John Eriksen 07 Feb 1921 - 10 May 2006

'.. New Zealand chess lost one of the true gentlemen of the game - former patron of Wellington Chess Club and former South African Chess Champion, John Eriksen, died at the age of 85. For those of us privileged to have known John this is a very sad loss - to know him was to like him. Eriksen was born in London, England. He learnt his chess there and became a formidable player. In 1950 he immigrated to South Africa to become a partner in a consulting actuarial business, Stepley Fitchett & Eriksen. There he honed his chess playing skills - at one time being champion of the Republic. 'Ted' Edward G A Frost recalls that he had some games published in Chess or BCM. John came to NZ as an actuary [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuary ]. He was introduced to the Wellington Chess Club by Ted Frost soon after his arrival. Ted recalls him being entranced by the beauty of Wellington Harbour as he took him by car to his first attendance at the club. His best chess in New Zealand was played in the era of Arcadios Feneredis and Ortvin Sarapu - although he modestly would emphasise that he never managed to take a game off the formidable Fene. Even long after his retirement from active chess he supported the club by serving as patron, attending AGMs, and on occasion visiting or entering inclub open rapid competitions.

..

South African chess did not forget John Eriksen. Decades after his emigration - at the debut of South African Chess into the chess Olympiad in 1992 - a team member gave New Zealard team representative Jonathan D Sarfati a book to present to him. The book "Test Your Chess" was a collection of combinations from games spanning the early history (particularly 1950s - 60s) of SA chess. It featured three positions from John's games. The book was a gift from the author, Leonard Reitstein, a leading South African chess player who founded and edited The South African Chessplayer magazine and was a personal friend. It's fair to say that due to his genial and kindly disposition John Eriksen was really everyone's friend. He will be remembered with respect and warmth by all chess players who were fortunate to have known him. ..'

http://newzealandchess.co.nz/nzches...

(edited) from New Zealand Chess, Vol 33, Number 3, 2006, p.30

Repository Leonard Reitstein (author)
https://www.worldcat.org/identities...

Duplicate
Eriksen