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10/09/2024

Mike Denison

born 18/06/1937 died 05/07/2024

 

First, here is a link to a page on brother David’s website, which expresses the family’s sentiments: all you really need to read.

 

This website’s obituary consists of the following:

An overall biography by webmaster Steve Mann

immediately below

Personal contributions by various people . . . . . .

(further contributions welcome)

click here

A collection of his games . . . . . .

click here

 

Family Background

 

Denis Michael Denison was born on 18/06/1937, in Wakefield, to Ernest Denison (born 15/11/1905, Wakefield; baptised 19/03/1906, St. Andrews, Wakefield; died 1979, Wakefield) and Norah Denison née McTiernan (born 26/07/1910, Wakefield), who married in 1936, in Wakefield.

 

In time, two younger brothers were born: David Denison born at Wakefield in 1939 and John S Denison born at Wakefield in 1942.

 

At the time of the 1939 Register (29/09/1939) the Denison family was resident at 70 Oakwood Avenue, Wakefield.  Father Ernest was then a motor driver (heavy worker).

 

Mike evidently resided at the same address for the rest of his life.

 

Education

 

From junior school, 11-year-old Michael won a scholarship to Thornes House Grammar School.  This led to a degree course at Bradford College and graduation with a science degree.

 

For a living he became a schoolteacher in maths, physics, chemistry and biology at Crofton School to the south-east of Wakefield and Snapethorpe Secondary Modern School at Lupset some Way to the south-west of Wakefield.

 

Chess Teaching

 

While at Bradford College he had evidently taken to playing chess with brother David.  In time he took to teaching chess in schools on a voluntary basis, especially once he was retired.

 

For many years he ran a chess club at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School ( QEGS ) which established itself as the leading school for chess in Wakefield.  The spring term 1961 edition of The Savilian. Wakefield Grammar School’s magazine, recorded,

“Early in the term we were very pleased to welcome Mr. Denison, from the Wakefield Chess Club, for a simultaneous display.  As was to be expected, Mr. Denison only lost one of his twenty-one of his matches.

Elsewhere a calendar of event gave the date as 20th January 1961, naming the sole QEGS victor as R. Harris.”

 

More recently he was running chess sessions at Wakefield Girls High School.

 

In 2018, Mike was a recipient of an ECF President’s Award for Services to Chess, receiving it on Thursday 4th October, and planned to show it off at Wakefield GHS Junior School, where he was doing three chess clubs a week, 2018 being his 26th year of such activity!  (That presumably meant 26 years at WGHS.)  The following photograph (from the Wakefield Chess Club website) illustrates him showing of his award, accompanied by niece Charlotte.

 

A person and person posing for a picture

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The T-shirt has on it

 

Michael Denison

 

A black and white logo

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English

Chess

Federation

President’s Award
for Services to Chess

 

Team Chess

 

As a team player he was of course well known within the Yorkshire Chess Association as Wakefield’s top board in the Woodhouse Cup and also as a county-match player, though the Woodhouse Cup and congress chess somehow seem to have drawn him more than inter-county chess.

 

He appears to have joined Wakefield Chess in 1955 or even before.  His earliest appearance traced (as at 26/09/2024) for Wakefield in the Woodhouse Cup was on 22/10/1955 (when down on board 10), and ditto for Yorkshire on 18/01/1958.  In the Woodhouse Cup, after the early years, he was commonly the usual board 1, though for a few seasons, newcomers such as John H Beaty and John D Taylor would push him down for a while until they left the area again, allowing Mike to return to board 1!

 

Wakefield seems to be the largest town in Yorkshire not to have its own and District league.  In that local league context Mike played around the 1990s for Denby Dale in the Huddersfield league.

