Nathan Divinsky

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Nathan Joseph Harry Divinsky ( October 29, 1925 in Winnipeg , Manitoba - June 17, 2012 in Vancouver ) was a Canadian mathematician, university professor, chess master , chess writer and chess official. Divinsky was also known as the husband of the 19th Prime Minister of Canada , Kim Campbell . Divinsky and Campbell were married from 1972 to 1983.

Early life, education, professional career

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1925, he was a friend of the Canadian chess grandmaster and attorney Daniel Yanofsky . Divinsky received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba in 1946 . He received a Master of Science degree in 1947 and a PhD in mathematics from AA Albert at the University of Chicago in 1950 . He then returned to Winnipeg and spent most of the 1950s in the University of Manitoba's math department. Divinsky then moved to Vancouver, where he worked as a mathematics professor and also as assistant dean for science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver . There he spent the rest of his professional life.

He was featured on many programs on math and chess on Discovery Channel Canada , now Daily Planet . During the first two seasons of the show, he presented a weekly competitive section with an emphasis on math puzzles.

Divinsky was a member of the Vancouver School Board from 1974 to 1980 and chaired it from 1978 to 1980. From 1981 to 1982 he was a member of the Vancouver City Council.

chess

Divinsky learned his early game of chess as a teenager with Yanofsky at the Winnipeg Jewish Chess Club. At the closed Canadian chess championship in Saskatoon in 1945 he reached with 9.5 / 12 together with John Belson the 3rd to 4th place; the joint winners were Yanofsky and Frank Yerhoff with 10.5 / 12. At the 1951 in Vancouver closed Canadian Chess Championship Divinsky scored 6/12 points for a tie for places 5 to 7. Both 1946 and 1952 he won the Manitoba Championship and was runner-up in 1945. He took first place at the Manitoba Open in 1959. Divinsky scored 7.5 / 11 at Bognor Regis in 1966 and finished 7-13 in a tie.

He represented Canada twice at the Chess Olympiads, in 1954 in Amsterdam (second reserve board, 0.5 / 1) and in 1966 in Havana (second reserve board, 4.5 / 8). Divinsky was playing captain for both teams and non-playing captain of the Canadian Olympic team from 1988. Divinsky achieved the level of a national champion in Canada and was awarded the honorary title of International Master by the Commonwealth Chess Association (founded by the English grandmaster Raymond Keene) Title not officially obtained from FIDE , the world chess federation).

Divinsky has also been a Life Master in Bridge since 1972 .

Divinsky was editor of the magazine Canadian Chess Chat from 1959 to 1974 and occasionally wrote articles for other Canadian chess magazines. Since the 1950s he played an important role in the chess organization in Canada. He represented Canada to the World Chess Federation FIDE from 1987 to 1994 and again in 2007. During both terms he was a member of the FIDE General Assembly, as Canada is a zone of FIDE. He is a member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame , served as President of the Chess Federation of Canada in 1954 and was the Life Governor of the CFC.

He has authored several books on chess. Chess historian Edward Winter was very critical of Divinsky's "The Batsford Chess Encyclopedia" in a 1992 review, calling it "A Disastrous Encyclopedia". Winter voted it one of the five worst English language chess books in the past two decades in 2008. Winter's 1989 review of Divinsky and Raymond Keene's book "Warriors of the Mind" was also negative. In this book, the authors compared great chess masters throughout history using advanced mathematical treatment; although necessarily imperfect due to the generational development in the game of chess, it was indeed the pioneering work in the field.

Family and marriage to Kim Campbell

Divinsky was married three times. From his first marriage he had three daughters: Judy, Pamela and Mimi. Divinsky met Kim Campbell, 22 years her junior, when she was studying at the University of British Columbia in the late 1960s. Their relationship lasted while Campbell was doing her PhD from the London School of Economics, and the two married in 1972. It was his second marriage and their first. Divinsky was a major influence on Campbell's interest in political activities. The two divorced in 1983, but they remained on good terms. There were no children from their marriage. He died in Vancouver at the age of 86, survived by his third wife, Marilyn Goldstone.

Reading list

  • Rings and Radicals , University of Toronto Press, 1965.
  • Linear Algebra , 1975.
  • Around the Chess World in 80 Years .
  • The Batsford Encyclopedia of Chess , 1990. ISBN 0-7134-6214-0
  • Life Maps of the Great Chess Masters , 1994, Seattle, International Chess Enterprises.
  • Warriors of the Mind: A Quest for the Supreme Genius of the Chess Board (with Raymond Keene ), 1989, 2002.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Nathan Divinsky (1925--2012). Retrieved May 2, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Canadian Chess - Biographies - D. Retrieved May 2, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b University of Manitoba staff listings during the 1950s
  4. ↑ a b Nathan Tuzie Divinsky Obituary: View Nathan Divinsky's Obituary by The Vancouver Sun . Legacy.com. October 29, 1925. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ canadianchess.info, Divinsky biography
  6. ↑ Chess the Hard Way , second edition, by DA Yanofsky, 1999
  7. ↑ http://www.canadianchess.info , Manitoba champions section
  8. ↑ 100 Years of Chess in Canada , by DA Yanofsky, 1967
  9. ↑ CHESS , May 23, 1966
  10. ^ Wojciech Bartelski: the encyclopaedia of team chess . OlimpBase. January 1, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ canadianchess.info, Divinsky biography
  12. ↑ A Catastrophic Encyclopedia by Edward Winter. Retrieved May 2, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (4) . ChessBase.com. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  14. ^ Warriors of the Mind (1989) . Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  15. ^ Time and Chance , by Kim Campbell , 1996, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, ISBN 0-385-25527-6
personal data
SURNAME Divinsky, Nathan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Divinsky, Nathan Joseph Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian mathematician, university professor and chess master
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Winnipeg
DATE OF DEATH 17th June 2012
Place of death Vancouver