Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American
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 ...
player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mid-1930s until his retirement from chess in 1951. He was granted the title of
International Grandmaster 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 ...
in 1950, when titles were introduced.
Fine's best result was his equal first place in the
1938 AVRO tournament, one of the strongest tournaments of all time. After the death of 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 ...
in 1946, Fine was one of six players invited to compete for the
World Championship in 1948. He declined the invitation, however, and virtually retired from serious competition around that time, although he did play a few events until 1951.
Fine won five medals (four gold) in three
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. He won the
US Open all seven times he entered (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941). He was the author of several chess books, covering
endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
,
opening
Opening may refer to:
* Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an
* The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron
* Backgammon opening
* Chess opening
* A title sequence or opening credits
* , a term from contract bridge
* , ...
, and
middlegame.
Early life and family
Fine was born in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
to Jacob and Bertha (Nedner) Fine, poor Russian Jews. He had a sister, Evelyn (born in 1912), and was raised by his mother alone from the age of two. An uncle taught him chess when he was eight.
Chess career
Teenage master
Fine began chess as a young teenager at the famous
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 ...
, where he hustled for nickels, until he was asked to stop; he used the money to help feed his family. Afterwards he moved to the rival
Marshall Chess Club
The Marshall Chess Club, in Greenwich Village, New York City, is one of the oldest chess clubs in the United States. The club was formed in 1915 by a group of players led by Frank Marshall. It is a nonprofit organization and a gold affiliate of ...
in New York City, stomping grounds for many famous players, such as
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
, later on. At this stage of his career, Fine played a great deal of
blitz chess
Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...
, and he eventually became one of the best blitz players in the world. By the early 1930s, he could nearly hold his own in blitz chess against the then
world champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
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 ...
, although Fine admitted that the few times he played blitz with Alekhine's predecessor
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablanc ...
, the latter beat him "mercilessly".
[ Denker and Parr 1995, chapter ''Fine Distinctions'']
Fine's first significant master-level event was the 1930 New York Young Masters tournament, which was won by
Arthur Dake
Arthur William Dake (April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada.
He was born into a Polish farmer family ( Edward Winter has quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's n ...
. He narrowly lost a 1931 stakes match to fellow young New York master
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 ...
.
Fine placed second at the 1931 New York State Championship with a score of 8/11, half a point behind
Fred Reinfeld
Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) was an American writer on chess and many other subjects. He was also a strong chess master, often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a college ...
. Fine won the 15th Marshall Chess Club Championship of 1931 with 10½/13, half a point ahead of Reinfeld. He defeated
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 ...
by 5½–4½ at New York 1932; this was the first of three matches between them.
[Reuben Fine](_blank)
at Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.
Implementation
Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's win percen ...
U.S. Open Champion
At 17, Fine won his first of seven
US Opens at
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
1932 with 9½/11, half a point ahead of
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 ...
; this tournament was known as the Western Open at the time. Fine played in his first top-class international tournament at
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
1932, where he shared 7th–10th with 5/11; the winner was 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 ...
. Fine repeated as champion in the 16th Marshall Club Championship, held from October to December 1932, with 11½/13, 2½ points ahead of the runner-up.
College
Fine graduated from
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
in 1932, at the age of 18; he was a successful student there. He captained CCNY to the 1931 National Collegiate team title; a teammate was master
Sidney Bernstein. This tournament later evolved into the
Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship is the foremost intercollegiate team chess championship in the Americas. Hosted in part by the United States Chess Federation, the Pan-Am Intercollegiate is open to any team comprising four p ...
. Fine then decided to try the life of a chess professional for a few years.
Olympiad results
Fine won the U.S. team selection tournament, New York 1933, with 8/10. This earned him the first of three national team berths for the chess Olympiads. Fine won five medals (including three team golds) representing the United States; his detailed record follows; his totals are (+20−6=19), for 65.6%.
*
Folkestone 1933: board three, 9/13 (+6−1=6), team gold, board silver
*
Warsaw 1935: board one, 9/17 (+5−4=8), team gold
*
Stockholm 1937: board two, 11½/15 (+9−1=5), team gold, board gold
North American successes
Fine repeated as champion at the U.S./Western Open,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
1933, with 12/13, half a point ahead of Reshevsky. Fine won the 17th Marshall Club Championship, 1933–34, with 9½/11. He defeated
Al Horowitz
Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess. He is most remembered today for the books he wrote about chess. In 1989 he was induct ...
in a match at New York 1934 by 6–3. Fine shared 1st–2nd at the U.S./Western Open,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
1934, on 7½/9, with Reshevsky. He then shared 1st–3rd at
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
1934, on 11/12, 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 ...
and
Arthur Dake
Arthur William Dake (April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada.
