Andrew Perkins, who has died aged 76, was for decades the strongest player at Luton Chess Club. He was a formidable performer over the board at Bedfordshire Chess League, County and English chess tournament matches from the 1960s until he retired from competitive play in 2020.
He attended Luton Grammar School then Luton Sixth Form College from 1961. He played for both the school and college in the Luton schools chess league run by Tom Sweby. He was also a member of Luton Chess Club whilst pursuing his studies. In the early 1970s Luton chess club had 7 teams playing in the Bedfordshire chess league, where Andrew was one of the strongest players in a very competitive era. By 1975 he was playing board 1 for Luton A team. In 1982 Andrew became the strongest player at the club when he won both the Luton club championship and Bedfordshire County championship. He was on the Luton chess team that won the Bedfordshire league five times during the 1980s. His peak grading was 194 ECF which would translate to a rating of 2155 today.
Many of his notable wins are on the club website under the Vintage Games section. The list of his opponents is a "Who's Who" of the legends of Bedfordshire chess: Paul Habershon, Stephen Ledger, Gary Kenworthy; Evgeny Tukpetov, Adrian Elwin, Stephen Law, Andrew Ledger, Colin Garwood, Phil Roe and others. Andrew had a win against British Ladies Champion Dinah Dobson, a win against a future Grandmaster Glenn Flear and a draw against the great Viktor Korchnoi, rated number 2 in the world at the time, in a celebrated simultaneous match organised by Luton chess club.
Andrew was also League Controller for a number of years and carefully produced hand written reports for Bedfordshire chess clubs. An avid reader and chess bibliophile he would reference famous masters and classic games with erudition. He was most articulate when speaking of chess and his personality shines out in his notes.
Softly spoken and reserved in life, this translated to his quiet and calm demeanour such that over the board, he moved pieces gently and without dramatics. At the end of every game, win lose or draw he thanked his opponent.
Luton chess club gives thanks for Andrew Perkins.