David Cohen, Canada’s Chess Historian

**Frank Dixon** · Thursday, 22nd July, 2021, 05:10 PM

This is hitting me very hard. David has been one of the giants of Canadian chess for decades. His many and wide contributions stand with those of anyone in our chess nation.
My closest connection with him came when I, as an Assistant Arbiter, organized an Appeals Committee at the 2013 CYCC in Ottawa, after the final regularly-scheduled round had finished. There was NOT one in place, and I had been presented with a particularly knotty problem. I also asked Herb Langer to serve; both agreed. David, as an IA the most qualified among us, expertly chaired our efforts. We worked together amiably and efficiently, late into the evening, to produce a clear, thorough report in a time-pressured situation; there were CYCC playoffs the next day depending on our decision.
I think I may have some games from David's participation in the Kingston Open in previous years. If I can find them, I will make them available on this site. I did just post a game of his, as a 'Mystery Game'.
As well as being a very knowledgeable chess person with a giving heart, David was also a super person.
Rest In Peace, my friend David Cohen.

Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston

**Tony Ficzere** · Thursday, 22nd July, 2021, 05:14 PM

Sad news indeed. I first met David around 1985 and had been a friend ever since. He was a good person and was very dedicated to chess. We went to many tournaments together in my years in Ottawa. I worked with him on several chess projects over the years. He will be missed. The Canadian chess scene has lost a giant. Rest in peace David.

**Brad Thomson** · Thursday, 22nd July, 2021, 09:18 PM

David is a wonderful soul and he will be deeply missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. He was always cheerful, and David would make a point of dropping in at the CFC office, and later at Strategy Games in Ottawa, whenever he was in the area. His love for chess was incredible. Someday we shall all be reunited.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 22nd July, 2021, 10:21 PM

David Cohen, Canada’s Chess Historian

July 22, 2021

David Cohen funeral details as follow:

Location: York Cemetery and Funeral Centre
160 Beecroft Rd. North York.

Grave site: Section 15, Lot 2119
North west corner of the east half of
York Cemetery.

Date: Friday, July 23, 2021

Time: 12:30pm

*NOTE: Arrive no later than 12:10 pm to allow time to get to the graveside. Park at the office parking lot. HBB staff at the office entrance will direct you to the graveside.

*Due to Covid restrictions, numbers will be limited to 25 people (plus the clergy). If you plan to attend, please email your name and telephone number to huitoronto@gmail.com

**Ian Findlay** · Friday, 23rd July, 2021, 02:21 AM

Very sad news. I remember when David recruited me to serve on the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame about 3 years ago, he told me that he did not have much longer but never elaborated nor did I ask for more details. He was a great contributor to organizing chess and its history. He will be missed. RIP.

**Hans Jung** · Friday, 23rd July, 2021, 10:22 AM

This may be David's longest lasting legacy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...rst-chess-club A child's poignant memories of her/his first chess club. Full of atmosphere and very touching.
I have known David for more than 40 years with many interactions, encounters, conversations, shared events and shared tournaments. We had many conversations about exotic countries and travel destinations, interesting books, interesting people. He seemed involved with and loved every aspect of chess. Some highlights from shared encounters: In 96 I won the Ontario Championship. David's reaction was: A dream win in a dream tournament. When he opened up David had a delightfully boyish charming side to him. He was as happy as I was.
I gave many blindfold exhibitions in the Toronto area and Ontario. David volunteered and became my best move messenger in several of those exhibitions. Even though he enjoyed the positions from the various boards he never made any mistakes, always clear with the moves, often repeating in long form algebraic notation, sometimes with colourful side notes such as: your opponent on board 6 says you have played a particularly nasty move. And those little extras picked me up and gave me extra energy. David was also meticulous with the scoresheets with side notes and would email me copies later.
And when he committed to an event he saw it through to the end.
About twenty years ago he organized and directed a Fide tournament that I played in. On the last day he came to me and said I really need you to do me a favour. (one of my opponents had postponed a game due to another event they were playing in) Could you play these two opponents simultaneously? - otherwise there is no way of getting both these games in. I was happy to and played both a well known problem composer and one of Canada's top lady players at the same time and had a lot of fun doing so.
David lived a full life with alot of interests and he sure loved chess. Thanks again for the great memories David.

**Aris Marghetis** · Friday, 23rd July, 2021, 11:24 AM

Thanks Hans (and others above) for your thoughtful memorable posts. David, may you rest in peace.

**Larry Bevand** · Saturday, 24th July, 2021, 09:10 PM

I have known David for many decades.Always willing to help out. A brilliant fellow. David fought like a lion against this terrible disease. He knew the end was in sight but he kept pushing that date further into the future.

One of his many contributions to Canadian chess was to establish the Canadian Hall of Fame and the Canadian chessplayer of the year award. He has left these in the hands of the Chess'n Math Association and we will do our best to make him proud.

We will miss you David!

RIP

Larry Bevand
Executive Director
Chess'n Math Association

**Francis Rodriguez** · Sunday, 25th July, 2021, 11:01 PM

David's Eulogy

Lisette Lu

I feel blessed for having David in my life. He brought a LOT of joy! He made it an adventure!

On our journey through Life together, he was always researching, researching and researching. He was tenaciously curious, wanting to explore. Everything interesting led to something even MORE interesting, which in turn, led to something...even MORE interesting...and the thread continued, and the to-do lists expanded.

One of his proudest moments was getting a master's degree in Public and Private Management from Yale. Although he was an accountant by training, he dedicated his work life on all things chess...teaching, organizing, writing, studying and...researching, of course.

