Arthur Dake

An American Chess Original

Arthur W. Dake is a unique American chessplayer, considered by some to be the most talented of all the great native American players who came to prominence in the 1930s. Born in 1910, Dake learned to play chess relatively late for a strong player, at the age of 17. Within only four years he played well enough to beat a World Champion in tournament play. A member of the merchant marine at age 16, Dake traveled to a number of exotic locations before docking at New York in 1929 and discovering his chess skill enabled him to hold his own against master chess players, and more than hold his own at blitz chess. His victory in the 1930 Marshall Chess Club Championship helped him get started in international chess competition, as it led to his being selected to play on the U.S. team in the 1931 Olympiad in Prague.

Dake is deservedly famous for his key contributions to three winning United States teams in the chess Olympiads in the 1930s. He won the gold medal for his score of 15 1/2 -- 2 1/2 on Board Four at Warsaw 1935--the best result of any individual player in the event. His overall record on the U. S. teams at the 1931, 1922, and 1935 Olympiads was a sizzling 27 wins against only four defeats.

Dake tied for first place at Antwerp 1931 with Rubenstein and Yates. He defeated Alekhine en route to tying for third place in the 1932 international tournament in Pasadena 1932.

Dake was feared at speed chess, having a good record against, among others, Alekhine, as chronicled in GM Denker's book, The Bobby Fischer I Knew. Dake also had a good record against GM Reuben Fine, another Hall of Fame member, winning one match and losing one. In fact, with the exception of Reshevsky, Dake had at least an equal score against all his leading American rivals, Kashdan, Denker and Horowitz.

At his peak of playing skill, Dake was a tough opponent for the world's best players. There was no mathematical rating system then, but it was clear that other strong players measured themselves against Dake. In Reshevsky's book, Reshevsky's Best Games of Chess, he discusses his own self testing and coming of age as a chess player in the 1930s, including a list of the other best American players at the time. Reshevsky lists seven that he strove to hold his own against in the early thirties--and puts Dake first on his list.

Reshevsky was not the only player to view Dake in this way. Here is a section of Reuben Fine's autobiography, A Passion for Chess:

"Dake was something of a phenomenon on the American chess scene. He hailed from Portland Oregon, which was in itself unusual because almost all the strong American players came from NY. He had been a seaman, and had only known chess for about a year when he hit NY and the snobbery of its big clubs ... soon he was beating everybody in sight at quick chess. By 1931 it was clear that he was a 'find.' In the qualifying tournament [to the 1933 international tourney] Dake was the favorite. Up to that point I had never been able to win a single tournament game from him; to defeat him here would have meant another step forward."

Fine further notes that he was able to improve his skill by playing "matches against the leading American masters--Dake and Horowitz". As Fine grew in chess skill he would eventually win a rematch with Dake by a score of 6-4, but this was certainly nothing for Dake to be ashamed of, as Fine defeated Horowitz 6-3 and later beat Steiner 3.5-.5.

With a few exceptions like the 1946 U.S.-Soviet match, Dake had to abandon competitive chess during most of what would have been his prime playing years, because he needed to work at other jobs to support his family. On retiring at the age of 63, he showed that he had not forgotten how to play chess, winning a brilliancy prize at the prestigious Lone Pine tournament in 1973. He also did well at the 1974 and 75 events, drawing against two grandmasters in the latter event.

Dake received the Grandmaster title in 1986, primarily in recognition of his exceptional results during the 1930's. Dake's career is chronicled in NM Casey Bush's book, Grandmaster from Oregon: The Life and Games of Arthur Dake, Portland: Portland Chess Press, 1991.

Arthur Dake died in Portland, Oregon on May 2, 2000.

In recognition of his significant contributions to American chess, in 1991 Arthur Dake was inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame in Washington, DC.

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