Daniel Kopec (February 28, 1954 – June 12, 2016) was an American chess International Master, author, and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

professor at Brooklyn College.

Education

He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in the class of 1975. Kopec later received a PhD in

Machine Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1982 studying under

Donald Michie Donald Michie (; 11 November 1923 – 7 July 2007) was a British researcher in artificial intelligence. During World War II, Michie worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, contributing to the effort to solve " Tunny ...

Chess

Kopec was Greater NY High School Champion at 14, and reached master at 17.Niro, Frank "International Master Danny Kopec, 1954-2016" US Chess Federation Obituary, June 22, 2016 https://new.uschess.org/news/international-master-danny-kopec-1954-2016/ Kopec won the

Scottish Chess Championship The Scottish Chess Championship is organised by Chess Scotland, formerly the Scottish Chess Association. It has been running since 1884, and nowadays takes the form of a nine-round tournament played over two weekends and the week in between. Auxili ...

in 1980 while pursuing his doctorate.Sands, David "In Kopec’s games, a lesson from the (international) chess master" The Washington Times June 21, 2016 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/21/in-kopecs-games-a-lesson-from-the-international-ch/ He lived in Canada for two years during the 1980s, and competed there with success, including second-equal in the 1984 Canadian Chess Championship. Kopec achieved the FIDE International Master title in 1985 and had several top three finishes (including second place ties) in the US Open. He wrote numerous books on the subject of chess, produced eight chess instructional DVDs, and ran chess camps starting in 1994. Kopec also worked to promote his chess opening, the Kopec System (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bd3!?). With Ivan Bratko, he was the creator of the Bratko–Kopec Test, which was one of the de facto standard testing systems for chess-playing computer programs in the 1980s.

Computer science

Kopec published notable academic pieces in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine error reduction, intelligent tutoring systems, and computer education.

Death

Kopec died on June 12, 2016, from pancreatic cancer.

Partial chess bibliography

*(1980) ''Best Games Of The Young Grandmasters'', with Craig Pritchett (non-fiction chess), publisher Bell and Howell, London *(1985) ''Master Chess: A Course in 21 Lessons'' (non-fiction chess) *(1997) ''Practical Middlegame Techniques'' with Rudy Blumenfeld (non-fiction chess) *(1998) ''Test, Evaluate, and Improve your Chess'' co-author Hal Terrie (non-fiction chess) *(2002) ''Chess World Title Contenders and Their Styles'' co-author Craig Pritchett (non-fiction chess) *(2003) ''Mastering the Sicilian'' (non-fiction chess) *(2004) ''Winning the Won Game'' co-author

Ľubomír Ftáčnik Ľubomír Ftáčnik (born October 30, 1957 in Bratislava) is a Slovak chess grandmaster and a former European Junior Champion. Chess career He became European Junior Champion in 1976/77 and was awarded the International Master title shortly ...

(non-fiction chess)

References

External links

* *
Academic Website at Brooklyn College

Kopec Chess Services
1954 births 2016 deaths American chess players Canadian chess players Chess International Masters Canadian chess writers American chess writers American male non-fiction writers Dartmouth College alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Brooklyn College faculty {{US-compu-bio-stub