Ewart J. SMITH

[Ken Norman]

We are very sorry to inform everyone that Ewart Smith from Basingstoke died on 26th July. He was approaching his 90th Birthday.
He was a Senior Arbiter who was involved in the running of many tournament over the years.
He played for Basingstoke up until 2022.
Our sympathy goes to Pearl his wife of over 65 years.

[James Pratt]

Ewart and Pearl were walking in the Glebe Park, just over the fence here, when I ran into them. A former Basingstoke Champion, he said he had at last given up the game, at 87 a great innings. Clubs at Andover and Chatham had been proud to claim him, and the Smiths had recently moved from Old Basing to the Town's Southern Road. He was a retired Headteacher, I believe Head at Maple Ridge. Latterly, the local hospice also enjoyed his help, typical of his sense of duty. He merits a very pleasant section in '60 Years in the Same Room' by RH Jones, the Paignton Congress history. He would be pleased I know to have his name linked to Ken and Dinah - see above - and Peter Hempson and Michael Franklin, with whom he did National Service.

[John Townsend]

I knew him slightly - an earnest and sincere man, I would say. I seem to recall he had a liking for the Colle system at one stage. R.I.P..

[John Saunders]

I didn't know Ewart but there are a few of his games in the BritBase collection. Here's a win with the London System (which I feel should be renamed the Franklin System after one of its most notable and loyal practitioners)...

[Event "WECU-ch40 Challengers/Open"] [Site "Torquay"] [Date "1985.04"] [White "Smith, Ewart J"] [Black "Bradley, R"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A48"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "1985.04.04"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "BritBase"] [Source "John Saunders"] [SourceDate "2025.07.03"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.07.03"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. h3 c5 6. c3 b6 7. Bc4 d5 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. O-O Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nc6 11. Nbd2 c4 12. Qc2 b5 13. e4 dxe4 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Rc8 16. Rfe1 e6 17. Rad1 Re8 18. Ne5 Ne7 19. Nxf7 Kxf7 20. Qxe6+ Kf8 21. Bd6 Rc7 22. Re3 Rd7 23. Rf3+ {Source: Westward Ho (WECU Bulletin), August 1985} 1-0

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Sorry to learn of the passing of one of my favourite arbiters. Met him many times at events such as Paignton, Dorset and Torbay. He had a wry sense of humour and, unlike some school teacher arbiters, avoided speaking to adults as though they were children. The photo shows Ewart awaiting game results at the 2012 Torbay congress.

Ewart Smith (Torbay).jpg (376.04 KiB) Viewed 2772 times

[Kevin Thurlow]

I didn't encounter him often but he always seemed very placid, not a description one generally applies to arbiters.

[Graham Borrowdale]

I didn’t know ‘EJ’ Smith as an arbiter, but as a player, around 1980, when I played him in some local Hants/Berks county matches, and possibly Basingstoke quick-plays. He was a fair player if I recall, maybe 160 old money.

[Ronnie Burton]

Yes he did lot of controlling at Bob Jones tournaments at Exmouth, Excellent arbiter

[Andrew Martin]

I will miss Ewart. He had a great sense of humour and was very friendly when you got to know him. A stalwart of Basingstoke CC.

He was of immense help to me acting as Chief Arbiter of the Yateley Manor International events and later assisting with the early South of England junior tournaments.

Thank you Ewart and RIP.

[Jim Stayt]

I had a few battles over the years with Ewart. Always seemed a nice guy. RIP.

[Ken Norman]

Ewart Smith's funeral was held yesterday 22nd August 2025.
Over one hundred people attended including three chessplayers.

[Mark Taylor]

I knew Ewart relatively well, having played him in tournaments and the Berkshire League several times, but most importantly through chatting to him after the games. He was a kind man wth a dry sense of humour and met triumph and disaster with complete equanimity. I liked him