at Buenos Aires 1945 (''Círculo de Ajedrez'', Najdorf won), took 6th at Remedios de Escalada 1949 (Julio Bolbochán won), tied for 15-16th at Mar del Plata chess tournament 1949 (Rossetto won), and tied for 14-15th at Mar del Plata / Buenos Aires 1954 (the 2nd ''Torneio Zonal Sulamericano'',

Oscar Panno Oscar Roberto Panno (born 17 March 1935 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Panno was the first top world chess player born in South America. Panno won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future stron ...

won).Mar del Plata/Buenos Aires 1954 - 2° Zonal Sulamericano

Chess composition and friends

Benkö was the longest living member of the '' Schwalbe'', joining in 1928, and honorary member from 2009 until his death on 11 January 2010 in Buenos Aires. He built a collection of 30,000 compositions. When Benkö lived in Germany, he was acquainted with a few famous composers, including Ado Kraemer, Erich Zepler and Eduard Birgfeld. He also was a friend of

Wolfgang Heidenfeld Wolfgang Heidenfeld (; 29 May 1911 – 3 August 1981) was a German chess player and chess composer. Heidenfeld was born in Berlin. He was forced to move from Germany to South Africa in the 1930s because he was a Jew. There, he won the South ...

. Benkö knew some players in Berlin, too, but only managed to win against

Friedrich Sämisch Friedrich Sämisch (20 September 1896 – 16 August 1975) was a German chess player and chess theorist. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Background Sämisch was a bookbinder ...

and

Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses (born Jacob Mieses; 27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German-born British chess player. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He became a naturalized British ci ...

while losing against

Carl Ahues Carl Oscar Ahues (26 December 1883, Bremen – 31 December 1968, Hamburg) was a German chess International Master. Chess career He was Berlin champion in 1910 and shared 3rd place at the strong Berlin tournament of 1926 ( Efim Bogoljubow ...

Kurt Richter Kurt Paul Otto Joseph Richter (24 November 1900 – 29 December 1969) was a German chess International Master and chess writer. Chess achievements In 1922, Richter for the first time won the Berlin City Chess Championship. In 1928, he tie ...

and Willi Schlage. In Buenos Aires 1939 Benkö met

, who solved some of Benkö's problems. In 1992 Benkö met

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

who also tried to solve a chess problem (see below) but failed twice, still solving it afterwards. Upon the original publication of the problem, more than 500 people tried to solve it with half of them guessing incorrectly.

References

External links

Francisco Benkö's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benkö, Francisco 1910 births 2010 deaths Jewish Argentine sportspeople Jewish chess players German chess players Argentine chess players Chess composers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Argentina Hungarian Jews Hungarian emigrants to Argentina Naturalized citizens of Argentina German people of Hungarian descent German people of Austrian descent Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery