Arthur Dake

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Arthur Dake
Full nameArthur William Dake
CountryUnited States
BornApril 8, 1910 (1910-04-08)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
DiedApril 28, 2000 (2000-04-29) (aged 90)
Reno, Nevada, U.S.
TitleGrandmaster (1986)
Peak rating2365 (January 1977)

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.

Biography

He was born into a family of Norwegian ancestry

checkers player Kenneth Grover in a Coney Island chess and checkers stand that accepted any challenger at 25 cents a game. The Wall Street Crash of 1929
made that business unviable.

Dake's first chess tournament was the 1930 New York State Championship, in which he finished third.

, winning two individual medals: silver (1933) and gold (1935).

In 1931, Dake tied for 1st-3rd with

World Champion Alekhine in their game at Pasadena, becoming the first American to do so. In 1934, he took 3rd in the U.S. Open Chess Championship. In 1934, he tied for 3rd-4th in Syracuse (Samuel Reshevsky won). In 1934, he tied for 2nd-3rd in the Manhattan Chess Club Championship. In 1934/35, he tied for 1st-3rd with Kashdan and Fine in Mexico 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 the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles for more than 30 years.

Dake was a member of a U. S. Group which went to Moscow in 1946. He drew two games against Soviet grandmaster Andreas Lilienthal. In 1950, Dake played board 6 for the US in a radio match against Yugoslavia. He scored one draw and one loss against Stojan Puc. In 1952, he tied for 4th-5th in Hollywood (Svetozar Gligorić won). In 1954, Dake lost one game to David Bronstein in 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 the

International Master title in 1954, and received the honorary Grandmaster title 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 book Grandmaster from Oregon on Dake's chess career and life.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Fischer, Johannes (April 8, 2020). "An outstanding talent: Arthur Dake". Chess Base. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Winter, Edward (2003). "Chess and Jews". ChessHistory.com.
  3. ^ Sloan, Sam. "Dake's Complete Chess Career". chesszoom.org. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  4. ^ "Men's Chess Olympiads :: Arthur William Dake". OlimpBase.org.
  5. ^ "Portland Chess Club". pdxchess.org.
  6. ^ "US Chess Hall of Fame Inductees: Arthur Dake". ChessMuseum.org. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
  7. ^ Crowther, Mark (May 8, 2000). "The Week in Chess 287: Arthur William Dake (1910-2000)". TheWeekInChess.com.

Sources

External links