FM Richard Geoffrey Eales (1949 - 2026)

[John Upham]

BCIN is saddened to have learnt of the recent passing of FM Richard Eales. We will bring you more as we learn more.

FM Richard Geoffrey Eales (1949 - 2026)

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[MJMcCready]

A great author.

[Nick Ivell]

I never played him but I do have a couple of his books.

[Ian Thompson]

I played him three times.

One game, at the 1980 Kent Open, was memorable because it was the last game to finish in the last round. The organisers didn't just pack up every other set, they also held the prize giving while we were still playing. The game was eventually drawn. I finished on 5/7, so Richard probably did as well. I don't remember whether 5/7 was good enough to win a prize, or whether a win for one of us would have been (although that was unlikely as it would have required very poor play from one us for it not to be a draw once we'd reached a rook and pawn ending).

[Matt Mackenzie]

His most recent game in the ECF rating database was just last week, which suggests his passing was perhaps not totally expected.

And a final rating of 2200, none too shabby for that age.

[Nick Ivell]

I have his book on the Alekhine, with Williams as co-author.

[Matt Mackenzie]

His wife has confirmed that his death was sudden and unexpected. Even at a good age like 77, that is quite sad.

[John Townsend]

He contacted me two or three years ago about Howard Staunton. As I recall, he was working on a revision of Chess: the history of a game. I don't know whether he completed it. He was Raymond Keene's brother-in-law.

R.I.P.

[Mike Wiltshire]

Richard, who passed away earlier this week, was not only a good 2200 chess player but also a leading chess historian who also wrote on other historical subjects. Most recently he may have assisted his wife Jackie in writing a chapter in Antonio Horta-Osorio's 400 page folio book entitled The H-O Collection of Antique Chess Sets, Volume one - India.

He also wrote a chapter about Howard Staunton for the French book which celebrated 100 years of the French chess federation and it's contribution to the development of chess in Europe and participated in their special historical conferences and events.

[John Townsend]

Mike Wiltshire wrote:

"He also wrote a chapter about Howard Staunton for the French book which celebrated 100 years of the French chess federation and it's contribution to the development of chess in Europe ..."

Richard's chapter was entitled, "Philidor and British Chess 1750 - 1850" - not really about Staunton. The work was "La France et son apport dans le jeu d'échecs en Europe", edited by H. Bastian, F. Hoffmeister and J.O. Leconte, Berlin, 2021.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I first came across the work of Richard Eales in the book 'Cambridge Chess' (1978). I had to replace my original copy of this as it got stolen from the Cambridge University Chess Club's Freshers' Fair stall in October 1996 (I can date this so precisely because I had just passed my driving test).

Some details of his history career here:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=14463&p=314140#p314140

And a flavour of his wider history work:

https://kenthistoryandarchaeology.wordp ... -fordwich/

Although someone whose knowledge transcends time and space – he has studied and lectured on medieval topics as diverse as the Ottonian Empire to the Wars of the Roses, and from English castles to the crusader castles of the Middle East – he is an acknowledged expert on Norman England (and chess).

That was written in 2015 but (in lieu of what will be other tributes forthcoming) that is a pretty good starting point.