English Chess Forum

Dave's second wife's previous married name was Juana M Escudero Verdugo (maiden name Gonzale). She had a daughter, Cynthia Renee Verdugo, born in Sheffield in early 1982. Her marriage to Dave was in the last quarter of 1987, at Tower Hamlets. This marriage only lasted a few years; I don't know wheth...

Carol was poet-in-residence at Trinity College, Dublin.

I was very sorry to hear that Carol has died. Our families used to meet socially – their two daughters were the same ages as our two sons. Dave Rumens and I were always on our best behaviours (which isn't saying much) but we tried scrupulously not to talk about chess, nor even to play surreptitious ...

Here is Kenny in the back row two to the right of Dinah between RC Vaughan and David Parr. November 25th 1962 St. Pancras Town Hall Paul Keres Simul img_2647_crop.jpg I shall let others have the fun of naming all and sundry. Sorry to hear about Ken's death, I knew him well in the early 1960s. Here'...

So sorry to hear of David Levens' passing. In 1948 our families were neighbours, and Dave and I became playmates along with other kids. A couple of years later Dave was given a chess set, and he enlisted as many of us as he could, to learn and play the game. He and I were soon hooked. A couple more ...

No - the punt, with us in it, travelled like a retreating Bishop and collided with the portside river bank where we managed to grab hold. Most middle Sundays (of chess congresses), which were free days, were almost always marked (or rather, marred) by some catastrophe or other. The most infamous tha...

I mentioned, on page two of the tributes to Dave Rumens, how Dave won a ten-shillings bet that he would jump off the end of Eastbourne Pier. The catch was that Dave jumped off the land-end of the pier - which was nevertheless quite a sizeable jump - and we all had to pay up. What I didn't mention wa...

My abiding memory of Phil dates from August 1958.We were among a gaggle of chess players staying at the Leamington Spa youth hostel during the British Championships (Phil was playing in the Major Open). On the free Sunday several of us made the madcap decision to walk to Stratford upon Avon some eig...

I have just heard some very sad news that Kathy Hindle passed away in the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital on 22nd February. Kathy was a very strong chess player, playing locally for Morley Chess Club but also for Scotland's chess teams. Condolences go to Owen Hindle and his family.

I was very sorry to learn of Boris Spassky's death, but hugely encouraged by the many tributes and memories posted here. Until I read Leonard Barden's excellent article, I hadn't realised that Boris was blamed and sanctioned for the USSR team's failure to win the 1960 World Students' Team Championsh...

I was very sad to learn of Stewart's death. We knew one another for over seventy years, meeting first on the Middlesex/London Boys chess scene, and later at venues like the National Chess Centre and the En Passant chess café. At Stewart's school, William Ellis, playing rugby was compulsory - the clu...

Hi Dinah

Very belated Happy Birthday wishes from David Mabbs, and best regards to Ken.

Replying to James Pratt ... I appreciate the old joke, dating back to November 1964 when I first gave up chess forever and got rid of all my chess possessions including game scores. "What a mistake-a to make", to quote Captain Alberto Bertorelli. I owe immense thanks to John Saunders, who has redisc...

And ... here's another Cedars voice, joining colleague John Collins to mark and honour Dave Rumens's near miss, and humbly to praise Carlos Bielicki.

I've also wondered who L. Alexander was, because he was the guy that I defeated in perhaps my most spectacular game ever - there has to be one such game, for all of us. And, like others, I had never heard of him either before or since. It's nice to know, from the posted responses, that he had a very...