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

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 ...

, author, and

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

professor at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

Education

He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in the class of 1975. Kopec later received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Machine Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

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 in Edinburgh.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 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 ...

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 (chess), grandmaster and a former European Junior Chess Championship, European Junior Champion. Chess career He became European Junior Chess Championship, ...

(non-fiction chess)

References

External links

* *
Academic Website at Brooklyn College

Kopec Chess Services
1954 births 2016 deaths 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 20th-century American chess players {{US-compu-bio-stub