He was born into a Polish farmer family ( Edward Winter has quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's n ...
. At
Syracuse 1934, Fine shared 3rd–4th, on 10/14, as Reshevsky won. Fine won his fourth straight U.S./Western Open at
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
1935, scoring 6½/9 in the preliminary round, and then 8/10 in the finals.
European debut
Having had outstanding successes in North America, Fine tried his first European individual international tournament at
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
1935, where he shared 2nd–3rd with 6/9 behind
Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...
. Fine won
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 ...
1935–36 with 7½/9, a point ahead of
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...
.
Narrow misses at U.S. Championship
Although Fine was active and very successful in U.S. open tournaments, he was never able to win the
U.S. Championship, usually placing behind his great American rival,
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 ...
. The U.S. Championship was organized in a
round-robin format during that era. When in 1936
Frank Marshall voluntarily gave up the American Championship title he had held since 1909, the result was the first modern
U.S. Championship tournament. Fine scored 10½/15 in the U.S. Championship, New York City 1936, and tied third–fourth, as Reshevsky won. In the U.S. Championship, New York 1938, Fine placed second with 12½/16, with Reshevsky repeating as champion. In the U.S. Championship, New York 1940, Fine again scored 12½/16 for second place, as Reshevsky won for the third straight time. Then in the 1944 U.S. Championship at New York, Fine scored 14½/17 for second, losing his game to
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 ...
, and finishing half a point back, as the latter won his only national title.
Fine tallied 50/64 in his four U.S. title attempts, for 78.1%, but was never champion. Not being national champion seriously hurt Fine's prospects for making a career from chess.
International success
However, Fine's international tournament record in the 1930s was superior to Reshevsky's.
The former did play many more top-class international events than the latter during that period, and was usually near the top of the table. By the end of 1937, Fine had won a string of strong European international tournaments, and was one of the most successful players in the world. Fine won at
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
1936 with 6½/7, half a point ahead of Flohr. Fine captured
Zandvoort
Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...
1936 with 8½/11, ahead of World Champion
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
,
Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...
, 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 ...
. Fine shared 3rd–5th at the elite
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
1936 event with 9½/14, half a point behind winners
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablanc ...
and
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
. Fine shared 1st–2nd at
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
1936 on 5/7 with Euwe, half a point ahead of Alekhine. Fine placed 2nd at
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 ...
1936–37 with 7½/9, as Alekhine won.
The year 1937 was Fine's most successful. He won at
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
1937 with 4/5, ahead of
Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice USSR Chess Champ ...
, who shared first in that year's Soviet Championship. Fine won at Moscow 1937 with 5/7. Those two victories make Fine one of a very select group of foreigners to have won on Russian soil. Fine shared 1st–2nd at
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
1937 with Keres on 7½/9, 1½ points ahead of Alekhine. Fine shared 1st–3rd at
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
1937 with Keres and
Henry Grob on 6/9. At
Stockholm 1937, Fine won with 8/9, 1½ points ahead of
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became N ...
. Fine then defeated Stahlberg by 5–3 in a match held at
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
1937. Fine placed 2nd at the elite
Semmering/
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
1937 tournament with 8/14, behind Keres. At
Kemeri,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
1937, Fine had a rare relatively weak result, with just 9/17 for 8th place, as the title was shared by Reshevsky, Flohr, and
Vladimirs Petrovs
Vladimirs Petrovs (russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Петро́в, translit=Vladimir Mikhailovich Petrov; 27 September 1907 – 26 August 1943) was a Latvian Russian chess player.
He was born in Riga, in the Governorate of L ...
. Fine shared 4th–5th at Hastings 1937–38 with 6/9 as Reshevsky won.
AVRO 1938
![KeresFine1938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/KeresFine1938.jpg)
In 1938, Fine tied for first place with
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 ...
in the prestigious
AVRO tournament
The AVRO tournament was a famous chess tournament held in the Netherlands in 1938, sponsored by the Dutch broadcasting company AVRO. The event was a double round-robin tournament between the eight strongest players in the world.
