English Chess Forum

Rik Thomas, a stalwart of the King's Head Chess Club for three decades, passed away two days ago. For the last few years he had worked on the tutorial staff at Richmond Junior Chess Club. He is survived by his wife, mother and brother. Rest in Peace.

More sad news is a sh*tty year that’s not getting any better. In my experience just a lovely guy who clearly put a huge amount of work into chess, for club and juniors alike.

Condolences Paul.

RIP

A tribute from Rik's professional life: https://www.transportxtra.com/publicati ... homas-rip/

And as a mark of respect, Rik's biggest scalp:

[Event "BCF-chT2 0203 (4NCL)"] [Site "West Bromwich"] [Date "2003.03.08"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Thomas, Richard Huw"] [Black "Arkell, Keith C"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2204"] [BlackElo "2527"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2002.11.??"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [WhiteTeam "Kings Head"] [BlackTeam "Numerica 3CS"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. a4 b4 7. c3 Na6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Re1 d5 11. Ne5 h6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. f4 Qc7 14. e3 Rfc8 15. Qh5 Bxe5 16. fxe5 cxd4 17. cxd4 Qc2 18. Re2 Qf5 19. Qxf5 exf5 20. Nb3 Rab8 21. Rf2 g6 22. Bf1 Rc7 23. Bb5 Rbc8 24. Bxa6 Bxa6 25. Nc5 Rxc5 26. dxc5 Rxc5 27. Rf4 b3 28. Rb4 Bc4 29. Rb8+ Kg7 30. Rb7 a6 31. e6 Kf6 32. exf7 Rc8 33. Rc1 Rf8 34. a5 Rxf7 35. Rxf7+ Kxf7 36. Kf2 Ke6 37. h3 Kd6 38. g4 Ke5 39. Rd1 fxg4 40. hxg4 h5 41. gxh5 gxh5 42. Rd4 Kd6 43. Ke1 Kc5 44. Rh4 Kb4 45. Rxh5 Kxa5 46. e4 Kb6 47. e5 Kc6 48. Rh6+ Kd7 49. Kd2 Ke7 50. Kc3 Kd7 51. Kd4 Ke7 52. Kc5 Kd7 53. Rd6+ Ke7 54. Kc6 Ke8 55. Kb6 Ke7 56. Kc7 a5 57. Kb6 a4 58. Kc5 a3 59. bxa3 Bb5 60. Rb6 1-0

Really sad to heath this. When I first played him we were in our 20s. He put a lot of work into chess and had time for others.