David was a very natural person with absolutely nothing artificial about him. What you see is what you get. He had childlike qualities that delighted family and friends. He had very simple tastes. He loved books, reading 4 or 5 books at the same time. In addition he kept meticulous track of ALL the books he had read, as a true accountant. He spent a lot of time at the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books: Toronto Public Library where he befriended the librarians. Link

He was my walking dictionary. He had an amazing memory with names, dates, places, and trivia. He could remember all these 24-letter long foreign names in chess, but if you ask him a practical question; i.e. what he just paid for the bananas, he would not know.

And he loved foods...Especially lamb steaks which were a treat when he was a kid. It was a joy watching him enjoying a lamb steak, holding it up to his mouth with all his fingers, eyes shining with happiness, and a humongous smile on his face. He tracked down ethnic restaurants in Toronto, hoping to eat through the letters of the alphabet from A to Z.

We travelled wide and far, weeks at a time mostly on our own. We saw Northern lights in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Moai statues in Easter Islands, Chile, and glacial lakes in Jiuzhaigou. We went as far as Namtso Lake in Tibet, China and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang and Shangri-La among other fabulous places. Standing at the summit of Huayna Picchu Mountain in Peru, he forgot for a brief moment his fear of heights. Without David, I would not be able to go to any of these exotic places because of my subzero sense of direction getting lost in my own neighborhood. David was truly my GPS and my walking stick.

What was astonishing about David was his inner strength. I sensed that when I first met him. At the same time, he had this gentleness, innocence, and honesty in him that I fell in love with.

He refused to let illness define him.When he was diagnosed with cancer, it did not stop him. Instead, he focused and tripled down on checking off his bucket list. He kept putting one foot in front of the other and he kept going. During chemo treatment on days that he was not feeling well, he would still keep up his half an hour daily walk even when he had to stop at every block to rest. He was determined to stick to this routine because his oncologist told him that exercise was very important. He kept this up for 3+ years until he could not towards the end as his illness took over.

My memories of us though, will live on, David. Thank you for sharing your life and yourself with me. I never regretted a moment.

You made life so exciting and new. I will always look for you (and find you again and again) in my heart and mind and in our memories and photos.

David, I will look for you in the stars above and in the Northern Lights and in your books and in the people and places and music and movies and everything we have shared.

I love you... I miss you, David...

Lisette

**Sid Belzberg** · Monday, 26th July, 2021, 09:58 AM

I am deeply saddened to hear this RIP David.

**Aris Marghetis** · Monday, 26th July, 2021, 11:06 AM

Originally posted by Francis Rodriguez View Post

David's Eulogy

Lisette Lu

I feel blessed for having David in my life. He brought a LOT of joy! He made it an adventure!

On our journey through Life together, he was always researching, researching and researching. He was tenaciously curious, wanting to explore. Everything interesting led to something even MORE interesting, which in turn, led to something...even MORE interesting...and the thread continued, and the to-do lists expanded.

One of his proudest moments was getting a master's degree in Public and Private Management from Yale. Although he was an accountant by training, he dedicated his work life on all things chess...teaching, organizing, writing, studying and...researching, of course.

David was a very natural person with absolutely nothing artificial about him. What you see is what you get. He had childlike qualities that delighted family and friends. He had very simple tastes. He loved books, reading 4 or 5 books at the same time. In addition he kept meticulous track of ALL the books he had read, as a true accountant. He spent a lot of time at the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books: Toronto Public Library where he befriended the librarians. Link

He was my walking dictionary. He had an amazing memory with names, dates, places, and trivia. He could remember all these 24-letter long foreign names in chess, but if you ask him a practical question; i.e. what he just paid for the bananas, he would not know.

And he loved foods...Especially lamb steaks which were a treat when he was a kid. It was a joy watching him enjoying a lamb steak, holding it up to his mouth with all his fingers, eyes shining with happiness, and a humongous smile on his face. He tracked down ethnic restaurants in Toronto, hoping to eat through the letters of the alphabet from A to Z.

We travelled wide and far, weeks at a time mostly on our own. We saw Northern lights in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Moai statues in Easter Islands, Chile, and glacial lakes in Jiuzhaigou. We went as far as Namtso Lake in Tibet, China and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang and Shangri-La among other fabulous places. Standing at the summit of Huayna Picchu Mountain in Peru, he forgot for a brief moment his fear of heights. Without David, I would not be able to go to any of these exotic places because of my subzero sense of direction getting lost in my own neighborhood. David was truly my GPS and my walking stick.

What was astonishing about David was his inner strength. I sensed that when I first met him. At the same time, he had this gentleness, innocence, and honesty in him that I fell in love with.

He refused to let illness define him.When he was diagnosed with cancer, it did not stop him. Instead, he focused and tripled down on checking off his bucket list. He kept putting one foot in front of the other and he kept going. During chemo treatment on days that he was not feeling well, he would still keep up his half an hour daily walk even when he had to stop at every block to rest. He was determined to stick to this routine because his oncologist told him that exercise was very important. He kept this up for 3+ years until he could not towards the end as his illness took over.

My memories of us though, will live on, David. Thank you for sharing your life and yourself with me. I never regretted a moment.

You made life so exciting and new. I will always look for you (and find you again and again) in my heart and mind and in our memories and photos.

David, I will look for you in the stars above and in the Northern Lights and in your books and in the people and places and music and movies and everything we have shared.

I love you... I miss you, David...

Lisette

Thank you deeply Francis for sharing that.

**Neil Frarey** · Monday, 26th July, 2021, 05:51 PM

My deepest condolences. I admired his energetic commitment to Chess in Canada.

RIP David

David Cohen, Canada’s Chess Historian

David Cohen, Canada’s Chess Historian

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