| Jun-02-13 | | JohnBoy: I believe Berry was US junior champ in ~1973. As I recall, he was from Hollywood. He seemed to completely dropped chess, and I wonder what ever became of him. |
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| Jun-03-13 | | Chani Berry: Hello JohnBoy. David Berry is my uncle. Unfortunately, he just passed away this morning. It was very nice seeing someone remembering him. |
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| Jun-03-13 | | Shams: <Chani> Still so young. Sorry to hear that. |
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| Jun-03-13 | | andrewjsacks: I remember him well. We used to play speed chess at a local Hollywood park in the very early 1970s. He developed from class A player to Master very quickly. |
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| Jun-03-13 | | Shams: Two nice wins of his against American young guns at Lone Pine: D Berry vs Rohde, 1975
Seirawan vs D Berry, 1976 (with the very interesting 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5!?) |
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Jun-03-13
 | | HeMateMe: Is he in the band <Rock Bottem Remainders>? |
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| Jun-03-13 | | TheFocus: <HMM> <Is he in the band <Rock Bottem Remainders>?> Good one. Some people ain't gonna get that one. |
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Jun-03-13
| | HeMateMe: Hint: Stephen King is also in the group! |
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| Jun-03-13 | | The Last Straw: RIP Mr.Berry. |
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| Jun-04-13 | | Chani Berry: Thank you all for your memories and comments. They are very much appreciated at a time like this. |
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| Jun-04-13 | | wordfunph: <Chani Berry> my heartfelt condolences. Rest in peace, Sir David. |
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| Jun-11-13 | | JohnBoy: Holy cow! Sorry, Chani - I had no idea. Can you give those of us who remember him a bit of an obit? |
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| Jun-24-13 | | Chani Berry: JohnBoy, there wasn't an official obituary published, but this is what my father, his older brother said at his funeral.
"David Berry was a gentle man, who never had a sour word for anyone. He was truly a nice person. If someone "crossed" him or did something not nice, he just let it go and said, "It's okay." And he meant it.
His father taught him to play chess at 5 or 6, and he took to it immediately like a fish to water. By the time he was 18, he was in major tournaments and a Master, and just shy of a Grand Master
designation at age 20. Unfortunately, by the time David turned twenty, the voices he constantly heard and the medications he had to take to stop those voices, made it impossible for him to continue playing chess. Many of his games were published in the LA Times, and chess forums around the world studied his games and discussed them. Here is a really amazing fact: despite the fact that he hadn't played for 36+ years, his ranking is 414 in the USA! That's how strong his games were, to have impacted his status so many years later despite many up and comers since his time. He is ranked 9700 internationally, again amazing since he hasn't played for so many decades. (Imagine what his rankings would be today if he had continued
playing). He used to play complicated games blindfolded, and he could
play up to 20 games simultaneously against 20 players! He was Western
division champion in the USA at age 14."
David Berry passed away in his sleep at the age of 56 on June 3rd,2013 after having been diagnosed with cancer 3 weeks before. He is survived by his 2 older brothers. |
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| Dec-01-18 | | Boomie: I met David at Lone Pine. One fine day, we went for a walk into the oddly named Alabama Hills, a strange collection of enormous boulders outside of town. Many TV westerns were filmed there including Bonanza. David was charming company and I'm sorry to hear that he had such difficulties with illnesses. The world is a better place with nice men like David in it. |
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Kibitzing
