Trump, Kramnik, Botvinnik, Junge, Benko

[Wayne Komer]

Trump, Kramnik, Botvinnik, Junge, Benko

January 23, 2017

A short bio of Pal Benko from ChessBase:

Pál Benkö, 88 (born July 14, 1928), is a Hungarian-American chess grandmaster, openings theoretician, author and problemist. He became Hungarian champion when he was twenty and finished in first place (or tied for first place) in a record of eight US Championships: 1961, 1964 (in that year he also won the Canadian Open Chess Championship), 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1975.

Benko's highest achievements were playing in the Candidates Tournament with eight of the world's top players in 1959 and 1962. He qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, the leaders of which advance to the Candidates. However, he gave up his spot in the Interzonal to Bobby Fischer, who went on to win the World Championship in 1972.

In addition to his success as a player, Benko is a noted authority on the chess endgame and a composer of endgame studies and chess problems. He is an over-the-board GM and also a FIDE IM of chess composition. The only other person we know who has these two titles is Jan Timman of the Netherlands.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/trump-k...ik-junge-benko
_______

He has written an article entitled for Chess Life, reprinted by ChessBase entitled:

Trump, Kramnik, Botvinnik, Junge, Benko

which starts off this way:

Donald Trump – nowadays we can frequently meet with this name quite often in the media. During a New York City chess event in 1994 I had the opportunity to talk to him in person.

A Kramnik–Kamsky World Championship Candidates match was held in the Trump Tower. Trump gave a reception for the guests, in the company of his secretary and a beautiful model. I was also introduced as "Chess Grandmaster Pal Benko". Mr. Trump turned to his secretary and asked: "Don’t you think I could also be a GM if I put in one or two year on chess?"

I couldn’t believe it. I said: "You need to be born again for that. I have never known anyone who started with chess after the age of 20 and became a grandmaster." Presumably he had no idea of the serious fight for titles in chess. One thing is sure: had he started with chess he could have never been a billionaire.
________

The article has games by Kramnik, Botvinnik, Benko and Junge.

[Wayne Komer]

Trump, Kramnik, Botvinnik, Junge, Benko

July 16, 2018

An opportunity has arisen to correct an old mistake.

On the ninetieth anniversary of his birth, chessbase sought to verify his birthdate. It is, in fact, July 15, 1928, not the 14^th as is given in some sources (and in my previous posting in this thread).

From the article by Frank Zeller:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/congra...-90th-birthday

and some of his early biography:

Pal Benko was born on July 15th, 1928, in Amiens, in France. Benko's father was an engineer but in his mind, he was an artist who loved to travel — which explains why Benko was born in France. However, Benko spent the major part of this youth in Budapest, and, as he said himself, he had a good childhood. The young nosy boy liked sports and was active. He was ten when he learned to play chess.

Suffering

The carefree time ended in 1940 when war and hunger came to Hungary and people had to queue for hours for bread. The allied forces bombed Budapest again and again. In 1944 the Germans invaded, and Benko, who had just turned 16, was forced into the army. But before coming to the front the rebellious Benko deserted. On the following long odyssey, the Soviets once again caught him but again he managed to escape.

Meanwhile, at the end of 1944, the Soviets had occupied Hungary and things got even worse. Benko's father and brother were abducted and had to do hard labour, his mother died, weakened by grief and deprivations. Suddenly Benko was all on his own and had to take care of his little sister. Chess helped him to get food and shelter! During the war, he had practised the game and thanks to his talent he had turned into quite a good player. He was strong enough to play in the Hungarian Championship of 1946. Food was offered as a prize, in a time of inflation the most valuable currency. Benko quickly got better and in 1948, when he was 20 years old, he played his first international tournament in Budapest. A while later he became Hungarian Champion.

His successes spread his name. His confidence grew, not least because he was also physically strong. In his biography he tells a typical story: while he was at the beach with a girlfriend, a quarrel with another boy escalated into a fight. At the end of the fight, Benko pressed his opponent into the water and his rival almost drowned. Days later Benko spotted the following headline in the news: "Chess master knocks out professional boxer on the beach."

A while later Benko qualifies for the Interzonal tournament. He has good chances for an international chess career but Benko feels less and less comfortable in communist Hungary. His free spirit is not suited for blind submissiveness. In March 1952 he tries to flee the Eastern bloc from West-Berlin in a spontaneous attempt — but fails!

Imprisoned

Benko is arrested, interrogated, tortured, and without trial put into a concentration camp. A terrible time and a break in his life: he sees how his fellow prisoners get weaker and weaker and sometimes even collapse and die. He does not know whether he will ever leave prison again. But after one and a half years imprisonment he is suddenly released — after Stalin's death, a number of political prisoners in Hungary were pardoned!

Benko's robust nature and his youth helped him to regenerate quickly. He adapted and was careful but still knew that he had to flee the country. Chess, he thought, might help. He had to be successful, he had to become even better to get invitations for tournaments abroad. The successes came, and during the World Student Championship in Iceland in July 1957 Benko grabbed the opportunity: he went to the American Embassy in Reykjavik and asked for political asylum — and was free.

[Hans Jung]

Happy 90th birthday GM Pal Benko! A real milestone!