Syd Kalinsky

Notices of deaths, death announcements and messages.
Post Reply
John Moore
Posts: 2226
Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 6:33 pm

Syd Kalinsky

Post by John Moore » Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:23 am

The death of Syd Kalinsky on 7 April has been announced on the Essex Chess Association website. Syd was 88 and retained much of his strength into his later years. His last grade was 136 and he continued to play regularly up until the pandemic. See https://www.essexchess.org.uk/
RIP Syd.

John Moore
Posts: 2226
Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 6:33 pm

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by John Moore » Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:04 am

I managed to get Syd's age wrong. He was born in August 1931 so he was 89.

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:52 am

Better link
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Stewart Reuben
Posts: 4539
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:04 pm
Location: writer

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by Stewart Reuben » Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:48 pm

I attended Syd's funeral by zoom today. There were 111 participants.
They will be holding 'Shiva' for 4 days, presumably from Sunday. That is where the official mourners receive guests who come to pay their respects. In lock-down perhaps this is limited to the immediate family.
Sid had 4 children and 6 great grand children. Yet I learnt he was send to Switzerland by the new NHS to undergo treatment for TB. He left school at 14. but managed to pass the chartered accountant exams. His company employed a number of chess players. One, Danny Wright, will be writing an obituary.
He founded Cavendish CC, for which I Play as did Syd until Covid interfered. GM Jonathan Parker and GM William Watson have been among the members of this strong club. Syd was President of the Club from its start until he died.

Andrew Martin
Posts: 997
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:37 pm

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by Andrew Martin » Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:03 pm

I knew Syd as a young man at Ilford Chess Club. He was always helpful, encouraging and friendly to me and I really appreciated that. He was a true chess lover. RIP Syd, we will miss you.

John Cox
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:53 pm

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by John Cox » Sat Apr 10, 2021 1:36 pm

Sad news. I didn't know Syd personally or for long, but his love for the game and the respect in which he was held in the club were obvious.

Andrew Smith
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:55 am

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by Andrew Smith » Sat Apr 10, 2021 6:31 pm

Sad news. I liked Syd without actually knowing him. I know he helped and gave accountancy work to my friend Richard O'Brien if Richard was ever in need of work. One anecdote involving Syd was that my team Slough, were playing his team ( I think Ilford or maybe Cavendish) in the National Club Competition around 1993. I was playing a member of their team who had a reputation for being a bit of a prickly character. He was a nice guy, but not known for being a good loser. Our game was very complicated and degenerated into a time scramble to reach move 40, and we stopped writing moves down. Eventually my flag fell, but I had a completely winning position. I was confident that I had made the time control and started to reconstruct the moves as I recalled them. But my opponent remained silent and made no effort to assist me. My reconstruction took the moves played up to move 42. I asked for my opponents opinion, and he said he did not agree. I asked what he thought the moves were, but he said he didn't know, but that my suggestions were incorrect. The match result hinged on this game. But we had reached a stalemate ! No point in sending the position for adjudication, because it was totally lost for my opponent. He wasn't claiming that I had lost on time - he was just saying that he didn't agree with my reconstruction of moves, and therefore wouldn't agree that I had made the time control. So he wouldn't resign ! But I remember it was Syd Kalinsky, who was hovering around our board (along with the other 10 players in the match) interceded and sportingly told his player " you lost" and "Dont be so silly, just resign" - or words to that effect. My opponent still refused to resign, so we left the away venue without an agreed match result. We submitted the match result as a win for us, and we appeared in the pairings for the next round so my opponents protestations must have been disregarded by his own team.

JonManley
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:47 pm
Location: Oxford
Contact:

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by JonManley » Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:25 pm

http://www.kingpinchess.net 'the gutter press of chess' (Eric Schiller)
@KingpinEd

User avatar
Matt Mackenzie
Posts: 5191
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:51 pm
Location: Millom, Cumbria

Re: Syd Kalinsky

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:15 pm

I see from the last link that he was a fellow 2c3 Sicilian devotee 8)

(given his liking for tactical play, that shouldn't be possible if you believe certain - wrong - people)
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Post Reply