Pal Benko has passed away at the age of 91. One of the last links between the pre and post Fischer era's, he was not only a Grandmaster, but a prolific problem composer and writer. Born in France, he grew up in Hungary, before defecting in 1957. Settling in the United States he was a regular on the tournament circuit, winning the US Open 8 times and qualifying for Candidates tournament twice. However it was one tournament he did not play in, the 1970 Interzonal, that may have been the most significant, as he gave up his spot to Bobby Fischer, who went on to win the World Championship in that cycle.
He visited Australia to play in the 1985/86 Australian Open, and then visited a number of other cities and events (including a simul in Canberra IIRC). While he did not win the Australian Open (Guy West finished first), he did play a nice attacking game against Kevin Harrison.
Benko,Pal - Harrison,Kevin [B53]
Australian Open 1984-85
3 comments:
Shaun, if know of anyone with information on the next Australian Championships, maybe you could encourage them to spread the word.
It seems quite incredible that this close to xmas there's been no word at all about it.
No criticism of anyone at all is intended - all the federation organisers are volunteers, and they do it all for love.
But still...
P.Y.
Perhaps anonymous you should subscribe to the ACF newsletter as it was announced in it that it is at the St. George Leagues Club in NSW
Thanks for the info - and for the tip, I'll try subscribing :) Although I still find it weird that the ACF web site does not have - and no state federation web sites have - any announcement or information about it!
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