Gerald Bennett

[John Clarke]

Any relation to the Terry B. Bennett who played in the same tournament in 1973?

Gerald Bennett was a well known figure even before he had a titanic battle with Tony Miles for the Cutty Sark Grand Prix. A secret weapon was his camper van which not only allowed him to travel to tournaments but also provided accommodation when there. He even tried the feat of playing an August Bank Holiday tournament in Marlow whilst also playing in a two week event in Southport. I think the Southport event was two Monday to Friday tournaments back to back with Blitz events at the weekend. Tournaments played in schools would allow camping on the premises.

If I remember right, the Bank Holiday traffic scuppered his chances of being in time for the first round at the week-ender, but he won the remaining five games in that event to finish in the prize-list.

[Roger de Coverly]

If I remember right, the Bank Holiday traffic scuppered his chances of being in time for the first round at the week-ender, but he won the remaining five games in that event to finish in the prize-list.

I think it was the other way round. I was at the Marlow event which was 5 rounds with the first round Friday evening. I thought he made it south in time, but faiiled to get back to Southport for the first round there on the Monday afternoon. The full story was in BH Wood's Chess.

[GFBennett]

If I remember right, the Bank Holiday traffic scuppered his chances of being in time for the first round at the week-ender, but he won the remaining five games in that event to finish in the prize-list.

I think it was the other way round. I was at the Marlow event which was 5 rounds with the first round Friday evening. I thought he made it south in time, but faiiled to get back to Southport for the first round there on the Monday afternoon. The full story was in BH Wood's Chess.

BH Woods Chess? Is that a book I can find?

[NickFaulks]

BH Woods Chess? Is that a book I can find?

Chess monthly magazine. I remember reading all about it at the time, though long gone now.

[GFBennett]

BH Woods Chess? Is that a book I can find?

Chess monthly magazine. I remember reading all about it at the time, though long gone now.

I’ll see if Dad has it. He has a lot of chess books and magazines!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

That will bring a smile to many people's faces (having lots of chess books and magazines)!

If there are no plans to keep the chess materials, and you need any help looking for ways to donate or otherwise find a good home for them, there will be many people here willing to help. Some people do look for collections of scoresheets of chess games that your father may also have kept (by this I mean his own games).

Apologies if this was already planned for (or the plan is to keep the chess materials in the family) and apologies also if it is far too soon to talk of this. But I thought it best to mention it now as you are following the thread. Hopefully lots more memories will surface over the coming few days or weeks.

[Ian Thompson]

It would be lovely to hear any stories from those who knew him when he played. Please do get in contact.

Some reminiscences have appeared on Facebook.

[GFBennett]

It would be lovely to hear any stories from those who knew him when he played. Please do get in contact.

Some reminiscences have appeared on Facebook.

The link won’t take me to anything. Is it a chess group on FB?

[GFBennett]

That will bring a smile to many people's faces (having lots of chess books and magazines)!

If there are no plans to keep the chess materials, and you need any help looking for ways to donate or otherwise find a good home for them, there will be many people here willing to help. Some people do look for collections of scoresheets of chess games that your father may also have kept (by this I mean his own games).

Apologies if this was already planned for (or the plan is to keep the chess materials in the family) and apologies also if it is far too soon to talk of this. But I thought it best to mention it now as you are following the thread. Hopefully lots more memories will surface over the coming few days or weeks.

Early days but we have a lot of chess books and magazine. But there’s decades of stuff.

[Ian Thompson]

It would be lovely to hear any stories from those who knew him when he played. Please do get in contact.

Some reminiscences have appeared on Facebook.

The link won’t take me to anything. Is it a chess group on FB?

It's from a post by Paul Littlewood that several people have commented on. Maybe you need to be a friend of his to see it. Your father was, so, if you've got access to his Facebook account, that would probably allow you to see it.

[Ronnie Burton]

Very sad loss. He was on Facebook 2 days ago, Dorser Match Captain in the 1990's and did brilliant job

[GFBennett]

Some reminiscences have appeared on Facebook.

The link won’t take me to anything. Is it a chess group on FB?

It's from a post by Paul Littlewood that several people have commented on. Maybe you need to be a friend of his to see it. Your father was, so, if you've got access to his Facebook account, that would probably allow you to see it.

Thanks I’ll see if I can make contact. I’d love to see the stories.

[GFBennett]

BH Woods Chess? Is that a book I can find?

Chess monthly magazine. I remember reading all about it at the time, though long gone now.

Any idea of the year and I’ll try and track down a copy.

We think Dad worked for BH Woods for a short while.

[Andrew Martin]

Sad news.

RIP Gerald

[Nick Ivell]

Gerald played a lot of good chess. Anyone got any decent games to demonstrate? I never played him.