Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 20, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player. February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... January 2 is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... Many countries claim to have invented the chess game in some incipient form. ...

He was born in New York City, and was a promising boxer in his early years. Denker 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 and Reuben Fine as strongest U.S. chess player. In 1940 Denker won the first of his six Marshall Chess Club championships. He became US Champion in 1944, winning 14 games (including one against Fine), drawing 3 and losing none. This 91% score was the best winning percentage in U.S. Championship history until Bobby Fischer scored 11–0 in 1963–1964. Denker successfully defended his US title in a 1946 match against Herman Steiner. During World War II Denker played exhibitions at army bases and aboard aircraft carriers. In 1945 he played on board one in a US vs USSR radio match, losing both games to Mikhail Botvinnik, and in 1946 travelled to Moscow to lose both games against Vasily Smyslov in the return match. Also in 1946 he played at the very strong Groningen tournament, scoring 9.5/19 and securing draws against Botvinnik and Smyslov. Ken Whyld and David Hooper, writing in the Oxford Companion to Chess, note that Denker may have been unfortunate in that his best years came during World War II, when very little chess was being played. Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the United States, and is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Samuel Herman (Sammy) Reshevsky (born November 26, 1911, Ozorkow, Poland - died April 4, 1992, New York, USA) was a leading American chess Grandmaster. ... Reuben Fine (October 11, 1914 - March 26, 1993) was one of the best chess players in the world during the 1930s. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... See also: U.S. Womens Chess Championship Winner list: 2005 Hikaru Nakamura 2004 Alexander Shabalov 2003 Alexander Shabalov 2002 Larry Christiansen 2000 Joel Benjamin / Alexander Shabalov / Yasser Seirawan 1999 Boris Gulko 1998 Nick de Firmian 1997 Joel Benjamin 1996 Alex Yermolinsky 1995 Nick de Firmian / Patrick Wolff / Alexander Ivanov... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Bobby Fischer. ... Herman Steiner (April 15, 1905 – November 25, 1955) was a U.S. chess player, organizer, and columnist. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest and most expensive war in history, estimated... Two aircraft carriers, USS (left), and HMS Illustrious (right), showing the difference in size between a supercarrier and a light V/STOL aircraft carrier. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik (Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) (August 17, 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Saint Basils Cathedral and Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin at Red Square. ... Image:Smyslov. ... Groningen is a municipality and city in the north of the Netherlands, and capital of Groningen province. ... Kenneth Whyld (March 6, 1926 - July 11, 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of the Oxford Companion to Chess, the standard single-volume chess reference work in English. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest and most expensive war in history, estimated...

Denker became an International Master in 1950 (the year the title was first awarded), and in 1981 FIDE made him an honorary Grandmaster. In later years, he was an important chess organiser, serving on the Board of the American Chess Foundation, the United States Chess Federation, and the U.S. Chess Trust, the driving force behind the Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions (held alongside the U.S. Open), and a FIDE official. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1992. Denker also continued to play chess, though at well below his earlier strength. His last FIDE Elo rating was 2293. The title International Master is awarded to outstanding chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Instituted in 1950, it is a lifetime title, in chess literature usually abbreviated as IM. FIDE also awards the lower title of FIDE master (FM) and the higher title of Grandmaster (GM). ... The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... The five original grandmasters of chess, from left to right: Lasker (seated), Alekhine, Capablanca, Marshall, Tarrasch (seated) The title International Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the governing chess organization within the United States and is one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled due to interest in Bobby Fischers rise to the World Championship. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The ELO rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ...

Denker wrote a number of chess articles and books, including The Bobby Fischer I Knew, and Other Stories (co-authored with Larry Parr, Hypermodern Press).

Denker received America’s highest chess honor on June 11, 2004, when he became only the third person to be proclaimed "Dean of American Chess" by the United States Chess Federation. A graduate of New York University, he married the former Nina Simmons in 1936 and was married for 57 years until her death in 1993. Denker died in 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after a brief illness. June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York University (NYU) is a major research university in New York City. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Fort Lauderdale, known as the Venice of America, is a city located in Broward County, Florida, United States. ...

Here is Denker's favorite game, a brilliancy he played at age 15, written in algebraic chess notation: This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. ... Algebraic chess notation is the method used today by all competition chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers to record and describe the play of chess games. ...

Denker-Feit, 1929 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.O-O Nf6 6.c4 Be7 7.Nc3 d6 8.d5 e5 9.Ng5 Bc8 10.e4 O-O 11.f4 exf4 12.Bxf4 fxe4 13.Ncxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Bxg5 15.Qh5 Rxf4 16.Qxh7+ Kf7 17.Bg6+ Kf6 18.Rxf4+ Bxf4 19.Qh4+ Bg5 20.Qe4 Be3+ 21.Kh1 Bh3 22.Rf1+ Kg5 23.Bh7 1-0

References

• Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion To Chess. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.

Kenneth Whyld (March 6, 1926 - July 11, 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of the Oxford Companion to Chess, the standard single-volume chess reference work in English. ...

External links

• USCF Obituary
• 20 Crucial Positions from His Games