English Chess Forum

I am sorry to inform you that John Macdonald, long time member of Kings Head Chess Club, died at the end of February 2022.
John was born in 1939 and was a very well known member of the London chess scene.
His passing was posted on the Kings Head Chess Club Twitter page on Monday 14th March along with a link to a lengthy and interesting tribute, with a picture of John, in the Camden New Journal (Dated 14th March), talking about his activities as a former Labour Councillor.
RIP

I hadn't seem John Macdonald for some years, but I am sad that he is no longer with us.

The tribute in the Camden New Journal is indeed interesting and reminds me that he exhibited a rebellious streak in the chess world at times.

In 1986 or 1987 - I forget which - he had a famous altercation with Aly Amin, which resulted in the latter being arrested.

On a more orthodox note, he was Secretary of the London Chess League for a while. I never heard any negative comments about his performance in that role.

I saw him frequently at London events when I played there, and did see him maybe 3 - 4 years ago, for the first time in ages. He was an interesting and enertaining character.
Compiling a list of people who had altercations with Ali Amin would take some time.

We can wait

Whether you liked him, or disliked him, there's little doubt he was a character. Three years ago John turned up at my Club on the wrong date for a Kings Head match. I persuaded Security to let him in. He sat down, watched several games and stayed the whole evening. He enjoyed the free hospitality making himself numerous hot drinks and eating his way through our entire biscuit collection - Penguins, Clubs, Kitkats, Pick-ups & Golds. The empty wrappers round his chair gave him away! A week later he didn't turn-up for a Kings Head match at the same venue on the right date.

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:06 pm

In 1986 or 1987 - I forget which - he had a famous altercation with Ali Amin, which resulted in the latter being arrested.

It wasn't simply with Aly Amin. John and I ceased being on speaking terms. Nevertheless, I'm sorry to hear the news.

As a fellow habitué of the lower sections of London based congresses, I think I played more games against John than against any other opponent. (I have 15 standard play games against him in my records, plus, I would think, a similar number of rapidplays.) He always played in the same way, rolling his pawns down the board whenever the opportunity arose. When I was a novice he used beat me easily, but once I worked out that he always played each game in exactly the same way I usually could prepare sufficiently to get the better of him. I think I played him in each of my last three congresses of 2019, before Covid brought things to a halt. RIP.
As a fairly Covid cautious individual, I'm only just considering returning to congress play. I had been wondering how many of the old familiar faces from pre-Covid times I would never see again. Sadly, this news confirms one more - but some I suspect we will never know why they haven't reappeared.

Poor old John. I have dined out on stories about him for years. Some examples …

John attended a tournament in which Spassky competed. When the great man had finished his game, he was accosted by John who chided him for not playing more King’s Gambits. John took Spassky to a demonstration board to show him several new ideas in the gambit. Strangely, there was no increase in the frequency of the gambit in Spassky’s subsequent games.

John was watching a game one evening at a London club. A child was beating his adult opponent who was one of John’s most loathed enemies. Let’s call him Campbell (not his real name). As his position deteriorated, Campbell could be heard muttering short words frowned on in polite company and certainly out of place within earshot of a child. John told him off. Shortly afterwards, the club secretary was urgently summoned from the kitchen. On entering the playing room, he found the child’s diminutive mother trying to hold apart two elderly combatants. The secretary hustled them into the corridor where he took over the mother’ s peacekeeping role but was unable to prevent one of John’s flailing fists from connecting with Campbell’s jaw. Luckily, octogenarian blows do little damage. Campbell disappeared into the night uttering curses and threats. A few days later, the club secretary was interviewed by the police who were investigating a complaint from Campbell. I hope John escaped with a caution.

Finally, an anecdote from rather than about John. He knew Sir Alec Douglas-Home who had been Chamberlain’s bag carrier at the Munich peace conference. According to Douglas-Home, the British delegation had spent an entertaining evening with their German hosts on the eve of their return to London. Hitler had been the life and soul of the party, keeping everyone in stitches throughout the evening, a real chucklemeister. They had returned to London suffering from two delusions, the second being that Herr Hitler had a great sense of humour.

John appeared on the cover of one of Aly Amin's little bulletins cartooned as a blood hound sporting a baseball cap, a favourite of his. I think he was a retired Building Society manager. When I asked him what he was away from the 64 squares he loudly announced "A Gentleman!!"

When Keene was featured in a weekend colour supplement John was to be seen in the background despite his reservations about the Egyptian proprietor, even then well known. A London Endgame Circle saw him visiting, understandably unable to give a problem solution - possibly a toughie - even when the results were recorded. Later, when I teased him about this, he said it wasn't him but some bloke, same name, who'd come to read the meter!

Likeable guy.

Sad to see this. I tried to contact John on a few occasions after Tim Crouch died. I had John’s Email and phone number. I didn’t call. But sent a text. And an email asking if he was ok. We used to chat via email quite a bit back in 2018. And I used to see and chat with John often. He was definitely a character. And he seemed to like my honest open talking as well. We had many good laughs and he would often corner me and tell me one of his stories. Then before you had a chance to reply he would walk off to find his next victim haha. Will miss him.

I remember John, it must be at least 35 years ago, hanging around London chess tournaments with a copy of Socialist Worker stuffed into a back pocket... Didn't he used to finance a Hampstead team with multiple GMs in the London League?

Sad passing. Bit of a nit sometimes, but always a character.
I was a GM he employed 30 odd years ago.
(Further to Kevin Thurlow's earlier comment of -

I saw him frequently at London events when I played there, and did see him maybe 3 - 4 years ago, for the first time in ages. He was an interesting and enertaining character.
Compiling a list of people who had altercations with Ali Amin would take some time.

Indeed. And the late Ali Amin was notorious for banning people for any old reason.

We once composed this limerick apropos the King Fahd Cup.
(That was a mooted tournament, to be held on the premises of Ali Amin`s Camden café CHEQUERS where a Saudi King, it was said, had stomped up a first prize of 50,000 quid.) -

"The wise philanthropic King Fahd
Found spending money exceedingly hard
Until his assets unseen
Went to Ali Amin
Who said, " * ** * off you * * * * * * * , You´re barred!!"

This is rather an old thread, but when I was looking into something else I stumbled across an announcement of John's probate in the Gazette of 14th October, 2022. This gave his full name, which I haven't seen anywhere else: John Rodney Macdonald.

Some other information -
Date of birth: 15th March, 1939 (birth registered in Rochford, Essex, as John R Winkup)
Date of death: 28th February, 2022
Address at time of death: 43 Fellows Road, Hampstead (I think he had lived there for at least forty years)

https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pe ... s/GX4V-TWH

Why was his birth registered as John R Winkup? When did he become Macdonald?

His mother was, I think, Kathleen Caroline Mary Winkup (later Kathleen Monica Winkup) and she changed her surname to Macdonald in 1942. No sign of a Mr Macdonald in any of the records I could find.