Arnold Denker Died.

Arnold Denker died on Sunday, January 2, 2005, age 90. That means you can read his obit in the New York Times for a short time if you register there. Denker was a fine American chess player. He was also an elegant, friendly gentleman, which is unusual among tournament players. The obit skips over the years 1956-1970 (Denker had retired in the late 40’s) so I will fill you in a little.
In 1956 I was playing as much chess as I could and looking for strong opponents. My parents found a suitable teenage opponent for me named Alex, and sent me to the local VFW, which had a chess club on Tuesday nights. I haunted the place and soon dragged Alex there. Then Alex got a friend of his, Richard, to join us at the VFW. Soon Richard was reporting that he had a neighbor who ought to be coming too. We urged Richard to urge his neighbor, and a very rusty Arnold Denker started showing up at the club.
The rest, as they say, is history.