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Isaac Kashdan (November 19, 1905, in New York City – February 20, 1985, in Los Angeles) was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was twice U.S. Open champion (1938, 1947). He played five times for the United States in , winning a total of nine medals, and his Olympiad record is the all-time best among American players.
Kashdan was often called 'der Kleine ' (German for "The little Capablanca") in Europe because of his ability to extract victories from seemingly even positions. Alexander Alekhine named him one of the most likely players to succeed him as World Champion. Kashdan could not, however, engage seriously in a chess career for financial reasons; his peak chess years coincided with the Great Depression. He resorted to earning a living as an insurance agent and administrator in order to support his family.
Among players who have played in the open section of four or more Olympiads, Kashdan's winning percentage is the fourth best in history, behind only World Champions Mikhail Tal, Anatoly Karpov, and Tigran Petrosian.
At New York City 1931, Kashdan took second place with 8.5/11, behind José Raúl Capablanca. At Bled 1931, Kashdan scored 13.5/26 to tie for 4-7th places, as Alekhine scored an undefeated 20.5 points. In 1931/32, at Hastings, Kashdan took second place, behind Salo Flohr, with 7.5/9. In 1932 in Mexico City, he tied for first place with Alekhine with 8.5/9, and took second place behind Alekhine at Pasadena with 7.5/11. At London 1932, Kashdan tied 3rd-4th places with 7.5/11, with Alekhine winning. At Syracuse 1934, Kashdan finished 2nd with 10.5/14, as Samuel Reshevsky won. In the U.S. Open Chess Championship / Western Open, Chicago 1934, Kashdan scored 4.5/9 in the finals, to tie for 5th-6th places, with Reshevsky and Reuben Fine sharing the title. In the U.S. Open Chess Championship (then known as Western Open), Milwaukee 1935, Kashdan placed 3rd with 6.5/10, as Fine won.
But Kashdan never won the U.S. (Closed) Championship. Arnold Denker and Larry Parr note this as the central failure of his chess life, since, had he been able to win it, this might have provided him with the financial resources to pursue chess full-time. Denker and Parr state that "from 1928 onwards, Kashdan was clearly the best player in the United States, but the aging Frank Marshall was attached to his title." Kashdan "bargained and haggled with Frank for years until Marshall voluntarily relinquished the crown. The result: the first modern U.S. Championship tournament in 1936. But by this time, (Reuben) Fine and Samuel Reshevsky had surpassed" Kashdan.
In U.S. Championships, Kashdan 1) placed 5th in 1936 at New York with 10/15, with Reshevsky winninghttp://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables7/htm 2) placed 3rd in 1938 at New York with Reshevsky repeating;http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables9/htm 3) placed 3rd at New York 1940 with 10.5/16, with Reshevsky winning his third straight title; 4) tied for 1st-2nd with Reshevsky at New York 1942 with 12.5/15, but lost the subsequent play-off match (+2 −6 =3) 5) placed 2nd in 1946 at New York City with a strong 14.5/19, 1.5 points behind Reshevsky; 6) tied 1st-2nd in 1948 at South Fallsburg, with Herman Steiner,http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables19.htm but again lost the playoff match.
Kashdan would have been U.S. champion in 1942, but lost out to Reshevsky when the Tournament Director, L. Walter Stephens, scored Reshevsky's time-forfeit loss to Denker as a win instead.
He appeared on February 9, 1956, TV edition of Groucho Marx's show You Bet Your Life, where the host referred to him throughout as "Mr. Ashcan", and challenged him to a match for $500 (but only if allowed to cheat). Kashdan and his partner, Helen Schwartz (mother of actor
reviewed January 23, 2020
In 1933, Kashdan, in partnership with Horowitz, founded Chess Review, a magazine that was purchased by the United States Chess Federation in 1969. He edited the tournament book for the 1966 Piatigorsky Cup tournament.
Kashdan was the longtime editor of the Los Angeles Times chess column, from 1955 until 1982, when he suffered a disabling stroke.
In his role as an arbiter, he directed many chess tournaments, including the two Piatigorsky Cup tournaments of 1963 (at Los Angeles) and 1966 (at Santa Monica). Kashdan also helped to organize the series of Lone Pine tournaments in the 1970s, which were sponsored by Louis Statham. Kashdan was later involved in administration in the United States Chess Federation, serving as a vice-president.
His only surviving son, Richard Kashdan, is an attorney living in San Francisco (as of 2010). Richard is known in hacker and phreak circles by his handle "Mark Bernay". Under his nickname, he maintains an archive of "phone trips"; recordings documenting travels around the United States, during the 1960s and early 1970s, with the purpose of exploring local telephone switching networks. Richard keeps up with chess news, and is interested in the game, although he does not play competitively.
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