Paul Keres and ...
in the Netherlands, scoring 8½/14, with Keres placed first on tiebreak. This was one of the most famous tournaments of the 20th century. It was organized with the hope that the winner of AVRO, a double
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...
, would be the next challenger to 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 ...
. Since Alekhine won the title in 1927, he had been avoiding a rematch with his predecessor, Capablanca, whom many considered the strongest possible challenger. Fine finished ahead of future champion
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
, current champion Alekhine, former world champions
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
and Capablanca, and Samuel Reshevsky and
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...
. Fine won both of his games against Alekhine. Fine got out to a tremendous start, scoring five wins and a draw in his first six games, but then lost in round seven to Keres, and this wound up as the decisive game for the tournament victor, providing his tiebreak.
Wartime years
As World War II interrupted any prospects for a world championship match, Fine turned to chess writing. In 1939, Fine became the first world-class player to edit the classic opening guide ''
Modern Chess Openings
''Modern Chess Openings'' (usually called ) is a reference book on chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith (1872–1955) and John Herbert White (1880–1920). The fifteenth edition was published in ...
''. His work on the sixth edition of the book led to a significant increase in sales. In 1941 he wrote ''
Basic Chess Endings'', a compendium of
endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
analysis which, some 80 years later, is still considered one of the best works on this subject. His book was the most comprehensive on the subject written to that time, included significant original work by Fine, and received worldwide acclaim. His ''The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings'', though now out of date, is still useful for grasping the underlying ideas of many standard
chess opening
A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defens ...
s; it was revised in 1989.
Fine played a few serious American events during World War II, with international chess at a virtual standstill, and continued his successes with dominant scores. He won the U.S. Open at New York 1939 with 10½/11, half a point ahead of Reshevsky. In the 23rd Marshall Club Championship of 1939, Fine won with 14/16. He won the 1940 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 ...
with a perfect 8/8 in the finals, three points ahead of
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 ...
. Fine won the New York State Championship,
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
1941, with 8/10, a point ahead of Reshevsky,
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 ...
and
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 ...
. Fine won the 1941 Marshall Club Championship with 14/15, ahead of
Frank Marshall. Fine won the 1941 U.S. Open at
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, with 4/5 in the preliminaries, and 8/9 in the finals. Fine won the 1942 Washington, D.C. Chess Divan title with 7/7. He defeated
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 ...
in match play for the second time by 3½–½ at Washington 1944. Fine won the U.S. Speed Championships of both 1944 (10/11) and 1945 (10/11). In the Pan-American Championship,
Hollywood 1945, Fine placed 2nd with 9/12, behind Reshevsky. He played in the
1945 USA vs USSR Radio team match, scoring ½/2 on board three against
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer.
Early caree ...
. Then Fine traveled to Europe one last time to compete, in the 1946 Moscow team match against the USSR, scoring ½/2 on board three against
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 ...
.
Declines to enter 1948 World Championship
As the World War ended in early September 1945, Fine was 30 years of age, and working on 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 ...
in psychology. After World Champion Alekhine died in March 1946,
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 ...
(the World Chess Federation) organized a
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...
tournament to determine the new champion. Alekhine was the first champion to die as title-holder, creating an unprecedented problem. As co-winner in the AVRO tournament, Fine was invited to participate, but he declined, for reasons that are the subject of speculation even today. Fine had played a third match against
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 ...
at Los Angeles 1947, winning 5–1; this match was training for his potential world championship appearance.
Publicly, Fine stated that he could not interrupt work on his doctoral dissertation in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
. Negotiations over the tournament had been protracted, and for a long time it was unclear whether this World Championship event would in fact take place. Fine wrote that he didn't want to spend many months preparing and then see the tournament cancelled. However, it has also been suggested that Fine declined to play because he suspected there would be collaboration among the three
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
participants to ensure that one of them won the championship. In the August 2004 issue of ''
Chess Life
The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "most ...
'', for example,
Larry Evans gave his recollection that "Fine told me he didn't want to waste three months of his life watching Russians throw games to each other." Fine's 1951 written statement on the matter in his book ''The World's Greatest Chess Games'' was:
Unfortunately for the Western masters the Soviet political organization was stronger than that of the West. The U.S. Chess Federation was a meaningless paper organization, generally antagonistic to the needs of its masters. The Dutch Chess Federation did not choose to act. The FIDE was impotent. The result was a rescheduling of the tournament for the following year, with the vital difference that now half was to be played in Holland, half in the U.S.S.R. Dissatisfied with this arrangement and the general tenor of the event, I withdrew.
