Arnold Denker
| Arnold Denker | |
|---|---|
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| Full name | Arnold Sheldon Denker |
| Country | United States |
| Born |
February 20, 1914 New York City, USA |
| Died | January 2, 2005 (aged 90) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| Peak rating | 2340 (July 1978) |
Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 20, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player, Grandmaster, and chess author. He was U.S. Chess Champion in 1944 and 1946.
In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States Chess Federation, including in 2004 the highest honor, "Dean of American Chess".
Denker was born on February 20, 1914 in the Bronx, New York City, in an Orthodox Jewish family. According to Denker himself, he learned chess in 1923 watching his elder brothers play, but took up the game seriously only in his freshman year in Theodore Roosevelt High School, where his schoolmates played for a nickel a game in the cafeteria. After steadily losing his milk money for a long time, Denker discovered former world chess champion Emanuel Lasker's book "Common Sense in Chess" in the school library, studied the book, and soon "the nickels came pouring back with interest".
Denker was a promising boxer in his early years. He first gained attention in chess by winning the New York City individual interscholastic championship in 1929 at age 15. In the next decade he established himself as a leading rival to Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, and Isaac Kashdan as the strongest U.S. chess player. His first really strong international event was Syracuse, New York 1934, where Reshevsky won convincingly, with Denker placing just behind him.
In 1940 Denker won the first of his six Manhattan Chess Club championships. He became U.S. Champion in 1944, winning fourteen games (including one against Fine), drawing three, and losing none. Denker called his win over Fine from this event 'the game of my life'. (This 91 percent score was the best winning percentage in U.S. Championship history until Bobby Fischer scored 11–0 in 1963–64.) Denker successfully defended his U.S. title in a 1946 challenge match against Herman Steiner, winning 6–4 at Los Angeles.
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