In Memoriam - Nathan Divinsky
— — Fred McKim, CFC Treasurer
Nathan Divinsky (29 October 1925 ; 17 June 2012)
Last month Canada’s “Chess Renaissance Man” passed away at the age of 85. He was one of the initial inductees into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame in 2001. I met Divinsky several times 25-30 years ago at CFC AGM’s. At the time he was simply a Governor from BC. It was only later that I learned of his prior contributions to Chess in Canada that led to him eventually being in the Hall of Fame. Those of us that have met him have probably seen him only in the role of a Chess politician. He was CFC President 1993-4 and served as Canada’s representative to FIDE (and consequently Zonal President) from 1987-1993and again from 2004-2008. I still remember him consoling me after I (as NBCA President) had failed to secure a 1989 Canadian Open bid for Edmundston at the 1988 meeting (even though he had voted against our bid!). Sure enough we were able to get approval for the 1990 event a few months later.
His chess career started in Winnipeg, which was one of the hot beds of chess in Canada following the triumphs of Abe Yanofsky. He made 3 appearances in the Canadian Closed Championship (1945, 1946, 1951) with his best performance being 1945 where he finished =3rd. No FIDE ratings existed at that time, but that performance in today’s environment would likely be good enough for an IM title. He won the Manitoba Championship in 1946 & 1952. Divinsky left Winnipeg around 1947 to pursue a PhD and eventually settled in Vancouver where he was a member of the UBC Mathematics faculty for 40+ years. He later participated for Canada in two Olympics. Both times he was 6th board; 1954 (.5/1) and 1966 (4.5/8).
From the 1951 Canadian Closed, Nathan takes down Feodor Bohatirchuk, whose exploits in Russia are well known and was still at least 2400 strength in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Canada’s #1 magazine up until at least 1973 was Canadian Chess Chat. He was one of the hard working editors of the magazine from 1960-78. Later on he served as Chess commentator (Radio & TV) on a number of occasions and wrote several chess books: Around the Chess World in 80 Years, Warriors of the Mind (co-author), The Chess Encyclopedia, and Life Maps of the Great Chess Masters.
Probably his final recorded game (well past his retirement from tournament play in the mid 60’s) is against the World Champion….
Divinsky’s achievements were just as numerous away from the chess board. He was a Bridge life master, school board member and later councilman for Vancouver, Professor Emeritus at UBC, author of Mathematical books, designed Math puzzles for Discovery TV, restaurant co-owner and food columnist, played piano and sang opera, etc.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, two daughters, Judy (Neil) Kornfield and Pamela Divinsky, and two grandchildren (Dory and Megan). He was pre-deceased by daughter Mimi.
Three obituaries for more information: Ron Csiilag Toronto Globe and Mail Kim Nursall Vancouver Sun Stephen Wright BCCF Bulletin #242
Other sources include CFC, Jonathan Berry, David Cohen Web Sites
The following memories are from CFC Forum and/or Chess Talk.
From Hal Bond
I was quite saddened to learn that my old friend had died. I remember when Nathan became our FIDE Rep following the passing of the late John Prentice in 1987. He was a strong advocate for all things Canada and an esteemed member of the FIDE General Assembly. He had an opinion on most things but respected the views of others. Nathan also served a term as CFC President in the 90’s, and was a frequent Captain and generous donor to our Olympic Teams.
From Jonathan Berry
I remember that Divinsky and I long ago discussed the sudden death of Elod Macskasy in his sleep. While I regretted that he had died so relatively young, Divinsky said: what a great way to go, suddenly in your sleep, no protracted illness, no pain. So I hope he managed to go the same way….
Divinsky spoke with great aplomb and authority. He was not under any delusions about his own chess strength, but he didn’t see it as a bad thing that somebody could listen to him and take away a positive impression about chess.
From Brian Hartman
Among other interactions, I was lucky enough to enjoy three weeks in Calvia 2004 with Nathan, where he held court at team dinners, regaling us with past stories of his own celebrity and intersecting with other famous people/players. Nathan and I shared long breakfasts together each morning discussing various topics of mutual interest, and he continually amazed me with his knowledge and quick wit. My favorite memory was when Nathan invited me to dinner with his good friend GM Lothar Schmid and his lovely wife, where I sat in awe of their stories of Fischer, business (Lothar founded, among other things, a successful publishing enterprise), and Europe. Nathan showed me some of his early theoretical work on radicals in mathematics, and when I asked what the practicality of this work was…he replied “The future will reveal it” … I suspect many of Nathan’s contributions will only be appreciated in future. I for one, am in great debt to Nathan for the positive influence he had on me, which I unfortunately cannot now reciprocate directly, but hopefully to others.
and finally (and hilariously) From Paul LeBlanc
A couple of years ago, I was present at the Duncan Suttles book launch in Vancouver where I overheard Nathan tell Lawrence Day a Bobby Fischer story. According to Nathan he was on the sidelines watching a Fischer-Petrosian post mortem along with a few GMs. Nathan made a couple of move suggestions that seemed to interest Fischer. At one point Fischer apparently said to Petrosian “OK, Petrosian you’re outta here, you (Divinsky) sit down here”.