Many Richmond players, especially those in the first teams, will be greatly saddened to hear that Wimbledon stalwart Steve Berry passed away on 4 January at the age of 67 after a short illness.

Steve was the reigning Surrey champion, having won the title for the first time in 1990, and then 11 times (one shared) between 2002 and 2018. He shared first place in the British 65+ Championship with Wimbledon teammate Roger Emerson in 2017 and was a regular tournament competitor both in the UK and across Europe. He played on a high board in many Wimbledon v Richmond matches, and, at the time of his death, had an unfinished game against Julien Shepley from the most recent Wimbledon v Richmond match.

Steve will be much missed by his many friends in the chess community. I’m sure everyone at Richmond will join me in sending condolences to Wimbledon Chess Club on their sad loss.

Here‘s a game against our club Chairman John Bass, played at Paignton (one of Steve’s favourite tournaments) in 2011.