David W Anderton

[LawrenceCooper]

http://www.wdclchess.org.uk/blog/

DAVID ANDERTON OBE (1941-2022)
"With great sadness David Anderton passed away on 1st April 2022. A full obituary will follow but this is a great loss. Here is one of his most famous games where he outplayed the legendary Miles. Our condolences go out to his wife Doreen and his family."

[David Sedgwick]

I'm devastated.

I hope that the ECF will honour David Anderton with a memorial tournament.

[John Upham]

This is a huge loss to British chess and he should be remembered for the immense service he gave to the BCF, the ECF and English chess.

Some measure of this is described here:

https://britishchessnews.com/2020/08/02 ... viii-1941/

bct_4661_lv.jpg

[LawrenceCooper]

A real legend. He captained and played for his club Walsall, his county Staffs and The ADs 4NCL team. He captained England in the Olympiad. He also co-organised the 1997 Staffordshire Centenary International & 2000 Staffordshire Millennium Congress. He advised the ECF on numerous occasions and I believe was behind the sponsorship for the Leigh Grand Prix. This summary only scratches the surface, others will be able to add much more.

[Keith Arkell]

Few will know the amount of legal and financial assistance David gave to the ECF/BCF down the years.

It's not often I feel this level of sadness when someone already elderly passes, but in David's case the loss is huge.

Put simply, David was a good egg.

[John Cox]

Really sad; not only did David contribute an enormous amount but he was a really nice man. And a strong player too - the game quoted against Tony Miles wouldn't have been an upset in 1971.

[John Swain]

I have heard and read a lot about David's many distinguished contributions to English chess.

My only contact with David was eighteen months ago when we communicated by email and on the phone. I found him to be extremely helpful and generous with his time and legal knowledge. His advice, based partly on his experience in 2006 in setting up The John Robinson Youth Chess Trust, was invaluable; this helped considerably in the process which established the Nottinghamshire Chess Foundation last June.

RIP David. My condolences to his family and friends.

[Andrew Zigmond]

I can't claim to have known David Anderton although we did correspond very briefly (his last season as captain of Staffordshire coincided with my first as national county championship controller) however I am well aware of his reputation and that few people have done more for English chess. The loss today is incalculable and my thoughts are with his family.

[John Pitcher]

So sad to hear this news. I played David a number of times over the years and always enjoyed talking to him afterwards. He did so much for chess in this country and will be sadly missed.

My thoughts are with his family and close friends.

[John Clarke]

I notice his OBE was awarded as far back as 1977 (at the unusually early age of 36). He must have done one heck of a lot more since then for English chess, enough to merit a CBE I'd have thought.

[LawrenceCooper]

http://www.wdclchess.org.uk/blog/

DAVID ANDERTON OBE (1941-2022)
"With great sadness David Anderton passed away on 1st April 2022. A full obituary will follow but this is a great loss. Here is one of his most famous games where he outplayed the legendary Miles. Our condolences go out to his wife Doreen and his family."

Full obituary now published: http://www.wdclchess.org.uk/wiki/index. ... ZkeuPY3tu4

[Mick Norris]

David sprinkled stardust on the club, and we shall long remember him

What a nice quote for a gentleman; RIP David and condolences to all who knew him

[Geoff Lawton]

Very sad to hear this news about David, a perfect gentleman. My thoughts are with his family.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Sad news. As is usual at these times, we are finding out a lot more about his achievements and past efforts on behalf of chess than we might all have been aware of, and he did a huge amount in many areas. I concur with David Sedgwick's thoughts upthread. Maybe those who knew or worked with David Anderton might be able to share their memories here, or point us to any obituaries that they may have contributed to?

[Ian Thompson]

David got a mention in the latest FIDE newsletter:

This week we received the sad news of the passing of David William Anderton OBE, on April 1, 2022. He had cancer for the last two years of his life.

He was a very active chess player and held the titles of International Candidate Master and International Correspondence Master. A lawyer by profession, he was a legal advisor to both the International Chess Federation and the English Chess Federation, as well as being the English Delegate to FIDE, and captain of the English team for more than 20 years. In 1977, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to chess.

From 1989 to 1993 he was an Executive Board Member of FIDE, where his legal expertise was of considerable help to our institution. When he stepped down as ECF legal expert in 2009, he won the ECF President’s Award and was named an Honorary Life Vice-President of the English Chess Federation.

David played an important part in bringing various important FIDE events to London, like the “The Acorn Computer Candidates Semifinals” between Kasparov and Korchnoi in 1983, and the first half of the 1986 World Championship Match between Kasparov and Karpov. He was also one of the main promoters behind the London Docklands USSR v Rest of the World match in 1984.