It is with great sadness that we report the passing of George Hollands, one of our club members, at the young age of 39.
George was a true role model to everyone at our club; not only was he relentlessly enthusiastic about the game, but he also worked hard at improving his standard of play through reading, solving puzzles, and receiving coaching from FM Steve Giddins. His dedication to improvement saw his ECF grade increase from 115 to 167 in a period of just four years.
George was always generous with his time, not only driving long distances to our games from his home, but he often gave his time to help other players analyse their games.
George was Club Champion on no less than nine occasions (2012-2019, and 2022), and the Challenge Cup winner eight times (2011-2015, and 2017-2019). He played almost 100 games for the club in KCCA competitions, including as the Captain of the Harvey Cup winning team in 2015. George was also Club Chairman from 2017-2019.
George was an avid collector of chess books and periodicals, and used Chessbase to develop incredibly effective opening preparation.
George was not only a strong chess player but also a kind and caring man, and his love for his partner Chrissie and daughter Alice was obvious to everyone. We will miss him a great deal.