Brian Denman has sent the following information on Neil who passed away on 14th January. His funeral is to be held on Monday Feb. 4th at 1pm at The Downs Crematorium, Bear Rd., BN2 3PL. Chess Club members who knew Neil are invited to attend.
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Neil's birth was registered in the NE district of Surrey in the June quarter of 1938. I do not know when the family moved to Brighton, though the first mention of his name that I can find in Sussex chess records dates from the end of 1952. From that time up to about 1956 he was a promising junior at the Brighton CC. He went to Varndean Grammar School and his best achievement in chess was probably his winning the Brighton Dupree U-21 Tournament of 1954-55 (the competition usually ran from the end of December to early January). It could be argued that he would have done even better at chess, had it not been for his prowess in swimming in which sport he represented England. After he went to London University to study chemistry, his involvement in chess seems to have tailed off. In fact it does not seem to have revived until over 40 years later.
I do not know much about his personal life, but he married Janice K Sutton in 1970 in Wandsworth. His daughter, Zia, was born in the March quarter of 1972. You probably know more about this than I, but I believe that he later either re-married or had a new partner. His name cropped up in some old Brighton CC records of about 1985. The club was still in Pavilion Buildings, but was considering moving to new premises. Neil offered new premises for the club, so I presume that he was back in Brighton by this time. As it happened, the club accepted an offer from Lord Oram instead.
I was not actually a member of the club, when Neil rejoined, though I imagine that it was about 2000. You may have a record of his joining or perhaps you remember when this happened. Also you probably know more than I about the recent years.
Brian Denman
Neil was a very active member of the club from when he rejoined up until his tragic accident in 2009. He served on the committee and as Tournament Controller until 2008. He continued as a member of the club until quite recently when it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to play. He was made an honorary member of the club and the Tasker Tankard is of course dedicated to what now will be his memory.
