Editing Daniel Yanofsky

{{Short description|Canadian chess grandmaster (1925–2000)}}
{{Infobox chess biography
| image       = AbeYanofsky.jpg
| caption     = Yanofsky in 1946
| full_name   = Daniel Abraham (Abe) Yanofsky
| country     = Canada
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1925|03|25}}
| birth_place = [[Brody]], Poland (now western [[Ukraine]])
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2000|03|05|1925|03|25}}
| death_place = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], Canada
| title       = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]]<br />[[International Arbiter]]
| peakrating  = 2460 (July 1971)
}}

'''Daniel Abraham "Abe" Yanofsky''' (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000) was a Canadian chess player, [[Arbiter (chess)|chess arbiter]], writer, lawyer, and politician. An eight-time [[Canadian Chess Championship|Canadian chess champion]], Yanofsky was Canada's first [[Grandmaster (chess)|grandmaster]] and the first grandmaster of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Lawrence |date=2008-07-08 |title=Daniel Abraham Yanofsky |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/daniel-abraham-yanofsky |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McLain |first=Dylan Loeb |date=2000-03-10 |title=Daniel Yanofsky, 74, Canadian Chess Champion |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/10/arts/daniel-yanofsky-74-canadian-chess-champion.html |access-date=2023-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Abe Yanofsky - First chess grandmaster in the British Commonwealth |url=http://www.famouscanadians.net/name/y/yanofskyabe.php |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=famouscanadians.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2000-03-06 |title=Daniel Abraham Yanofsky |work=Winnipeg Free Press |url=https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-50681/Yanofsky_Daniel |access-date=2023-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Upham |first=John |date=2023-03-04 |title=Remembering GM Daniel ("Abe") Yanofsky OC QC (25-III-1925 05-III-2000) |url=https://britishchessnews.com/2023/03/04/remembering-gm-daniel-yanofsky-oc-qc-25-iii-1925-05-iii-2000/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=British Chess News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rosner |first1=Cecil |last2=Lipnowski |first2=Irwin |last3=Spraggett |first3=Kevin |date=2000 |title=Daniel Abe Yanofsky: A Tribute to the First Grandmaster of the Commonwealth |url=https://neven.ca/pdf/enpassant/ep162_200006.pdf |journal=En Passant |issue=162 |pages=9–25}}</ref>

==Early life==
Yanofsky was born to a Jewish family in [[Brody]], Poland (now western [[Ukraine]]), and moved to Canada when he was eight months old, settling with his family in [[Winnipeg]].

==Life in chess==
===Early successes===
He learned to play chess at the age of eight.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofc0000unse_e9y8/page/542/mode/2up |title=The Encyclopaedia of Chess |date=1970 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |editor-last=Sunnucks |editor-first=Anne |pages=543 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Yanofsky won his first [[Manitoba]] provincial championship at age 12 in 1937, also making his debut in the Closed [[Canadian Chess Championship]] that same year in Toronto. In 1939, just 14 years old, he played for Canada at the [[Buenos Aires]] [[Chess Olympiad|Olympiad]]. Yanofsky was the sensation of the tournament, making the highest score on second board.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosner |first=Cecil |date=2021-12-26 |title=Canada's first chess prodigy and grandmaster still commands international respect |work=Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/puzzles-and-crosswords/article-canadas-first-chess-prodigy-and-grandmaster-still-commands/ |access-date=2023-03-29}}</ref> He won his first [[Canadian Chess Championship]] in 1941 at age 16, at home in Winnipeg. He won at Ventnor City 1942 with 6.5/9, and tied 1st-2nd with [[Herman Steiner]] on 16/17 in the 1942 [[U.S. Open Chess Championship|U.S. Open]] at Dallas.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1942-06-28 |title=Yanofsky is first in Ventnor chess |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/06/28/archives/yanofsky-is-first-in-ventnor-chess-vanquishes-suesman-to-take.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-04-05}}</ref>

