Nigel P Donovan 1961-2026
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2026 11:39 am
I'm very sad to report the recent passing of my great friend, Nigel Donovan who lived in the Brighton area.
I remember first meeting Nigel in a game we played in a weekend tournament in Barking something like 45 years ago and I think at that point he was a member of the Charlton chess club. My vague recollection of the game was that it was even throughout though complicated and Nigel seemed to forget about his clock drifting down to 23 moves to play with 2 minutes left and this was back in the day when we had guillotine finishes rather than the comfortable increments of today. Despite me thinking he was never going to make the moves in time he did so comfortably and when we reached the time control we agreed a draw. After the game he went through the moves calmly explaining that he had actually more time than he usually had to make the moves! After that we went for a couple of pints and I found him really great company despite the fact that he hardly said very much at all and when I got a chance to put a team, the Jutes of Kent, in the 4ncl Nigel was one of my first choices to play for us. Nigel also played for the Kent County team for many years always playing on the top few boards as he was around the 2200 elo mark for most of that time.
There are many stories I could tell you about Nigel but I'm still processing that fact that he's gone. Nigel was a really good chess player and also was a great chess problem solver which not so many people knew about. So I'll leave you with Nigel's undoubtedly greatest game which features a combination so deep it has featured a lot in chess literature and was clearly Nigel's immortal game. His opponent, Chris Howell, was also a good friend of Nigel's and even though it was 29 years ago said yesterday "Nigel played the best game I've ever been on the receiving end of, a very fine player and a good friend. So sad." Just enjoy the game featuring a jaw dropping combination starting on the 22nd move. RIP Nigel
I remember first meeting Nigel in a game we played in a weekend tournament in Barking something like 45 years ago and I think at that point he was a member of the Charlton chess club. My vague recollection of the game was that it was even throughout though complicated and Nigel seemed to forget about his clock drifting down to 23 moves to play with 2 minutes left and this was back in the day when we had guillotine finishes rather than the comfortable increments of today. Despite me thinking he was never going to make the moves in time he did so comfortably and when we reached the time control we agreed a draw. After the game he went through the moves calmly explaining that he had actually more time than he usually had to make the moves! After that we went for a couple of pints and I found him really great company despite the fact that he hardly said very much at all and when I got a chance to put a team, the Jutes of Kent, in the 4ncl Nigel was one of my first choices to play for us. Nigel also played for the Kent County team for many years always playing on the top few boards as he was around the 2200 elo mark for most of that time.
There are many stories I could tell you about Nigel but I'm still processing that fact that he's gone. Nigel was a really good chess player and also was a great chess problem solver which not so many people knew about. So I'll leave you with Nigel's undoubtedly greatest game which features a combination so deep it has featured a lot in chess literature and was clearly Nigel's immortal game. His opponent, Chris Howell, was also a good friend of Nigel's and even though it was 29 years ago said yesterday "Nigel played the best game I've ever been on the receiving end of, a very fine player and a good friend. So sad." Just enjoy the game featuring a jaw dropping combination starting on the 22nd move. RIP Nigel