Edward Winter quoted Fine as saying financial, professional and scheduling problems all influenced his decision.
Final competitive appearances
Once Fine completed his doctorate, he did play some more competitive chess. He won at New York 1948 with 8/9, ahead of
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 ...
,
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
, and
Hermann 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. ...
. Fine drew a match against Najdorf at 4–4 at New York 1949. He participated for the U.S. in the 1950 radio match against
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, drawing his only game. Fine received the title of International Grandmaster in 1950 from FIDE, on its first official list of titled players. Fine's final top-class event was the
Maurice Wertheim
Maurice Wertheim (February 16, 1886 – May 27, 1950) was an American investment banker, chess player, chess patron, art collector, environmentalist, and philanthropist. Wertheim founded Wertheim & Co. in 1927.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family ...
Memorial, New York 1951, where he scored 7/11 for 4th, as Reshevsky won.
Fine was seeded into the
1950 Candidates Tournament at
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 ...
, but declined his invitation; this tournament was the first to select an official challenger to the World Champion under the auspices of
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 ...
, the World Chess Federation.
Lifetime scores against top players
Fine had a relatively short career in top-level chess, but scored well against top players. He faced five World Champions:
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champ ...
(+1−0=0);
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablanc ...
(+0−0=5, excluding simultaneous games);
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 ...
(+3−2=4);
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
(+2−2=3); and
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
(+1−0=2).
His main American rivals were
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 ...
(+3−4=12);
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 ...
(+21−4=8);
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 ...
(+6−1=6);
Albert Simonson
Albert Charles Simonson (December 26, 1914 in New York City – November 16, 1965 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) was an American chess master. He was one of the strongest American players of the 1930s, and was part of the American team which won the g ...
(+6−1=1);
Al Horowitz
Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess. He is most remembered today for the books he wrote about chess. In 1989 he was induct ...
(+10−2=7);
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 ...
(+7−6=7);
Fred Reinfeld
Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) was an American writer on chess and many other subjects. He was also a strong chess master, often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a college ...
(+10−5=7); and
Arthur Dake
Arthur William Dake (April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada.
He was born into a Polish farmer family ( Edward Winter has quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's n ...
(+7−7=5, with three losses as a 16-year-old against Dake in his 20s).
Internationally, Fine faced the best of his time, and usually more than held his own, with three exceptions. He struggled against
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 ...
(+1−3=8);
Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...
(+0−1=2); and
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer.
Early caree ...
(+0−1=1), but he handled everyone else:
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 ...
(+3−3=5);
Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...
(+2−1=4);
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...
(+2−0=7);
Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice USSR Chess Champ ...
(+1−0=0);
George Alan Thomas
Sir George Alan Thomas, 7th Baronet (14 June 1881 – 23 July 1972) was a British badminton, tennis and chess player. He was twice British chess champion and a 21-time All-England badminton champion. He also reached the quarterfinals of the ...
(+2−0=3);
Erich Eliskases
Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. ...
(+1−0=2);
Viacheslav Ragozin
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title ...
(+1−0=1);
Vladimirs Petrovs
Vladimirs Petrovs (russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Петро́в, translit=Vladimir Mikhailovich Petrov; 27 September 1907 – 26 August 1943) was a Latvian Russian chess player.
He was born in Riga, in the Governorate of L ...
(+2−1=1);
Efim Bogolyubov
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
(+1−0=1);
Jan Foltys
Jan Foltys (13 October 1908, Svinov – 11 March 1952, Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic) was a Czech chess International Master.
Biography
In 1933, he tied for 8-12th in Mnichovo Hradiště (13th Czech championships). In ...
(+2−0=0);
Salo Landau
Salo (Salomon) Landau (1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – March 1944,Westerbork Cartotheek NIOD Amsterdam Grodziszcze, Świdnica County, Poland) was a Dutch chess player, who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
Biography
Early l ...
(+4−0=1);
George Koltanowski
George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...
(+2−0=1);
Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky (russian: Игорь Захарович Бондаревский; May 12, 1913 – June 14, 1979) was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board ...
(+1−0=0);
Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
Early career
G ...