===First Commonwealth GM===
In 1946, at age 21, Yanofsky entered the first major post-[[World War II]] [[Groningen 1946 chess tournament|international tournament]] at Groningen, where he defeated the Soviet champion and tournament winner, [[Mikhail Botvinnik]], winning the [[Chess terminology#B|brilliancy prize]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=David |date=2011 |title=Yanofsky - Botvinnik, Groningen, 1946 |work=Canadian Chess Newsletter |issue=86 |url=http://www.canadianchess.info/articles/CanadianChessNewsletter86GC.html |access-date=2023-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Berchtenbreiter |first=Max |date=2020-03-26 |title=Abe Yanofsky: Canada's first grandmaster |url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/abe-yanofsky-canada-s-first-grandmaster |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Chess News (chessbase.com)}}</ref> Over the next two years, he played in several more European events, where his best result was second place behind [[Miguel Najdorf]] at Barcelona 1946.<ref>{{Cite web |title=International tournament, Barcelona |url=https://www.belgianchesshistory.be/tournament/international-tournament-barcelona/ |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=belgianchesshistory}}</ref> Yanofsky represented Canada at the [[Interzonal]]s held in [[Interzonal tournament, Saltsjöbaden 1948|Saltsjöbaden]] 1948 and [[World Chess Championship 1963|Stockholm]] 1962. He won the [[British Chess Championship|British Championship]] in 1953.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Divinsky |first=Nathan J. |url=https://archive.org/details/batsfordchessenc0000divi/page/236/mode/2up |title=The Batsford Encyclopedia of Chess |publisher=Batsford |year=1990 |isbn=9780713462142 |access-date=2023-08-17 |url-access=registration}}</ref> At  [[Dallas 1957 chess tournament|Dallas 1957]], Yanofsky achieved his first grandmaster norm with wins over [[Samuel Reshevsky]], [[Friðrik Ólafsson]] and [[Larry Evans (chess grandmaster)|Larry Evans]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1957-12-14 |title=Reshevsky bows in Dallas |work=New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/12/14/90866105.html?pageNumber=31 |access-date=2023-03-20}}</ref> His performance at the [[16th Chess Olympiad|Tel Aviv 1964 Olympiad]] earned him his second grandmaster norm and the title, thereby becoming the first grandmaster of the British Commonwealth.

===Canadian champion===
Yanofsky, winner in 1941, repeated as Canadian champion in 1943, 1945, 1947, 1953, 1959, 1963, and 1965; his eight titles is a Canadian record (tied with [[Maurice Fox]]).

===Olympiads ===
Yanofsky represented Canada at eleven Olympiads: ([[8th Chess Olympiad|Buenos Aires 1939]], 2nd board, {13.5/16}, [[11th Chess Olympiad|Amsterdam 1954]] 1st board, {9/17}, [[13th Chess Olympiad|Munich 1958]], 1st board, {5.5/11}, [[16th Chess Olympiad|Tel Aviv 1964]], 1st board, {10/16}, [[17th Chess Olympiad|Havana 1966]], 1st board, {3.5/5}, [[18th Chess Olympiad|Lugano 1968]], 1st board, {6/14}, [[19th Chess Olympiad|Siegen 1970]], 1st board, {7/14}, [[20th Chess Olympiad|Skopje 1972]], 2nd board, {6/13}, [[21st Chess Olympiad|Nice 1974]], 3rd board, {7/14}, [[22nd Chess Olympiad|Haifa 1976]], 3rd board, {3.5/10}, and [[24th Chess Olympiad|La Valletta 1980]]), 3rd board, {6/11}). His Olympiad totals are: +50 =54 -37, for 54.6 percent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chess Olympiads |url=https://www.olimpbase.org/index.php |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Olympbase: The Encyclopedia of Team Chess}}</ref> His record of Olympiad appearances is surpassed among Canadians only by International Master [[Lawrence Day]] (13). His total of 141 games played is the Canadian record among men, and second only to [[Nava Starr]] (147).

===Further tournament successes===
Further tournament titles included Arbon 1946 (tied with [[Karel Opocensky]] and [[Ludek Pachman]]), Reykjavík 1947, Hastings 1952-53 (tied with [[Harry Golombek]], [[Jonathan Penrose]], and [[Antonio Medina García|Antonio Medina]]), and the [[Canadian Open Chess Championship]] 1979 (Edmonton). Yanofsky placed second at Hastings 1951-52 behind [[Svetozar Gligorić]] and second at [[Netanya chess tournament|Netanya 1968]] behind [[Bobby Fischer]].

