"Kevin of the Teachers"

[John Upham]

I was informed recently that "Kevin of the Teachers" passed away in 2025.

Apparently he was in his 90s.

I seem to vaguely recall someone very much of a hippy like appearance who played barefoot.

I was told he lived in a hedge or something crazy.

I found this which might be relevant: https://www.xenophon.org.uk/biog_teachers.html

Anyone know anything substantial about Kevin?

[John Townsend]

John Upham wrote: "I was told he lived in a hedge or something crazy."

Nothing crazy about that. Perhaps he was looking for somewhere privet.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Unfortunately it does seem it was rather crazy (there are a number of these communes that are being covered in the press these days, and invariably in a bad light, often with criminal prosecutions or compensation claims resulting):

Apparently this was a self sufficient commune based in an isolated farm ‘Carreg’, Sling, near Bangor, Wales, founded in 1972 by ‘Kevin The Teacher’ and Michelle Bland. Kevin, a genius international chess master, had invented a rational system for dealing with life ‘Choice Mathematics’. He believed the very worst people to bring up children were their parents, who destroyed them with ‘Smotherlove’. In the commune children were separated from their parents, weren’t allowed to see them, and brought up by ‘Choice Mathematics’. Wives had to divorce their husbands and members took a vow of poverty. Communal decisions were made, not by democracy, but by ‘consensus’ within an elite group who were more fitted to make decisions than the rest, including Kevin and his partner Michelle. I got the impression that this ‘consensus’ always turned out to be what Kevin said. There was an outpost in Ealing of computer programmers who financed the operation. Kevin and less than 15 members moved to ‘Bleddington Grounds Farmhouse’, Oxfordshire in 1989. This all sounded pretty bizarre, and I was pretty glad I had escaped from Angela.

I have bolded the chess bit. Was he actually a FIDE IM or is that (as is usual) overblown? Maybe an FM?

Previous mentions of Kevin the Teacher are here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3339&start=15#p68746

[John Upham]

John Upham wrote: "I was told he lived in a hedge or something crazy."

Nothing crazy about that. Perhaps he was looking for somewhere privet.

Bob Monkhouse would have recorded that in one of his notebooks.

[Matt Mackenzie]

There was a court case in the 1990s involving him and his adopted "daughter" Rebecca, where she accused him of various kinds of abuse (and also alleged actual sexual abuse from other "commune" members) It may still be possible to find some details about it online.

I played in the 1984 Bangor (N Wales) congress they organised, some of the "Teachers" seemed OK but ISTR Kevin was rather full of himself.

(pretty sure his real name was Kevin O'Byrne and he was born in c1933-34)

[John Upham]

Jon Levitt has written about Kevin in another place:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CmWRiZsRz/

J.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Not everybody's memories of him are that rosy, it is fair to say. But let's leave it there.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Factual point (from the Facebook post):

Born 30 May 1936. Died 25 September 2025.
89 (not in his 90s).

[Robert Clegg]

He could hardly be described as a strong chess player.I remember beating him in 5 moves in the 1980`s.

[Kevin Thurlow]

He played some tournaments in mid to late 80s. I beat him at Guernsey in 1985 when he was "1775", two years later he was "1850", which is nearer the truth, based on a quick look at the game. It appears he died in France.

He seemed OK and was accompanied by a pleasant but quiet lady called "Minky", whose role seemed to be to stand there, whilst he issued instructions, and she complied. In 1993 he attracted the attention of newspapers - the following link seems to be the only one now available. All of them covered the story.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/s ... 61944.html

Sadly the news coverage reported that Minky had died in tragic circumstances. The police said they would investigate the defendants' accusations.

[Roger de Coverly]

He played some tournaments in mid to late 80s. I beat him at Guernsey in 1985 when he was "1775", two years later he was "1850", which is nearer the truth, based on a quick look at the game.

The Facebook link above to Jon Levitt contains in the comments a game against Keith Arkell which also records the ratings at the time. These concur with Kevin's recollection.

[Jon Mahony]

There was a court case in the 1990s involving him and his adopted "daughter" Rebecca, where she accused him of various kinds of abuse (and also alleged actual sexual abuse from other "commune" members) It may still be possible to find some details about it online.

I played in the 1984 Bangor (N Wales) congress they organised, some of the "Teachers" seemed OK but ISTR Kevin was rather full of himself.

(pretty sure his real name was Kevin O'Byrne and he was born in c1933-34)

Kevin of the Register then...

I think there's something to be said for the "Smotherlove" of the parents afterall... sounds like a carefully crafted plan to separate children from their parents, for ulterior motives which are now clear to modern eyes.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"sounds like a carefully crafted plan to separate children from their parents, for ulterior motives which are now clear to modern eyes."

Or even his own children... I think the motives were clear then, but it's easier to brush it under the carpet.

[Jon Mahony]

"sounds like a carefully crafted plan to separate children from their parents, for ulterior motives which are now clear to modern eyes."

Or even his own children... I think the motives were clear then, but it's easier to brush it under the carpet.

Yeah, even when I was a kid in the 80's and 90's beyond "Don't take sweets from a stranger" it was never discussed at all. Similar to how Eley got away with it for so long, it was almost "embarrassing" to make reference to and most would settle for subtly warning parents to make sure their kids gave him a wide birth.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Yes, my memory of the 1980s is exactly the same. Funnily enough when I saw news of this latest passing, I thought back to Southend 1987, when I first noticed him and I remember simply thinking how odd he looked. By contrast I saw nothing amiss at all in my mild mannered and pleasant first round opponent, John N Walker.