Obituaries

“Readers could relate to him because he was a very honest writer, critical of his own
mistakes and willing to admit to them, he never lectured readers,” said John Emms, editor of
Crouch’s last five books for Everyman Chess.
Aware of the temptation to embellish a dull game, Crouch poked fun at chess writing in the
British Chess Monthly: “White threatens to thrust the flagship of his armada forward with the
galloping move e5, leaving his discomforted steed on f6 feeling like Yasser Arafat at a
barmitzvah.”
Born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, Colin was the son of John, a civil servant, and Audrey (nee
Jackson). As a small boy he learned to play chess from his father at their family home in
Harrow Weald, which remained his home until his death. He began to play competitively at
Haberdashers’ Aske’s school in Elstree and then at Christ’s college, Cambridge, where he
took geography, completing a doctorate at Durham University on unemployment in mining
communities. Crouch was an active Fabian and Labour party member.
In 2004 a stroke severely damaged his health, leaving him in a condition where he could
barely walk, had damaged arms and “only half of one eye working”. While others might have
given up the game, his instincts were to play chess seriously “to recover my thought
processes”, he wrote.
In 2008 and 2012 he won silver medals at international chess Olympiads for the blind and
visually impaired in Greece and India. “It meant a great deal to him that he’d actually been
able to prove that he could still achieve at the top,” said Chris Ross of the Braille Chess
Association.
Crouch’s burly, bearded form and distinctive chuckle were well known in chess circles. He
had a passionate dedication to coaching younger players every week in Harrow Chess Club,
among them future International Master Lorin D’Costa.
“Nothing would give him more pleasure than seeing one of his juniors doing well,” said Nevil
Chan, the club’s president.
“He was a chess giant, but at the club there was no ego, it was all for the love of the game
and helping other players.”
He is survived by a brother, Richard, and a sister, Elizabeth.
David Wray (Died 21st November 2014)
David Keith Wray (1975 leaver), passed away on 21st November 2014 aged 57.
David A Cahal (died 2003)