John died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Wednesday 3 February 2010.
He was born in 1930 and was a very active player. His highest FIDE Rating this century was 2034. Most recently that had dropped to 1858, and his 2009 grade was 137.
John was born in Hungary, but was unrelated to Richard Reti. Chess was central to his life. He played in many events and played a great deal of team chess. He ran the Torriano Centre in Hampstead for many years, an arts centre very much concentrating on poetry.
He played chess for England several times in the European Senior Team Championship and the one and only World Senior Team Championship.
The late Bob Wade said of him, ‘He is the most Bohemian player we are ever likely to meet’. One fascinating anecdote will have to suffice …
When Germany invaded Budapest in the Second World War, John, a Jewish boy, was hidden by school friends. He did not see his parents during that period. He came to England as a young man and left his luggage with an aunt before travelling around the country. When he returned to pick up his luggage, he asked his aunt where his passport was. ‘I’ve burnt it,’ was the response. Hungary was Communist and getting new papers proved to be beyond him. Thus he simply never left England. That is, until I invited him to represent England in Dresden. He travelled on stateless papers. After that he obtained UK citizenship and a passport. A year later I arranged for the chess players to visit the Synagogue that was built to replace the one that was burned down on Kristallnacht. He then told me that this was the first time he had ever been in a synagogue!
Our condolences to his family. It is appropriate that his daughter Emily lives in Hastings. Her address is 29 Gensing Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 0HE. Further details, such as his funeral, will be posted on the ECF website in due course
- Stewart Reuben
