I have loads of happy chess memories from the 80's when we became friends and we kept in touch with each other over the years. He was quite a character. Not many dull moments....often quite the reverse.

Rest in Peace Danny, Thank you for all your help and encouragement.

He was true lover of chess.

Our first meeting, at the 1982 New England Open, is a game I will always remember: you sacrificed a pawn in the opening and I hung onto it through over ninety moves and 8.5 hours of play before securing the draw.

Here is one of the games where he crushed me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Il...

Very sad news

Danny was a bit reckless as far as endorsing himself with the British/Scottish way. When he arrived in Edinburgh with a bang! (that is the correct word.) he put a few noses out of joint with his American straight to the point ways. I thought he was great.

I recall one lad making an illegal against him. Danny thought for 5 minutes to see if he could take advantage of it.

Seeing none he pointed out the error, demanded the player move the touched piece and then wanted his time back!

Although he attended Edinburgh University he had a row with the University chess team (I think Danny wanted paid to play for them) and there was little or no love lost between them though most of the banter was humorous.

Danny played for us, the Edinburgh Chess Club (unpaid but we allowed him to advertise his services as a chess coach on the noticeboard - which we would have done anyway irrespective of who he played for.)

This game.

D Kopec vs M Condie, 1980

Danny missed a wonderful wrap up though went onto win. Next day some of he University players set up the missed brilliancy position on all the 15-20 boards in the analysis room.

Danny did actually find that quite funny.

(1980) Best Games Of The Young Grandmasters, with Craig Pritchett (non-fiction chess), publisher Bell and Howell, London

(1985) Master Chess: A Course in 21 Lessons (non-fiction chess)

(1997) Practical Middlegame Techniques with Rudy Blumenfeld (non-fiction chess)

(1998) Test, Evaluate, and Improve your Chess co-author Hal Terrie (non-fiction chess)

(2002) Chess World Title Contenders and Their Styles co-author Craig Pritchett (non-fiction chess)

(2003) Mastering the Sicilian (non-fiction chess)

(2004) Winning the Won Game co-author ¼ubomír Ftáènik (non-fiction chess)

"(1985) Master Chess: A Course in 21 Lessons."

This was co-authored with me, Ian Mullen, Chris Morrison and Nigel Davis.

Ran through three publishing houses and 21 reprints (possibly more, all I know is up until 2010 I was still getting a cheque every April for something I wrote in 1984.)

When it first came out the authors were listed in alphabetical order and sometimes it read 'by Chandler et al...'.

Danny was not too happy with that. Quite rightly so, it was his idea and he did all the spade work regarding the organisation and meeting the publishers. I thought it was quite funny. Danny says they be will confusing me with Murray Chandler. I said that's good. He's a Grandmaster.

I wonder how many people bought it thinking I was him! There again I wonder how people bought his books thinking he was me! :)

Danny wrote to various places and it was soon appearing as Danny Kopec et al.

It was also translated into Spanish. That was odd seeing something you had written and not being able to read it.

I've never met Nigel which is also pretty strange since we wrote a book together.

Given Danny's extensive chess activity as a player, lecturer, coach, and author, and summer chess camp entrepreneur, it is amazing that chess was really a hobby, along with a lot of other interests and projects outside his full time and demanding job as a professor and author of books and papers, and full time teaching responsibilities. In many ways Danny was a polymath, fluent in 5 languages for example. One of his nephews made an interesting comment that he always regarded his Uncle Danny as a genius.

Fortunately, I guess anticipating that he might not beat the pancreatic cancer that took him away too soon, Danny made provisions that his long time friend GM Lubomir Ftacnik would be able to take over all the teaching responsibilities at this year's adult only chess camp which starts July 11 in Bennington, VT, with Sylvia and David as always taking care of the administrative aspects. I am pleased that I can attend, and Lubomir who has been at the camps before is a superb teacher. However, we sadly will miss Danny's unique exuberance.