Chris Shephard (1951-2025)

[Peter Ackley]

Sadly I must report the passing of Chris Shephard two days ago from cancer. Chris was a long-time player in the Sheffield League (playing for Sheffield Nomads) and a multi-winner of the Sheffield Individual. He also played for Warwickshire Select in the 4NCL.

I played Chris several times in the Sheffield League. All draws, none quick (both in terms of moves and time, given Chris's penchant for time usage). I also captained him in the counties championship when he agreed to play once and was then far too good a person to say "no" afterwards. We also caught up on Warwickshire chess, both of us having been gone for over 20 years.

Aside from chess Chris was a keen sportsman with a regular golf game against other members of the Sheffield League.

My condolences to his family.

I have been in contact with some of his more long-term friends so hopefully a fuller and better obituary will appear shortly.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

He appears to have had a peak grading of 206 if this is the right grading record:

https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... de=118871K

Chris C. W. Shephard.

There is a Chris Shepherd who plays chess in London who hopefully is still alive and well, if maybe inactive these days.

Coming back to Chris Shephard (Sheffield), if I have the right player, does anyone know if he was graded higher than 206 before 1994? Maybe that earlier history and some games will appear in due course.

I did not know him, but my condolences to his friends and family.

[Ian Thompson]

He was distinguished in correspondence chess:

• Twice British Correspondence chess champion (1977 & 1978), before computers were much help.
• ICCF IM
• Played for Great Britain in two Olympiad finals (1982 and 1987), scoring well on both occasions.
• Peak ICCF rating of 2538

[NickFaulks]

He appears to have had a peak grading of 206 if this is the right grading record:

https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... de=118871K

It is, but he was stronger than that in earlier years.

[Mark Page]

This is very sad news, though not completely unexpected as Chris had been unwell for some time and was unable to play in the 4NCL last season. He was a long term member/supporter of the Warwickshire Select team, playing with us through our ups and down through three divisions. Hailing originally from Birmingham, he had been resident in Sheffield for many years. As his match captain in recent years he always made me nervous, as he would invariably allow insufficient travelling time and turn up late. But he always did turn up. Thanks goodness the 4NCL never had a zero tolerance rule.

He was a natural pessimist about his playing level and form, but had no reason to be as he was a very strong player with a deep understanding of the game. As Ian mentioned above, he was especially strong at correspondence chess, being a member of the Great Britain team that won the 9th ICCF Olympiad, well ahead of West Germany and the USSR and of the England team that finished second in the 10th Olympiad, just half a game point behind the USSR.

He was a very nice guy who will be fondly remembered by many and will be deeply missed. RIP Chris.

[Roger de Coverly]

Hailing originally from Birmingham

I believe he had been a school contemporary, albeit a few years higher, of the late Tony Miles at King Edward's Birmingham. In the 1969 Under 18 at Rhyl, he had finished 6-9.

(edit) Link to Rhyl results as mentioned below
https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/1 ... iewer.html (/edit)

In more recent years, he was a regular in the leading groups at the British and English Senior Championships.

[Peter Ackley]

From Martin Howard:

I am sad to report the death of Chris Shephard two days ago. He died at home after bravely battling cancer for some weeks.

Chris was born in the Midlands in 1951. He learnt to play chess at an early age and began playing for his school team, King Edward’s Birmingham. King Edward’s had a very strong chess team. In 1969 they reached the final of the prestigious Sunday Times Schools’ Competition where they drew 3-3 with Dundee High School but lost because of the age handicap system. Interestingly Chris played on board one for King Edward’s above a young Tony Miles ( later our first Grandmaster) who was on board two.

After graduating from Warwick University Chris began working for Midland Bank. In the late 1970s he moved to Sheffield. In 1977 he won the Sheffield Individual Championship for the first time. Since then he has dominated this competition. Incredibly he has been Sheffield Champion on 29 occasions.

Chris was proud of the fact that he was a founding member of Sheffield Nomads Chess Club. This became one of the strongest teams in Sheffield. During the period from 2002 to 2020 Sheffield Nomads A won the Sheffield First Division nine times. Chris was a key player in this success.

In recent times Chris was a regular player in Over 65 events, including the English Seniors and the British Seniors. He also played regularly for Warwicks Select In 4NCL. He continued to play chess until shortly before his death. In September 2025 he still had a grading of 2121.

[John Saunders]

He appears to have had a peak grading of 206 if this is the right grading record:

https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... de=118871K

It is, but he was stronger than that in earlier years.

He was 208 on the 1990 BCF Grading List (where his name was misspelt "CCW Shepherd"). He was lower than that on a few other lists I have from around that time but I don't have access to them all. His highest FIDE rating was 2222 (in the year 2010).

[Mark Page]

Malcolm Hunt, the first ever captain of the Warwickshire Select 4NCL team, has shared some very early memories of Chris which he asked me to post here:-

I probably knew Chris longer than anyone on the chess circuit having met him at KES Birmingham in 1963. At the time we had an incredibly strong cohort of players including Paul Swatridge, Paul Prescott and, dare I say it, myself. We were joined slightly later by some little lad called Anthony Miles. The group met 2/3 evenings each week in the Dining Hall and played hundreds of games together also analysing many openings. Chris was always affectionately known as ‘Thickie’ because he always blinked a couple of times before giving his opinion which left him way behind the rest of the over impulsive crowd. His opinions were often closer to the mark than our initial stabs.

