Background
He was born in Berlin into a Jewish family. His father, Richard Wilhelm Benkö, came from Hungary, and his mother, Alice Josephine Helene Pick, from Austria.
He was born in Berlin into a Jewish family. His father, Richard Wilhelm Benkö, came from Hungary, and his mother, Alice Josephine Helene Pick, from Austria.
In 1928 and 1929, he drew simultaneous games with Alexander Alekhine in Berlin. In 1935, Franz Benkö was the first Jewish chess master in Berlin. In spring 1936, he emigrated from Germany via Holland to Argentina, because of Nazi policy.
Francisco Benkö has played many times in Argentine Chess Championship, from 1937 till 2004 (aged 94).
At last, he has taken part in the 2004 Argentine Championship, finishing 91st. He built a collection of 30,000 compositions.
When Benkö lived in Germany, he was acquainted with a few famous composers, including Ado Kraemer, Erich Zepler and Eduard Birgfeld. In Buenos Aires 1939 Benkö met Alexander Alekhine, who solved some of Benkö"s problems.
In 1992 Benkö met Mikhail Tal who also tried to solve a chess problem (see below) but failed twice, still solving it afterwards.
Upon the original publication of the problem, more than 500 people tried to solve it with half of them guessing incorrectly.
Benkö was the longest living member of the Schwalbe, joining in 1928, and honorary member from 2009 until his death on 11 January 2010 in Buenos Aires.