Arthur Dake
| Arthur Dake | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Arthur William Dake |
| Country | United States |
| Born | April 8, 1910 Portland, Oregon,U.S. |
| Died | April 28, 2000(aged 90) Reno, Nevada,U.S. |
| Title | Grandmaster(1986) |
| Peak rating | 2365 (January 1977) |
Arthur William Dake(April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an Americanchessplayer. He was born inPortland, Oregonand died inReno, Nevada.
Biography[edit]
He was born into a family of Norwegian ancestry[1](Edward Winterhas quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's name on a list of chess players with Jewish roots[2]), who immigrated to America beforeWorld War I.At age 16 he became a merchant seaman, traveling to Japan, China, and the Philippines. In 1927 he returned to high school in Oregon and learned chess from aRussianimmigrant living in a localYMCA.He resumed work as a sailor and landed inNew York Cityin 1929. New York was the center of chess in the U.S. at that time, and Dake teamed with leadingcheckersplayer Kenneth Grover in aConey Islandchess and checkers stand that accepted any challenger at 25 cents a game. TheWall Street Crash of 1929made that business unviable.
Dake's first chess tournament was the 1930 New York State Championship, in which he finished third.[3]In 1931 he won the championship of theMarshall Chess Club.TheGreat Depressionyears saw unparalleled U.S. dominance of world chess competition. When US teams won four consecutiveChess Olympiadsin 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937, Dake who played in 1931–1935 was one of their major members, along withIsaac Kashdan,Frank Marshall,Reuben Fine,Israel Horowitz,andAbraham Kupchik,winning two individual medals: silver (1933) and gold (1935).
- In 1931, on third board in4th Chess OlympiadinPrague(+5 –2 =7).
- In 1933, on fourth board in5th Chess OlympiadinFolkestone(+9 –2 =2).
- In 1935, on fourth board in6th Chess OlympiadinWarsaw(+13 –0 =5).[4]
In 1931, Dake tied for 1st-3rd withAkiba RubinsteinandFrederick Yates,inAntwerp.In 1932, he tied for 3rd-5th, afterAlexander Alekhineand Kashdan, inPasadena.He defeatedWorld ChampionAlekhine in their game at Pasadena, becoming the first American to do so. In 1934, he took 3rd in theU.S. Open Chess Championship.In 1934, he tied for 3rd-4th inSyracuse(Samuel Reshevskywon). In 1934, he tied for 2nd-3rd in theManhattan Chess ClubChampionship. In 1934/35, he tied for 1st-3rd with Kashdan and Fine inMexico City.In 1935, he took 2nd, behind Fine, in the U.S. Open. In 1936, he tied for 6-7th in the first U.S. Championship. In 1936, he tied for 2nd-3rd, behind Horowitz, in the U.S. Open. In 1938, he tied for 6-7th in the second U.S. Championship.
He had met his wife Helen on the return ocean liner trip from Warsaw in 1935. During the worldwide depression they moved back to Portland, where Dake had a career with theOregonDepartment of Motor Vehicles for more than 30 years.
Dake was a member of a U. S. Group which went toMoscowin 1946. He drew two games against Soviet grandmasterAndreas Lilienthal.In 1950, Dake played board 6 for the US in a radio match againstYugoslavia.He scored one draw and one loss againstStojan Puc.In 1952, he tied for 4th-5th inHollywood(Svetozar Gligorićwon). In 1954, Dake lost one game toDavid Bronsteinin USA - USSR Match.
Except for the USA - Yugoslavia match Hollywood 1952, the USA - USSR Match, and various minor local events in the Pacific Northwest, Dake apparently played little serious competitive chess for 37 years, from the 1938 United States Championship until he unexpectedly showed up to play in Lone Pine 1975. In the 1987 US Open, held at Portland, Oregon, Dake's home town, he scored 8-4 (at the age of 77). He donated his personal chess library to the Portland Chess Club where he was an active member.[5]
He was awarded theInternational Mastertitle in 1954, and received the honoraryGrandmastertitle in 1986 in recognition of his results in the 1930s. In 1991 he was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame.[6]He was the oldest competitive chess grandmaster in history, and died in 2000 at age 90. Dake spent his last night playing blackjack in the Sands Regency Casino in Reno Nevada. He died of natural causes.[7]
Casey Bush wrote the bookGrandmaster from Oregonon Dake's chess career and life.
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^Fischer, Johannes (April 8, 2020)."An outstanding talent: Arthur Dake".Chess Base.RetrievedDecember 16,2023.
- ^Winter, Edward(2003)."Chess and Jews".ChessHistory.
- ^Sloan, Sam."Dake's Complete Chess Career".chesszoom.org.Archived fromthe originalon May 27, 2008.RetrievedApril 16,2008.
- ^"Men's Chess Olympiads:: Arthur William Dake".OlimpBase.org.
- ^"Portland Chess Club".pdxchess.org.
- ^"US Chess Hall of Fame Inductees: Arthur Dake".ChessMuseum.org.Archived fromthe originalon July 4, 2008.RetrievedDecember 23,2008.
- ^Crowther, Mark (May 8, 2000)."The Week in Chess 287: Arthur William Dake (1910-2000)".TheWeekInChess.
Sources[edit]
- Bush, Casey (1991).Grandmaster from Oregon: The Life and Games of Arthur Dake.Portland Chess Press.ASINB0006F1J3Q.OCLC24203479.
- Parr, Larry(December 1984). "Arthur Dake: An American Original".Chess Life.p. 28.
- McClain, Dylan Loeb (May 11, 2000)."Arthur William Dake, 90, Chess Grandmaster".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 11, 2010.
External links[edit]
- Arthur William Dakeplayer profile and games atChessgames
- Arthur William DakeFIDE rating history at OlimpBase.org
- Arthur William Dakerating and tournament record atUS Chess Federation
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