Mike Denison

Andrew Zigmond · Post by **Andrew Zigmond** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 1:46 pm

Steve Mann has reported the death of Mike Denison at the age of 87. He was a stalwart of Wakefield Chess Club for many years. Steve has stated that a full obituary will follow in due course.

I didn't know Mike Denison well personally but remember him as a formidable personality both on and off the board. The earliest YCA bulletin archived on Steve Mann's site from 1970 shows him defeating former British champion Peter Lee who was then was playing for Harrogate. In some old Harrogate notebook I acquired a couple of years ago he is shown playing in a much earlier Woodhouse Cup match against Harrogate from 1955 where the Wakefield team also included Otto Hardy and Ronald Ives.

His last rated game was played in February 2020, just prior to the pandemic.

I remember a Harrogate player who faced him in the early years of the 2000s describing him as a "professional Yorkshireman" - the Harrogate player managed to obtain a draw but was set a challenge on practically every move. Conversely I also believe Mike Denison in his later years taught a chess class at a private girls school where he was known affectionately as Mr D.

A great man and a sad loss for the Yorkshire chess scene.

Paul Habershon · Post by **Paul Habershon** » Mon Sep 09, 2024 8:10 pm

Mike and I played five times at Major Opens in the 1970s. I never knew him as Mike, just as D.M.Denison. Initials were quite the thing in those days. The BCF actually had players' names made up with letter tiles on Scrabble type racks next to each board so that we knew where to sit and kibitzers could identify people. I expect many of us still have a facility for remembering initials. There were some striking ones, such as W J E Yeeles and E O M C Teichmann.

Although Mike and I had no meaningful contact away from the board, I remember him as a courteous and quiet opponent and we usually expected to play each other at the BCF Congress. Our overall score head-to-head was 2.5-2.5 but he gave me a pasting in our first game at Blackpool in 1971. His finishing moves were particularly vigorous.

Matt Mackenzie · Post by **Matt Mackenzie** » Mon Sep 09, 2024 10:35 pm

Played him in a county match in the late 1980s. He had Black and he caught me in a nasty trap in my very own Kings Gambit - I fought hard but couldn't quite save the game. Was slightly past his peak strength by then but still a very strong player, and as others have already said was totally the gentleman ("you deserved a draw there" he said afterwards)

John Saunders · Post by **John Saunders** » Tue Sep 10, 2024 9:12 am

Three more wins by Mike Denison (full name Denis Michael Denison), from the Ronnie Ives collection of Yorkshire Evening Post columns...

Jon Mahony · Post by **Jon Mahony** » Thu Sep 12, 2024 8:37 pm

The only memory I have of Mike was seeing him with the desk lamp by the board at club matches

MartinCarpenter · Post by **MartinCarpenter** » Mon Sep 16, 2024 9:33 am

Very sad. Excellent obituary over on Yorkshire chess as you'd expect:
https://mannchess.org.uk/YNotices/2024- ... onObit.htm

Few personal memories, although definitely remember playing some Woodhouse matches with him in. Even when he started needing a lamp to play he was holding down a high board, and as I remember doing quite well even vs our very strong players.

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Mike Denison

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