AApril 02 1947
The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Wednesday, April 02, 1947
PAWNS AWAY: First five of the 40 players who pitted their pawns against the relentless attacks of Canadian Chess Champion Daniel A. Yanofsky and New Zealand expert Robert G. Wade here last night are shown just prior to the opening moves. Head down, Yanofsky ponders M. W. Williams' bishop and knight, while Wade (extreme right) plans his attack on T. L. O'Neill's board. Other three players, left to right, are P. G. Haley, Samuel Melamed, and Severin E. Jankow. The experts won. (Gazette Photos by Davidson.)
The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Wednesday, April 02, 1947
Local Boys Fail to Make Good With Visiting Chess Champions
By RON MARSH
Daniel Abe Yanofsky of Winnipeg, Canadian chess champion, and Robert G. Wade, expert player from New Zealand, defeated without difficulty 40 players here last night in a tandem simultaneous exhibition sponsored by the Central Y.M.C.A. Chess Club.
Playing 15 to 20 boards apart, Yanofsky, a chess master, and Wade brought worried frowns to their opponents' brows shortly after the opening moves. Several hundred chess followers crowded the Y.M.C.A.'s Budge Hall for the exhibition.
One of the strongest Montreal games was provided by 14-year-old Jimmy Levy of 5022 Jeanne Mance street who was playing securely long after several of the more experienced players had ceded to the two experts. Levy, who played his first game two years ago, is a member of the En Passant Chess Club.
Yanofsky had just returned from an eight-month round of tournament play which took him through several European countries and to Iceland, where, he said, the strength of the players was “unequaled anywhere.”
At the Groningen tournament in Holland, the young Canadian was one of 20 masters who represented 12 countries. At this tournament, which lasted from August 12 to September 7, Yanofsky defeated Michael Botvinnik, U.S.S.R. master, in the 15th round.
Chess experts describe Yanofsky as primarily a positional player who is brilliant in his attack. His highly imaginative strategy forced several early resignations during last night's games.
During his European tour Yanofsky played 70 match games. Of these, he won 32, lost 12 and drew 26.
“During the tour I learned more about top-flight chess than during my entire ten years at the game,” the Canadian master said last night. “I played almost all the world's outstanding exponents.” Yanofsky received his first chess lesson when he was nine. His father was his teacher.
Following a brief tour of other Quebec clubs and an exhibition in Toronto, Yanofsky will return to his home in Winnipeg. He will rest before resuming competition play. He has applied for entry into Oxford University to complete medical studies in the autumn. Yanofsky expects to compete in further European tournaments during holidays. The 22-year-old Canadian champion is rated one of the world's 12 leading chess masters.
Wade, who is 25, was born in Wellington. At 17, he won the Premier Reserves at the National Congress at Wanganui. In 1940 at Timaru and in 1943 at Wellington he tied for first in the national championships, losing the first play-off and winning the second. At Auckland in 1945 he won outright.
Wade felt his visit to Canada was a harbinger of “good times ahead for Empire chess.” He predicted closer relationship in chess affairs between the Dominions and development of Empire chess in the next few years. Later this year, Canada will play Australia by radio.
Saturday, Yanofsky and Wade will appear at the Southwestern Y.M.C.A., Verdun, in an exhibition sponsored by the Verdun Chess Club. At this, Wade will play six boards simultaneously while blindfold and Yanofsky will play all comers.
