It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Les Hall passed away on Wednesday 8th December 2021, after he had been admitted to University Hospital Stoke, having contracted Covid-19.
Les was a key member of Crewe Chess Club, having been a founder member in 2014.
Before this, he was an integral part of Alsager Chess Club and well known throughout the wider chess community, not just in North Staffordshire but across the whole North of England, where Les would play at many weekend congresses.
Les also was one of the organisers of the Crewe Chess Congress.
On a personal note I met Les Hall at a number of congresses including Blackpool and I had pleasant conversations with him. At the Blackpool Congress, Les proudly wore his Crewe Chess Club jumper.
There is a lengthy and excellent tribute on both the North Staffs & District Chess Association and Crewe Chess Club websites along with a picture of Les.
https://www.northstaffschess.com
https://crewechessclub.co.uk
He will be forever missed.
RIP
Les Hall
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Rich Wiltshir
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 11:10 pm
Re: Les Hall
Saddened and angered to read this when I peeked at https://www.northstaffschess.com/ last night.
Saddened:
Les was one of the first friends I made when returning to chess (albeit only for a few years) in 2015. We met at Bolton in April that year and quickly established a great rapport. He wasted no time in working to recruit me for Crewe CC (despite me living 50 miles away). This was amusing because Julian Hawthorne (who I met at the first 4NCL congress in Birmingham) had already snuck me into Kidsgrove's ranks. Undeterred, Les' enthusiasm and tenacity got me playing for Crewe in the Chester League. Once he'd secured this commitment (150+ miles per match), he said "one more thing; that'll be 20 quid for club membership." He always sought to buy me a drink when I visited Crewe.
Always great company, our pre-match snacks, post congress meals and long car journeys, Les was never boring and silence never won as he fuelled conversations with interest and encouragement for the club and everything chess. When talking of his wife, he always said "my lady".
Though there are many great folk of all ages at Crewe, it was Les' gusto that built my initial welcome. He was a great ambassador for the sport and I'm sure his influence spread for miles and will continue for years.
With the black bits, he thoroughly demolished me in a club competition. Despite this well earnt victory and me being his biggest scalp to date, Les remained modest, claiming he just got luck - but he buried me: mercilessly.
Angered:
It's now 688 days since 22nd January 2020 when this much-anticipated pandemic arrived and earnt its own graph on the BBC and Johns Hopkins websites. We've lost well over 5,000,000 globally (more than 20 Boxing Day Tsunamis), yet a minority deny vaccine efficacy, distancing and masking methods that reduce the likelihood of the immune-compromised. Les was immune-compromised.
Let's keep doing all we can to put COVID-19 in the history books.
Please: just get the jabs, isolate, distance and mask up - you'll never know which family's grandfather, father, husband, brother survives this pandemic because you cared.
We'll never talk with Les again, but my brief chess career was all the richer for knowing Les Hall: a great mate.
Saddened:
Les was one of the first friends I made when returning to chess (albeit only for a few years) in 2015. We met at Bolton in April that year and quickly established a great rapport. He wasted no time in working to recruit me for Crewe CC (despite me living 50 miles away). This was amusing because Julian Hawthorne (who I met at the first 4NCL congress in Birmingham) had already snuck me into Kidsgrove's ranks. Undeterred, Les' enthusiasm and tenacity got me playing for Crewe in the Chester League. Once he'd secured this commitment (150+ miles per match), he said "one more thing; that'll be 20 quid for club membership." He always sought to buy me a drink when I visited Crewe.
Always great company, our pre-match snacks, post congress meals and long car journeys, Les was never boring and silence never won as he fuelled conversations with interest and encouragement for the club and everything chess. When talking of his wife, he always said "my lady".
Though there are many great folk of all ages at Crewe, it was Les' gusto that built my initial welcome. He was a great ambassador for the sport and I'm sure his influence spread for miles and will continue for years.
With the black bits, he thoroughly demolished me in a club competition. Despite this well earnt victory and me being his biggest scalp to date, Les remained modest, claiming he just got luck - but he buried me: mercilessly.
Angered:
It's now 688 days since 22nd January 2020 when this much-anticipated pandemic arrived and earnt its own graph on the BBC and Johns Hopkins websites. We've lost well over 5,000,000 globally (more than 20 Boxing Day Tsunamis), yet a minority deny vaccine efficacy, distancing and masking methods that reduce the likelihood of the immune-compromised. Les was immune-compromised.
Let's keep doing all we can to put COVID-19 in the history books.
Please: just get the jabs, isolate, distance and mask up - you'll never know which family's grandfather, father, husband, brother survives this pandemic because you cared.
We'll never talk with Les again, but my brief chess career was all the richer for knowing Les Hall: a great mate.
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Paul Robert Jackson
- Posts: 266
- Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 8:10 pm
Re: Les Hall
Les missed the clever winning move 26.....Re2!
....he always gave me a good game
RIP
Paul Robert Jackson
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Matt Bridgeman
- Posts: 1077
- Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:21 pm
Re: Les Hall
He was a great chap, who always seemed to give higher rated players much more trouble than his rating would suggest. A sad loss of a great regular on the northern congress circuit. It's scary how quick Covid took him if he played his last game on the 24th November, and passed away on the 8th December. Not very fair!
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Paul Robert Jackson
- Posts: 266
- Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 8:10 pm
Re: Les Hall
Les @ Scarborough 2021
Photo by Brendan O'Gorman
Photo by Brendan O'Gorman
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Paul Robert Jackson
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Keith Arkell
- Posts: 930
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:10 am
Re: Les Hall
I'm very saddened to read this. Les was a lovely, warm, kindly friend. Ever since we first met, during a simul I gave in Staffordshire, he was someone who's company I would seek out once I became aware that we were both going to be at the same event.
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Simon Rogers
- Posts: 2340
- Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:30 pm
Re: Les Hall
Les also represented the Staffordshire Under 100 and Under 120 teams.
This has been posted on both the Staffordshire Chess Association and the North Staffordshire & District Chess Association websites:
"Les funeral will take place on Thursday 23rd December at 2.45pm at Crewe Crematorium, Badger Avenue, Crewe, CW1 3JG."
"After the service everybody is invited to the Sydney Arms, 240 Sydney Road, Crewe, CW1 5LU."
This also on the Crewe Chess Club website:
"Family flowers only"
"Donations are going to be split 50/50 between Diabetes UK and the Renal Unit North Staffs."
This has been posted on both the Staffordshire Chess Association and the North Staffordshire & District Chess Association websites:
"Les funeral will take place on Thursday 23rd December at 2.45pm at Crewe Crematorium, Badger Avenue, Crewe, CW1 3JG."
"After the service everybody is invited to the Sydney Arms, 240 Sydney Road, Crewe, CW1 5LU."
This also on the Crewe Chess Club website:
"Family flowers only"
"Donations are going to be split 50/50 between Diabetes UK and the Renal Unit North Staffs."
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jholyhead
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:19 am
Re: Les Hall
Very sorry to hear this. Les was very kind to me when I showed up to my first tournament at Crewe back in 2018, and in my first year, we seemed to always be within a board or two of each other at weekend congresses - that is, except when he'd given me a hiding in the previous round. A great loss.