TRIBUTES
GRAHAM BOXALL
Graham Boxall
Graham was a very good chess player and highly respected member of the club. He represented Jersey 33 times in the Inter-Insular against Guernsey, first playing in 1976. Of the 33 games, he won 15, drew 11 and only lost 7. A very good record. Graham also played for the Jersey team in 5 Olympiads. Olympiads are the chess equivalent of the football World Cup. They are held every two years and are organised by FIDE (the world chess organisation). In the 2000 Olympiad Graham drew against the Lithuanian International Master Algimantas Butnorius who went on to become a Grandmaster.
Graham was a strong supporter of Jersey chess both within the island and abroad. He played a major part in Jersey’s successful application to join FIDE in 1995. He was the Jersey representative at FIDE Congresses for many years. Indeed he was very active in FIDE and for a number of years headed up the FIDE Verification Commission. The Verification Commission is authorised to examine FIDE ledgers and all information pertaining to FIDE financial management. They highlight problems with FIDE’s financial affairs and submit an annual report to the FIDE General Assembly.
Graham’s contribution to Jersey chess and his wise advice will be greatly missed.
ANTHONY FULTON
Anthony Fulton (Tony) was Jersey Island Chess Champion in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985,1990, 1991 and on 5 of these occasions Tony also became Channel Island Champion, attaining the most prestigious Channel island chess title outright by defeating the Guernsey champion in 1978, 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1991 and sharing the title of Channel Island Champion on 3 further occasions with a draw on board 1 versus Guernsey.
With 8 Jersey league championships to his name, Tony is the 3rd most successful Jersey player ever, behind only Paul Wojciechowski (9) and Jon Hawes (17).
Tony also played in the Inter-Insular match versus Guernsey on no fewer than 35occasions, winning 18 times, drawing 14 times and losing on only 3 occasions, becoming currently the 3rd all time highest scorer in the Inter-Insular with 25 points out of 35 matches behind only Jon Hawes (25.5/33) and Philip Le Feuvre (29.5/54).
This is a phenomenal record for one of Jersey’s all time greats.
Tony also represented Jersey and the combined Jersey/Guernsey Channel Island chess team in 7 Chess Olympiads in Malta in 1980, Luzern (1982), Thessaloniki (1984), Dubai (1986), Bled (2002), Calvia (2004) and Turin (2006) as well as representing Jersey in the 2nd Small Nations in The Faroe Islands in 2011.
EDWARD GEOFFREY LE QUESNE MBE 1942-2014
‘A QUIET BUT FORCEFUL MAN’
Ed passed away following his brave battle with cancer. He will be sadly missed by all at the Jersey Chess Club, but especially by those associated with the Junior Section.
Ed was a very clever man, gaining a First Class Honours Degree in Natural Sciences at Trinity College Cambridge and became an inspirational Physics teacher at Victoria College. A deeply religious man he was also a preacher at the Methodist Church , Chairman of Oxfam, Chairman of Christian Aid, and helped promote Fairtrade in Jersey.
Ed has been organising Junior chess events since the 70’s and we are proud to have named a trophy after him, the Ed Le Quesne Junior Blitz Trophy. He has been chief Arbiter at countless Senior Inter-Insulars and guided many junior chess players throughout their careers in chess and life.
In the 2014 New Years Honours List Ed was awarded the MBE for his Community Service to Jersey. Ed was a quiet, but forceful man, who just got on and did so much with the minimum of fuss; an inspiration to us all.
CHARLES HARRY GREIER
Charles Harry Greier died at the age of 79. He will be remembered as one of Jersey’s best ever chess players.
His career with the Jersey Chess Club spanned six decades from the 1940s to the 1990s as he followed in his father’s footsteps, Karl Greier also having been one of Jersey’s strongest players.
Charles won the Jersey Chess Club championship four times between 1959 and 1963. He later turned his energies to the organisation of chess events, acting as the controller of Jersey International Chess Festivals and Island junior championships. Following the Fischer-Spassky chess boom he became the club’s match captain in the 1970s and 1980s, running three hotly-contested divisions of the chess club’s league.
His captaincy of the inter-insular teams led to Jersey’s record-breaking run of nine consecutive wins against Guernsey. Charles was a player himself in 29 inter-insulars, winning the individual Channel Islands’ championship for victory on top board in 1963 and sharing the title in 1959, 1962 and 1964.
His strongest adversary was W. Withers, with whom he drew in 1959 but lost to in 1960. His other opponents included Eugene Laine, Tom Moriarty, Eric Palmer, Cecil de Sausmarez and John Cummins for an overall score of 16.5 points from 29 games played.
The Jersey Chess Club would like to record its appreciation for his contribution to the development of chess.