Danny Kopec ’75

Danny Kopec ’75—professor of computer science at Brooklyn College, author, entrepreneur and International Master of chess—died June 13 from pancreatic cancer. A chess prodigy and Master at 17, he earned his bachelor’s from Dartmouth and Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh in machine intelligence. A prolific author, his chess products included eight books and nine feature-length instructional videos. He was a proponent of the chess opening the Kopec System and cocreator of the influential Bratko-Kopec Test for measuring computer chess ability. He ran Kopec’s Chess Camp for decades. In the area of artificial intelligence, he coauthored several textbooks and more than 100 academic articles. Danny is survived by his wife, Sylvia, son David, sister Patinka, stepson Oliver and nephews. He is fondly remembered by thousands of former students and fans. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (pancan.org).