Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 12:39AM

The English International Master and well-known chess author Colin Crouch died on Saturday (yesterday as I write this) at the age of 58. Crouch had a number of health problems over the years, including a stroke some years ago that he himself mentioned in more than one of his chess books. Whether his death was in some way related to that particular problem, I don't know; readers with more information are asked to include more details if they have them.

I was not well acquainted with his chess, but have a number of his books and have looked at several more. I was struck by the humanness of his work - humanness in a good sense. At least or especially after his stroke, Crouch very clearly worked with the computer last, trying very hard to work out his analyses on his own, all the while admitting his limitations - general human limitations, yes, and also those unfortunately imposed upon him by his illness. The header on his blog (last updated just a week ago) strikes me as characteristic: "Mainly on the evolution of top level chess, or at least to the limited extent that I am able to understand what is going on."

I hope those who did know him will offer their reminiscences in the comments. For those who aren't familiar with his work, I would suggest having a look at one or more of his recent books (e.g. on the "Great Attackers" or Modern Chess: Move by Move are the two I know best, along with his older book on defense). They're not indispensable, but they are worthy contributions to chess literature. There's also his blog, mentioned above. There's also a thread on his passing on the English Chess Forum, and on that thread are a couple of his notable victories, which can be replayed here and here.

Rest in peace.