===Later years===
A central figure in the Winnipeg chess scene, Yanofsky organized Canada's first international grandmaster tournament in Winnipeg in 1967 to mark [[Canada's Centennial]]. He also played in the tournament and was awarded the brilliancy prize for his victory over [[László Szabó (chess player)|László Szabó]]; the event was jointly won by [[Bent Larsen]] and [[Klaus Darga]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9xg6R-Lvl0 Nine Days to Win: Winnipeg Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament] [documentary]. Stanley Burke, narrator; Michael Rothery, director; CBC TV Features Production, 1967.</ref> In 1974, Yanofsky also brought to Winnipeg the Pan American Chess Championship that was won by [[Walter Browne]].

Yanofsky earned the [[FIDE]] [[International Arbiter]] title in 1977.

He played in his final Canadian championship in 1986 at age 61 at home in Winnipeg, and qualified for another [[Interzonal]] appearance by placing tied for 3rd-4th with 9.5/15, but ceded the seat in favour of Denis Allan, a younger player.<ref>{{Cite web |title=66th Canadian Championship, Winnipeg, 12-28 July 1986 |url=https://www.bcchesshistory.com/canchslate.html |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=bcchesshistory.com}}</ref>

Yanofsky returned to [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]] in 1996 for the 50th anniversary tournament among the 1946 event's seven surviving players; former world champion [[Vassily Smyslov]] won.

== Chess style ==
According to ''Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess'', Yanofsky was known for his expertise in the [[French Defence]] and the [[Ruy Lopez]], but his strongpoint was his [[Chess endgame|endgame]] play.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/golombeksencyclo0000golo/page/346/mode/2up |title=Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess |publisher=Crown Publishers |year=1977 |isbn=9780517531464 |editor-last=Golombek |editor-first=Harry |url-access=registration}}</ref> Samuel Reshevsky, who played against Yanofsky on a number of occasions, said that he was a tough opponent. <nowiki>''His style is defensive but quite accurate,'' he wrote. ''When given the slightest opportunity, he is strong enough to beat the best.''</nowiki><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reshevsky |first=Samuel |title=How Chess Games are Won |publisher=Pitman |year=1962}}</ref>

==Education and legal career==
Except from 1946 to 1947, Yanofsky never pursued chess full-time.

He entered the [[University of Manitoba]] in 1941, earning a science degree in 1944.

He served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II (1944–46).

Yanofsky graduated with a law degree from the University of Manitoba in 1951. He won several scholarships, which allowed him to pursue legal studies at Oxford University (1951–53). Following graduation, he practiced law in Winnipeg with his brother Harry, who was also a chess master. Yanofsky argued several cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.<ref>''Chess The Hard Way'', second edition, by Daniel Yanofsky, 2000, [[Chess Federation of Canada]] publishers.</ref>

== Politics ==
Yanofsky was an alderman, then mayor of the Winnipeg suburb of [[West Kildonan, Manitoba|West Kildonan]] from 1969 to 1971, and served on the [[Winnipeg City Council|Winnipeg city council]] from 1971 to 1986, chairing the finance committee.

He campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the [[1959 Manitoba general election|1959 provincial election]] as a candidate of the [[Manitoba Liberal Party|Liberal-Progressive Party]]. He finished third behind David Orlikow of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the [[St. Johns (electoral district)|St. Johns]] constituency.