However, his nickname was justified one day when a group of us were returning from a weekend tournament in Wolverhampton. We had to run to the railway station and just managed in time to jump on the 16.00 to Birmingham from Platform 1. The train set off almost immediately and we settled down talking chess. After a couple of minutes the train stopped in what appeared to be a siding. We noted that there didn’t seem to be anyone else on the train. Chris stood up and looked down the carriage and told us all was well because he could see others. The train set off shortly after but we were surprised to arrive a couple of minutes later at Platform 3 at Wolverhampton station. When Chris had stood up he had seen his own reflection!!

Chris, Paul, Tony and I all attended the British U18 Championships (Rhyl? 1969???) when my memory suggests we all finished in the top 12 (Tony only second after Cubitt went berserk). Of course, in those days Chris would play on a higher board in the school team - so he could handle himself.

I then graduated from Nottingham University where I played some chess but returned to Birmingham determined to forge a career and forget chess. Imagine my shock when on my first lunchtime I walked across the road to queue for a sandwich when out of the blue Chris tapped me on the shoulder to say hi. Needless to say he recruited me to play for his club, South Birmingham, where we played together for the next 6/7 years.

I managed to return the compliment some years later when I became the first captain of Warwickshire Select (historians can find the year). We needed some strength to survive initially and Chris was one of my first recruits. He never played as much as I would have liked in the early days but Sheffield was a long way away. However, when playing he could be relied on to fight on hard to the very finish.

I have not seen him for several years but a lovely, gentle soul who I happened to mention to my wife just the other day.

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Here is a correspondence game of his that I found in an old chess bulletin online (https://www.dhchessclub.co.uk/images/pd ... letin3.pdf):

[Event "1st North Atlantic Team Tournament"] [Board "8"] [Date "1983?"] [White "F Perez Conde"] [Black "C C W Shephard"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. O-O Be7 9. a3 O-O 10. f4 Bb7 11. f5 e5 12. Nde2 Nbd7 13. Ng3 Rc8 14. Bg5 Rxc3 15. bxc3 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. h3 Rc8 19. a4 Nf6 20. axb5 axb5 21. Qe2 Qb7 22. Qf2 Rc7 23. Ra5 Bxg2 24. Rfa1 Bc6 25. Ra8+ Be8 26. R8a7 Qc6 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Qa7 Qc6 29. Ra6 Qxc3 30. Rxd6 Qg3+ 31. Kf1 Qxh3+ 32. Ke2 Qg4+ 33. Ke1 h5 34. Rd8 Kh7 35. Qf2 Bd7 36. Rf8 Ne4 37. Qe3 Qh4+ 38. Kd1 Qh1+ 39. Ke2 Bxf5 40. Rxf7 Qg2+ 41. Ke1 Kg6 42. Qb6+ Nf6 43. Rf8 Qg3+ 44. Kd1 Qf4 45. Qd6 Bg4+ 46. Ke1 Qe3+

See if you can spot the shocking win for White that was missed sometime between moves 20 and 30.

[John Saunders]

Here is a correspondence game of his that I found in an old chess bulletin online (https://www.dhchessclub.co.uk/images/pd ... letin3.pdf):

[Event "1st North Atlantic Team Tournament"] [Board "8"] [Date "1983?"] [White "F Perez Conde"] [Black "C C W Shephard"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. O-O Be7 9. a3 O-O 10. f4 Bb7 11. f5 e5 12. Nde2 Nbd7 13. Ng3 Rc8 14. Bg5 Rxc3 15. bxc3 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. h3 Rc8 19. a4 Nf6 20. axb5 axb5 21. Qe2 Qb7 22. Qf2 Rc7 23. Ra5 Bxg2 24. Rfa1 Bc6 25. Ra8+ Be8 26. R8a7 Qc6 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Qa7 Qc6 29. Ra6 Qxc3 30. Rxd6 Qg3+ 31. Kf1 Qxh3+ 32. Ke2 Qg4+ 33. Ke1 h5 34. Rd8 Kh7 35. Qf2 Bd7 36. Rf8 Ne4 37. Qe3 Qh4+ 38. Kd1 Qh1+ 39. Ke2 Bxf5 40. Rxf7 Qg2+ 41. Ke1 Kg6 42. Qb6+ Nf6 43. Rf8 Qg3+ 44. Kd1 Qf4 45. Qd6 Bg4+ 46. Ke1 Qe3+

See if you can spot the shocking win for White that was missed sometime between moves 20 and 30.

It wasn't difficult to spot what was missed and I could scarcely believe that two such strong players could have overlooked it in a correspondence game. I checked the source bulletin and can confirm that Jon has input the game correctly, but I have a very strong suspicion that Black played something other than the blunder given in the bulletin. Also, there's a strong candidate for what the actual move played must have been. So that becomes the second part of the quiz!

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

I hear what you're saying John, but what to you make of Black not playing 36. ... Qb4+, picking up a free rook?

[IM Jack Rudd]

30.Qxf7+ looks rather good, which suggests black may well have actually played 29...Qf3 rather than 29...Qxc3.

(Which also answers the follow-up question: if there's still a pawn on c3, 36...Qb4+ doesn't work.)

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

(Which also answers the follow-up question: if there's still a pawn on c3, 36...Qb4+ doesn't work.)

Of course, well done! I saw that John was suggesting 29. ... Qf3 rather than 29. ... Qxc3 but didn't allow for the pawn still being on c3 when I attemped to play on from there.

[John Saunders]

"The game score errors are all there, waiting to be found" as Tartakower might have said if he had lived a bit longer.