(+1−0=0);
William Winter (+4−0=0);
Ernst Grünfeld
----
Ernst Franz Grünfeld (November 21, 1893 – April 3, 1962) was an Austrian chess player and writer, mainly on opening theory. He was among the inaugural recipients of the grandmaster title in 1950.
Life and career
Grünfeld was bor ...
(+1−0=0);
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became N ...
(+4−2=5);
Andor Lilienthal
Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich LilienthalReuben Fine, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against ten ...
(+1−0=0);
László Szabó (+0−0=1);
Vladas Mikėnas
Vladas Mikėnas (17 April 1910 – 3 November 1992) was a Lithuanian chess player and journalist. He was awarded the titles of International Master and Honorary Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster by FIDE.
Early career
Vladas Mikėnas played for ...
(+1−0=1);
Rudolph Spielmann (+0−0=1); and
Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander
Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974), known as Hugh Alexander and C. H. O'D. Alexander, was an Ireland, Irish-born United Kingdom, British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the ...
(+1−0=3).
Finally, against the new generation of American masters which emerged in the late 1940s, Fine proved he could still perform well:
Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bernard Bisguier (October 8, 1929April 5, 2017), paternal surname Bisgeier, was an American chess player, chess promoter, and writer who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM).
Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), ...
(+1−0=1);
Larry Evans (+0−0=2); George Kramer (+1−0=1); and
Robert Byrne (+0−0=1).
Top ten for eight years
Although
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 ...
, the World Chess Federation, did not formally introduce chess ratings for international play until 1970, it is nevertheless possible to retrospectively rate players' performances from before that time. The site
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.
Implementation
Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's win percen ...
.com, which specializes in historical ratings throughout chess history, ranks Fine in the world's top ten players for more than eight years, from March 1936 until October 1942, and then again from January 1949 until December 1950. Fine was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1986, the charter class. He continued his successful chess writing career for many years after he retired from competition.
Notable games
Reuben Fine vs. Mikhail Botvinnik, Amsterdam AVRO 1938, French Defence, Winawer/Advance Variation (C17), 1–0In the final position, "Black does not have a single move, and Rf3 is threatened. A combination of a splendid strategic idea with tactical subtleties." (Botvinnik)
Reuben Fine vs. Salomon Flohr, Amsterdam AVRO 1938, French Defence, Winawer/Advance Variation (C17), 1–0Deep tactics in an unusual variant of French Defense.
Reuben Fine vs. Herman Steiner, Pan-American Championship, Hollywood 1945. Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical (D29), 1–0Fine sees further than his opponent in a sharp tactical position.
Professional life
Fine earned a bachelor's degree from the
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
in 1932.
During World War II, Fine worked for the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
, analyzing the probability of German
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s surfacing at certain points in the Atlantic Ocean. Fine also worked as a translator.
After World War II, he earned 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 ...
in psychology from the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. After receiving his doctorate he abandoned professional chess to concentrate on a new profession as a professor. Fine continued playing chess casually throughout his life (including several friendly games played in 1963 against
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
, one of which is included in Fischer's ''
My 60 Memorable Games
''My 60 Memorable Games'' is a chess book by Bobby Fischer, first published in 1969. It is a collection of his games dating from the 1957 New Jersey Open to the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. Unlike many players' anthologies, which are often titled ''M ...
''). In 1956 he wrote an article, "Psychoanalytic Observations on Chess and Chess Masters", for a psychological journal. Later, Fine turned the article into a book, ''The Psychology of the Chess Player'', in which he provided insights steeped in
Freudian
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
theory. Fine is not the first person to have examined the mind as it relates to chess:
Alfred Binet
Alfred Binet (; 8 July 1857 – 18 October 1911), born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, the French Ministry of Education asked psychologist Alfred Binet to ...
, the inventor of the
IQ test
An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern (psychologist), William Stern for th ...
, had studied the mental functionality of good chess players, and found that they often had enhanced mental traits, such as a good memory. He went on to publish ''A History of Psychoanalysis'' (1979) and a number of other books on psychology.
Journalist
Gilbert Cant Gilbert Cant (September 16, 1909 – August 1, 1982)"Gilbert Cant." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. was a London-born American journalist.