Yanofsky played a major role in the building of the [[Seven Oaks General Hospital]] and the Wellness Institute in the city's north end.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Seven Oaks General Hospital Incorporation Act |url=http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/private/c18090e.php |website=Province of Manitoba |accessdate=16 January 2015}}</ref>

==Honours==
In 1972, Yanofsky was made an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]].<ref>Governor General of Canada. [https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-14245 Mr. Daniel A. Yanofsky] Retrieved 2023-03-10</ref> In 1980, he was appointed a [[Queen's Counsel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Eleven appointed Queen's Counsel |url=http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/archives/1981/01/1981-01-02-eleven_appointed_queen%27s_counsel.pdf |website=Province of Manitoba |accessdate=16 January 2015}}</ref> In 2000, he was inducted as a charter member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=David |date=2019-06-12 |title=Canadian Chess Hall of Fame |url=http://www.canadianchess.info/canadianchesshistory/CanadianChessHallOfFame.html |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=canadianchess.info}}</ref>

Following Yanofsky's death in 2000, a memorial tournament has been held annually in Winnipeg in recognition of his contributions to Canadian chess.

Yanofsky was married to Hilda (née Gutnik); they had four children.

==Publications==
* ''Chess the Hard Way!'' 1st edition (1953), 2nd edition (2000)
* ''Chess Championship of Canada'' (1953) (with [[Nathan Divinsky]])
* ''How to Win End-Games'' (1953)
* ''1st Canadian Open Chess Championship, Montreal 1956'' (1956)
* ''Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament, Winnipeg 1967'' (1967)
* ''100 Years of Chess in Canada: A Centennial Project of the Chess Federation of Canada'' (1967)
* ''International Chess Tournament, Netanya, 1969'' (1969) (with M.H. Horton)
* ''The Games of D.A.Yanofsky'' (1985) (with David Ross)
* ''The Games of Daniel "Abe" Yanofsky'' (1997) (compiled by J. Ken MacDonald)
* Editor, ''Canadian Chess Chat,'' 1956-59 
* Chess columnist, ''Winnipeg Free Press,'' 1954-81

==Notable chess games==
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1150076, Daniel Yanofsky vs Alberto Ismodes, Buenos Aires Olympiad 1939, French, Classical (C11), 1-0] The 14-year-old unleashes a rook sacrifice against the [[Alberto Ismodes Dulanto|Peruvian master]] in a game that won praise from World Champion [[Alexander Alekhine]].
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032134, Daniel Yanofsky vs Mikhail Botvinnik, Groningen 1946, Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin (C99), 1-0] In this classic game, the young Canadian stuns the Soviet champion and Groningen event winner.
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1116613, Viacheslav Ragozin vs Daniel Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden Interzonal 1948, French, Classical (C13), 0-1] Yanofsky coolly gives up his queen to forestall the [[Viacheslav Ragozin|Soviet GM's]] dangerous attacking chances.
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1150179, Samuel Reshevsky vs Daniel Yanofsky, Tel Aviv Olympiad 1964, Grunfeld (D93), 0-1] Yanofsky sacrifices a piece to entomb White's bishop and ruin his pawn structure, leading to a strategical masterpiece.
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1137322, Laszlo Szabo vs Daniel Yanofsky, Winnipeg 1967, King's Indian (E70), 0-1] A thematic dark-square King's Indian game which won the brilliancy prize.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://winnipeginfocus.winnipeg.ca/yanofsky-abe Abe Yanofsky fonds], City of Winnipeg Archives
* {{CFC|103819|Abe Yanofsky}}
* {{OlimpBase FIDE ratings|Yanofsky,%20Daniel%20A.|Daniel A. Yanofsky}}
* {{OlimpBase player|1f1dnlvo|Daniel Abraham Yanofsky}}
* {{Chessgames player|47671|Daniel Abraham Yanofsky}}
* [http://www.canadianchess.info/canadianchesshistory/CanadianChessBiographiesY.html#YANOFSKYDA Daniel Abraham Yanofsky] bulleted player profile, Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912041510/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Abraham-Yanofsky |date=September 12, 2015 |title=Daniel Abraham Yanofsky at Britannica.com}}
* [http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S144534196509141100415300016610100 Daniel Yanofsky] Chessmetrics player profile
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613223449/http://www3.sympatico.ca/g.giffen/chessincanada.htm |date=June 13, 2006 |title=Chess in Canada}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDqnvrMGy9g The Jewish Gambit: Celebrating the Legacy of Jews and Chess in Winnipeg] (video, 2021) Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada

{{Authority control}}
{{Canadian grandmasters}}
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