From his first chess book at age 12 to a collection overflowing his house, filling every room, every space, Dale's passion for chess books developed exponentially.

Born December 17,  1931, to Herbert and Glenna Brandreth, Dale is a descendant of a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who immigrated from Germany in 1775, and an Englishman who became an itinerant Methodist minister. The families settled in Pennsylvania. Dale's father taught at Perkiomen Boys School in Pennsburg for one year where he met Glenna, the school secretary. The Dale's father worked for many years as the Foreign Sales Manager for the Philadelphia Quartz Company. Dale's sister Nancy was born in December 1933. Dale and Nancy grew up in Miquon, a small town in rural Pennsylvania.