Cant arrived in the U.S. in 1934 and began working for the ' ...
observed:
A great chess player, Manhattan's Reuben Fine, has popularized a psychology of chess studded with phallic symbols, spattered with anal-sadistic impulses and imbued with latent homosexuality. In successive rounds, Fine once defeated Botvinnik, Reshevsky, Euwe, Flohr and Alekhine, and drew with Capablanca. When Fine switched his major interest from chess to psychoanalysis, the result was a loss for chess—and a draw, at best, for psychoanalysis. Many psychologists, some Freudians included, now believe that the sexual symbolism in chess is vastly overdrawn.
Fine served as a visiting professor at CCNY, the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, the
Lowell Institute of Technology, and the
University of Florence
The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.
History
The first universi ...
. Fine founded the Creative Living Center in New York City.
Personal life
Fine married five times, all but one ending in divorce. He had two biological children and one stepson.
There are conflicting accounts of his first marriage. Per the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', he married Charlotte Margoshes in 1937. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' first mentions a marriage to Emma Thea Keesing (1916–1960), whom he met in the Netherlands, married in September 1937, and divorced in 1944. The New York County registrar lists a marriage certificate for Charlotte Margoshes on October 8, 1936, but the marriage was very short.
Fine married again in 1946, to Sonya Lebeaux. They had two children together, a son, Benjamin, and a daughter. He wrote ''The Teenage Chess Book'' with Benjamin.
His last marriage, to Marcia Fine, lasted to his death in 1993.
Books
On chess
* ''Dr. Lasker's Chess Career'', by Reuben Fine and Fred Reinfeld, 1935, .
* ''
Modern Chess Openings
''Modern Chess Openings'' (usually called ) is a reference book on chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith (1872–1955) and John Herbert White (1880–1920). The fifteenth edition was published in ...
, sixth edition'', 1939.
* ''
Basic Chess Endings'', 1941, McKay. Revised in 2003 by
Pal Benko
Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Early life
Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...
. .
* ''Chess the Easy Way'', 1942. 1986 Paperback re-issue. , .
* ''The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings'', 1943. Revised in 1948 and 1989. McKay, , .
* ''The Middlegame in Chess''. .
* ''Chess Marches On'', 1946. .
* ''The World's A Chessboard'', 1948. .
* ''Practical Chess Openings'', 1948. .
* ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Crown Publishers, Inc. 1951, LOC # 51-12014;
Ishi Press
Samuel Howard Sloan (born September 7, 1944) is an American perennial candidate and former broker-dealer. In 1978, he won a case ''pro se'' before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the last non-lawyer to argue a case in front of the cour ...
, 2012. .
* ''Lessons From My Games'', 1958, .
* ''The Teenage Chess Book'', 1965 (assisted by son Benjamin Fine),
* ''The Psychology of the Chess Player'', 1967. .
* ''Bobby Fischer's Conquest of the World's Chess Championship: The Psychology and Tactics of the Title Match'', 1973. .
On psychology
* ''Freud: a Critical Re-evaluation of his Theories'' (1962).
* ''The Healing of the Mind: The Technique of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy'' (1971).
* ''The Development of Freud's Thought'' (1973).
* ''Psychoanalytic Psychology'' (1975).
* ''The History of Psychoanalysis'' (1979).
* ''The Intimate Hour'' (1979).
* ''The Psychoanalytic Vision'' (1981).
* ''The Logic of Psychology'' (1983).
* ''The Meaning of Love in Human Experience'' (1985).
* ''Narcissism, the Self, and Society'' (1986).
* ''The Forgotten Man: Understanding the Male Psyche'' (1987).
* ''Troubled Men: The Psychology, Emotional Conflicts, and Therapy of Men'' (1988).
* ''Love and Work: The Value System of Psychoanalysis'' (1990).
* ''Troubled Women: Roles and Realities in Psychoanalytic Perspective'' (1992).
See also
*
List of Jewish chess players
Jews, Jewish players and Chess theory, theoreticians have long been involved in the game of chess and have significantly contributed to the development of chess, which has been described as the "Jewish National game". Chess gained po ...
References
Bibliography
* Aidan Woodger, ''Reuben Fine: A Comprehensive Record of an American Chess Career, 1929–1951'', Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 2004, .
*
External links
*
"Reuben Fine, Chess and Psychology"by Edward Winter, ''Chess Notes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Reuben
1914 births
1993 deaths
American chess players
American chess writers
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
20th-century American psychologists
Chess grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors
Chess theoreticians
City College of New York alumni
Jewish chess players
People from the Bronx
Sportspeople from New York City
University of Southern California alumni
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century chess players