Francisco Benkö

Francisco (Franz) Benkö (Benkő, Benko) (24 June 1910 – 11 January 2010)[1] was a German–Argentine chess master and problemist.

He was born in Berlin into a Jewish family. His father, Richard Wilhelm Benkö, came from Hungary, and his mother, Alice Josephine Helene Pick, from Austria. In 1928 and 1929, he drew simultaneous games with Alexander Alekhine in Berlin.[2] In 1935, Franz Benkö was the first Jewish chess master in Berlin.[3] In spring 1936, he emigrated from Germany via Holland to Argentina, because of Nazi policy.[4]

Francisco Benkö has played many times in Argentine Chess Championship, from 1937 till 2004 (aged 94).[5] Among others, he took 11th in Torneo Mayor 1937 (Jacobo Bolbochán won), took 20th in 1938 (Roberto Grau won), took 11th in 1939 (Juan Traian Iliesco won), took 12th in 1940 (Carlos Guimard won), tied for 9–10th in 1941 (Markas Luckis won), took 13th in 1945 (Herman Pilnik won), shared 5th in 1947 (Héctor Rossetto won), took 5th in 1948 (Julio Bolbochán won), tied for 5–6th in 1949, and tied for 5–7th in 1953. At last, he has taken part in the 2004 Argentine Championship, finishing 91st.[6]

In other tournaments, he tied for 9–10th at Buenos Aires 1939 (Círculo de Ajedrez, Miguel Najdorf and Paul Keres won),[7] took 13th at Buenos Aires 1941 (Najdorf won),[8] took 8th at Buenos Aires 1945 (Círculo de Ajedrez, Najdorf won),[9] took 6th at Remedios de Escalada 1949 (Julio Bolbochán won),[10] tied for 15-16th at Mar del Plata chess tournament 1949 (Rossetto won),[11] and tied for 14-15th at Mar del Plata / Buenos Aires 1954 (the 2nd Torneio Zonal Sulamericano, Oscar Panno won).[12]

Chess composition and friends

Benkö was the longest living member of the Schwalbe, joining in 1928, and honorary member from 2009 until his death on 11 January 2010 in Buenos Aires. He built a collection of 30,000 compositions. When Benkö lived in Germany, he was acquainted with a few famous composers, including Ado Kraemer, Erich Zepler and Eduard Birgfeld. He also was a friend of Wolfgang Heidenfeld. Benkö knew some players in Berlin, too, but only managed to win against Friedrich Sämisch and Jacques Mieses while losing against Carl Ahues, Kurt Richter and Willi Schlage. In Buenos Aires 1939 Benkö met Alexander Alekhine, who solved some of Benkö's problems. In 1992 Benkö met Mikhail Tal who also tried to solve a chess problem (see below) but failed twice, still solving it afterwards. Upon the original publication of the problem, more than 500 people tried to solve it with half of them guessing incorrectly.[3]

Francisco Benkö
British Chess Magazine, 1950
abcdefgh
8
b8 black queen
h8 black king
f7 white pawn
h7 black pawn
c6 black pawn
d6 white knight
h6 white pawn
c5 white pawn
b3 black pawn
b2 white king
a1 white bishop
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Mate in 3

References
  1. Franz Benkö 24 June 1910 – 11 January 2010
  2. Chessville en Español – Nuestro Círculo #155
  3. Die Schwalbe, Heft 226, August 2007 – Archiv Aktuelles > Personalia
  4. GuiaPalomar.com Archived 27 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Chess Notes by Edward Winter
  6. "Major Tournaments and Argentine Chess Championships (notes in Spanish)". Archived from the original on 25 October 2009.
  7. Buenos Aires (Circulo) 1939 Archived 4 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Buenos Aires 1941 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Viña del Mar Archived 3 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Welcome to the Chessmetrics site Archived 14 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Mar del Plata 1949 – Torneo Internacional
  12. Mar del Plata/Buenos Aires 1954 – 2° Zonal Sulamericano Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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