It was with sadness that we heard the news of the death of Patrick Moore yesterday. He attended Hastings Chess Congress on several occasions and at this time of year would receive our Congress programme and an invitation to visit. In the last few years he replied that he was not able to make the journey easily but would be keeping up to date with the games and news from here. The reply would be typed on his faithful manual typewriter with the odd letter missing. Last year he said, “Do call in if ever you are in this direction” – sadly I never did.

The most memorable visit was when Patrick helped us celebrate the Congress Centenary in 1995 when he played against Russian grandmaster David Bronstein in a living chess game on Hastings Pier. On these occasions he was as enthusiastic about chess as he was about astronomy and when watching him playing the xylophone, it seems he played with equal enthusiasm. His interest in our event will be missed this year.

– Pam Thomas