English Chess Forum

I have been informed that Ken died recently at the age of 83. He was the first regular controller of the "Spectrum" events, and ran tournaments elsewhere. (Sorry, that is all I have at present.)

Ken lived in and played for Loughton. He represented Essex usually for the U1600 team.
In the 1990s, he played for the now defunct Powdermill team
In his younger days he was grader and an arbiter.

See http://www.loughtonchess.co.uk/extra/Ken_Groce.html

Ken was also a regular at the West minister rapidplays in the 90's..RIP

Sad news.

Sad to hear Ken has passed away. I knew Ken in the late 70's early 80's. His surname was originally 'Reid' but changed it later to 'Groce' after researching family history. He used to work for British Telecom, formally Post Office. Besides playing in a several congresses together, we used to play for the BTHQ team in the Civil Service and London Commercial Leagues. Often after matches we would all go to the pub to analyse our games on a pocket chess set and laughing over how bad we played, frequently leaving me running for the last train and waking up with an headache the next day Great times they were. RIP Ken

The photo is the winning team at the 1978 British Telecom Inter Region championships. From left to right; Louis Ferron, me, Nick Weinhold, Geoff Foot, BT General Manager, Graham Lee, Ken Groce.

He also played for Battersea in the 60s and 70s. We knew him as Ron as his initials were R.K.Reid. His parents were killed during the blitz hence the dual surnames. He had been Battersea match captain and very active player in league and tournament chess. He had served in the army (Aden and Northern Ireland). He moved to Ireland when his wife became terminally ill. Later he moved back to London (Debden, Essex).

I knew Ken well for many years and regularly played him especially in Rapidplay tournaments. I knew about him losing his wife, very sad. He was a funny, friendly guy and I'm glad to have known him. RIP Ken

I often had a chat with Ken when he was at Battersea or playing tournaments. He was a highly competitive though amicable and amusing guy who loved his chess. And he wouldn't let going the exchange down get in his way when he had a handy pair of bishops, as this game displayed:

[Event "Kensington W/E"] [Date "1995.06.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Drennan, W."] [Black "Groce, K."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A48"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. e3 c5 5. c3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. Qe2 d5 9. O-O Nbd7 10. e4 cxd4 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. e5 Nd7 13. cxd4 e6 14. Rac1 Nb8 15. Rc2 Nc6 16. a3 a6 17. Rfc1 Qd7 18. b4 f6 19. b5 axb5 20. Bxb5 Rfc8 21. a4 Rc7 22. Nb3 Rac8 23. a5 fxe5 24. axb6 e4 25. bxc7 exf3 26. Qxf3 Rxc7 27. Bxc6 Rxc6 28. Nc5 Qc8 29. Qd3 Bh6 30. Rb1 Ba6 31. Qb3 Bc4 32. Qb8 Qxb8 33. Rxb8+ Kf7 34. Rcb2 Kf6 35. Nd7+ Kf5 36. Ne5 Ra6 37. g4+ Ke4 38. Nxc4 dxc4 39. Rc8 Kxd4 40. Rb4 Ra1+ 41. Kg2 Rc1 42. h4 Bf4 43. Kf3 e5 44. g5 Bd2 45. Ra4 e4+ 46. Ke2 Bf4 47. Rc6 Kd5 48. Rc8 c3 49. Rac4 Bd2 50. R8c5+ Kd6 51. Rc6+ Ke5 52. R6c5+ Kf4 53. f3 Re1+ 54. Kf2 c2 55. Rxc2 e3+ 56. Kg2 Re2+ 57. Kg1 Kg3 58. Rc1 Rg2+ 59. Kh1 e2 60. R5c4 Rh2+ 61. Kg1 Be3# 0-1