Stefano Bruzzi

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Graham Alcock
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Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Graham Alcock » Tue Feb 01, 2022 7:49 am

Surbiton Chess Club have announced that Stefano Bruzzi, a very longstanding member of the club died on Sunday 30th January 2022.

Stef was a highly respected and valued friend and member of the club. His endgame skills and help with analysing adjourned positions were second to none. He will be greatly missed.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Feb 01, 2022 8:40 am

Sorry to hear that - I played him 20 years ago, defending throughout, and my attempt to seek refuge in a dodgy ending did not work!

Chessbase think he was born in 1936.

Sympathies to friends and family.

Graham Borrowdale
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Graham Borrowdale » Tue Feb 01, 2022 7:54 pm

Very sad news indeed.
I knew Stef as a teammate for many years at Surbiton, and I can testify to his chess knowledge and clarity of thought, especially in the endgame and adjournment analysis.
He was an extremely strong player in his day, as this game shows.

Stefano Bruzzi - Nigel Povah
Hammersmith Open 1971

1-0

Mark Josse
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Mark Josse » Tue Feb 01, 2022 10:06 pm

Sad news , a very modest and humble man.

Played Stef a number of times in Surbiton club events and alongside him as team mate for many years. He was a very strong chess player, still playing Surrey trophy & TVL matches well into his seventies and eighties. He represented Italy in years previous.

I used to love the fact he would play so many different openings as black eg French , Sicilian , 1..e5 and usually get a good position most of the time . The game from 1971 gives us a glimpse of his playing strength aged 35 !

RIP Stefano - It was a pleasure to share the board with you .

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Feb 02, 2022 1:45 pm

Sad news. I had the privilege of playing Stefano a few times in TVL matches, and it was clear the respect that he was held in by his team-mates and others. RIP.

Simon Rogers
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Simon Rogers » Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:59 pm

The funeral arrangements have been announced for Stafano Bruzzi.
Tuesday 15th February, 2.20pm
Kingston Crematorium
Kingston Cemetery
Bonner Hill Road
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 3EZ
Along with these details, there is a nice tribute and picture of Stefano on the Surbiton Chess Club website.
http://www.surbitonchessclub.co.uk

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:28 pm

He will be in good company as the graves of RP Michell and Edith (Tapsell) Michell are there.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun May 07, 2023 4:53 pm

Returning to this to add a direct link to the Surbiton Chess Club obituary:

http://www.surbitonchessclub.co.uk/news ... bruzzi.htm

A few short quotes, but worth reading in full (as chess club websites don't last forever, you would hope proper archives are made):
A learned man, Stef's PhD thesis dealt with maximising the energy extracted from rocket fuel. He was literally a rocket scientist! Perhaps as a result of, or as a reaction to that, he later became a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
However, possibly his greatest love may have been chess. He played in the Italian Championships during(!) his honeymoon in 1960. Not many of us could have got away with that!
There is also an obituary from the Kingston branch of the CND (the reference to being an IM appears to be a misunderstanding of how chess titles work):

http://kpc.gn.apc.org/KPN2022.06/kpn_June_2022.html
A long standing member of KPC, Stefano Bruzzi was born in Florence in 1935. He obtained his BA at Pisa University and in 1960 married Zara Eve in London, before returning to Italy for five years, during which time Stella was born and Stefano completed military service. In 1965, Stefano, Zara and Stella moved to London where Stefano studied for his PhD at Imperial College and where his son Joshua was born.

Stefano worked in Cryogenics for BOC, Sulzer and Linde, but had many interests outside work. He became an International Master at chess, in 1960 representing Italy in the Clare Benedict Chess Cup and reaching the finals of the Italian championships. He was a member of Surbiton Chess Club for many years and also continued into his eighties to play tennis at Surbiton Hill Tennis Club.

His support for CND spoke not just to Stefano’s pacifism but also his concern for animal welfare (he gave up meat in his early 40s) and his championing of sustainability. Stefano’s health problems worsened late in life. Aged 80, he had a quadruple heart bypass, followed by other vascular interventions. He is survived by Stella, Joshua and Ursula Kalichevsky, his partner of 40 years.

James Pratt
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Re: Stefano Bruzzi

Post by James Pratt » Mon May 08, 2023 11:41 am

We corresponded when I was trying to write a book about Penrose. Very helpful and patient chap.