Daniel Abraham "Abe" Yanofsky (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000) was a Canadian chess player,
chess arbiter
In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed.
International Arbiter
''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter ...
, writer, lawyer, and politician. An eight-time Canadian chess champion, Yanofsky was Canada's first grandmaster and the first grandmaster of the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire
The B ...
.
Early life
Yanofsky was born to a Jewish family in
Brody
Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...
, Poland (now western
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
), and moved to Canada when he was eight months old, settling with his family in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
.
Life in chess
Early successes
He learned to play chess at the age of eight. Yanofsky won his first
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
provincial championship at age 12 in 1937, also making his debut in the Closed
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 ...
that same year in Toronto. In 1939, just 14 years old, he played for Canada at the
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
Olympiad
An olympiad (, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the Ancient Olympic Games, ancient and Olympic Games, modern Olympic Games.
Although the ancient Olympics were established during Archaic Greece, Greece ...
. Yanofsky was the sensation of the tournament, making the highest score on second board. He won his first
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 ...
in 1941 at age 16, at home in Winnipeg. He won at Ventnor City 1942 with 6.5/9, and tied 1st-2nd 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 h ...
In 1946, at age 21, Yanofsky entered the first major post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
international tournament at Groningen, where he defeated the Soviet champion and tournament winner,
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ; – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...
, winning the brilliancy prize. Over the next two years, he played in several more European events, where his best result was second place behind
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf ( ; born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf; 15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish-Argentine 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 leadin ...
at Barcelona 1946. Yanofsky represented Canada at the
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...
s held in
Saltsjöbaden
Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago.
History
Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon W ...
1948 and
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
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 late 1 ...
,
Friðrik Ólafsson
Friðrik Ólafsson (26 January 1935 – 4 April 2025) was an Icelandic chess grandmaster. He was president of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. He was a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion.
Chess career
Friðrik was ...
and Larry Evans. His performance at the Tel Aviv 1964 Olympiad earned him his second grandmaster norm and the title, thereby becoming the first grandmaster of the British Commonwealth.
Canadian champion
Yanofsky, winner in 1941, repeated as Canadian champion in 1943, 1945, 1947, 1953, 1959, 1963, and 1965; his eight titles is a Canadian record (tied with Maurice Fox).
Further tournament titles included Arbon 1946 (tied with Karel Opocensky and Ludek Pachman), Reykjavík 1947, Hastings 1952-53 (tied with
Harry Golombek
Harold "Harry" Golombek
OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. Biography
He was ...
Canadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada. The event celebrated its 50th rendition in 2013.
...
1979 (Edmonton). Yanofsky placed second at Hastings 1951-52 behind
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...
.
Later years
A central figure in the Winnipeg chess scene, Yanofsky organized Canada's first international grandmaster tournament in Winnipeg in 1967 to mark Canada's Centennial. He also played in the tournament and was awarded the brilliancy prize for his victory over László Szabó; the event was jointly won by
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet Union, Soviet player, behind ...
and Klaus Darga. In 1974, Yanofsky also brought to Winnipeg the Pan American Chess Championship that was won by
Walter Browne
Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times.
Early years
Browne was born to ...
.
Yanofsky earned the
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
International Arbiter
In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed.
International Arbiter
''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter ...
title in 1977.
He played in his final Canadian championship in 1986 at age 61 at home in Winnipeg, and qualified for another
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...
appearance by placing tied for 3rd-4th with 9.5/15, but ceded the seat in favour of Denis Allan, a younger player.
Yanofsky returned to
Groningen
Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...
in 1996 for the 50th anniversary tournament among the 1946 event's seven surviving players; former world champion Vassily Smyslov won.
Chess style
According to ''Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess'', Yanofsky was known for his expertise in the
French Defence
The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e6
This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5. Black usually plays ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...
and the
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...
, but his strongpoint was his endgame play. Samuel Reshevsky, who played against Yanofsky on a number of occasions, said that he was a tough opponent. ''His style is defensive but quite accurate,'' he wrote. ''When given the slightest opportunity, he is strong enough to beat the best.''
Education and legal career
Except from 1946 to 1947, Yanofsky never pursued chess full-time.
He entered the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...
in 1941, earning a science degree in 1944.
He served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II (1944–46).
Yanofsky graduated with a law degree from the University of Manitoba in 1951. He won several scholarships, which allowed him to pursue legal studies at Oxford University (1951–53). Following graduation, he practiced law in Winnipeg with his brother Harry, who was also a chess master. Yanofsky argued several cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Politics
Yanofsky was an alderman, then mayor of the Winnipeg suburb of West Kildonan from 1969 to 1971, and served on the
Winnipeg city council
The Winnipeg City Council () is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.1959 provincial election as a candidate of the Liberal-Progressive Party. He finished third behind David Orlikow of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the St. Johns constituency.
Yanofsky played a major role in the building of the Seven Oaks General Hospital and the Wellness Institute in the city's north end.
Honours
In 1972, Yanofsky was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
. In 1980, he was appointed a
Queen's Counsel
A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...
. In 2000, he was inducted as a charter member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.
Following Yanofsky's death in 2000, a memorial tournament has been held annually in Winnipeg in recognition of his contributions to Canadian chess.
Yanofsky was married to Hilda (née Gutnik); they had four children.
Publications
* ''Chess the Hard Way!'' 1st edition (1953), 2nd edition (2000)
* ''Chess Championship of Canada'' (1953) (with Nathan Divinsky)
* ''How to Win End-Games'' (1953)
* ''1st Canadian Open Chess Championship, Montreal 1956'' (1956)
* ''Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament, Winnipeg 1967'' (1967)
* ''100 Years of Chess in Canada: A Centennial Project of the Chess Federation of Canada'' (1967)
* ''International Chess Tournament, Netanya, 1969'' (1969) (with M.H. Horton)
* ''The Games of D.A.Yanofsky'' (1985) (with David Ross)
* ''The Games of Daniel "Abe" Yanofsky'' (1997) (compiled by J. Ken MacDonald)
* Editor, ''Canadian Chess Chat,'' 1956-59
* Chess columnist, ''Winnipeg Free Press,'' 1954-81
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...