 

Individual Chess Competition

 

As an individual he participated some locally based congresses and other individual events.  Taking, at random, the YCA Bulletin of August 1980, he appears as finishing 6th-8th= out of 43 players, with 3 out of 5, in the Open section of the Bradford Congress.  A week earlier he played in the Yorkshire Individual Lightning Championship finishing 11th-14th= (alongside the present writer) with 3 out of 7.

 

He never won the Yorkshire Championship, though it’s quite possible he never entered it!  (The knock-out format did not appeal to all players.)  His record as records the Wakefield Championship is not to hand.

 

An early appearance in a major congress came in 1963, in the Northern Open run by B. H. Wood in Whitby.  Mike finished 20th out of 44 players on 5 out of 11.

 

Mike seems to have preferred the long 11-round events like the Northern Open, and in 1971 he made his first of many appearances in the Major Open event at the British Championship, not to be confused, of course, with the British Championship itself.  He tended to finish in the middle third of the final placings, notable exceptions being 4th-7th= on 7 out of 11 in 1980, 4th-8th= on 7 out of 11 in 1987, and 6th-10th= on 7 out of 11 in 1993.  The venue didn t put him off, so he d venture to Plymouth or Edinburgh for most of a fortnight at a time.  He played in 23 of the 25 such Major Opens from 1971 to 1995, missing only 1989 and 1994.  1995 was his last Major Open.

 

Death

 

Mike died on 5th July 2024 after a period of illness in Wakefield’s Pinderfields Hospital.  The funeral service took place at Crigglestone Crematorium, on 9th August, followed by interment at Wakefield Lawn Cemetery.

 

The family tried to contact Wakefield Chess Club via its website’s contact facility which sadly failed, so that no club members attended the funeral.

 

 

Steve Mann

 

 

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Individual’s Sentiments Received

 

 

It was with great sadness that we heard of the heartbreaking news of Mr Denison’s passing.

 

In his calm and gentle manner, Mr D  (as he was known to us) touched our lives very deeply.  We are eternally grateful that Nina had the privilege to learn to play chess from such an experienced and patient chess master.  Nina developed a deep fondness of Mr D, from the moment she joined the chess club at the Wakefield Girls High School Junior School and very much enjoyed her chess sessions with him during lockdown and thereafter.  She still often remembers their time together affectionately.

 

We will dearly miss him and are so grateful to have had him be part of our lives over the past few years. Whenever we see a chess board, we'll be thinking of Mr D with the fondest of memories.  He'll certainly forever live on in our memories, our hearts and in our chess games!

 

Rest easy, Mr D!

 

Liezl, Volker and Nina

 

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I'm on holiday in Greece at the moment, but I was sad to learn earlier today that Mike Denison had passed away. On behalf of York Chess Club, and on a personal level, I would like to express my sympathy and condolences.

 

I didn't know Mike well, but I encountered him several times at the board. He was a talented player and the most courteous and tenacious of opponents. I first played him back in the 1970s when I was a junior playing for Cheshire & North Wales against Yorkshire. I trotted out what I thought was quite a clever variation of the Modern defence, only for the naivety of my play to be put firmly in its place by Mike's logical and common sense approach. His play remained strong years later despite problems with his sight. I think we ended up about even overall.

 

Very sorry to hear this sad news

 

Best wishes

 

Paul Townsend

 

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Mike was such a wonderful, kind, intelligent gentleman.  Mike was the reason I joined Wakefield chess club in the first place, in fact when he held an open event in Wakefield shopping centre over 25 years ago!  He reignited my love of chess, me and many others I have no doubt.

 

He was a brilliant mentor to many, especially dedicated to developing and encouraging our junior players. I always enjoyed seeing Mike and sharing his love of chess.

 

I am very sad to hear if his passing.  He will be very sadly missed by all who knew him.

 

Best

Mark Shelmerdine

Wakefield Chess

 

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Due to his deteriorating eyesight he was probably past his peak as a player by the time I got to know him but his enthusiasm and knowledge were still formidable and I am grateful for all the time we spent talking about chess.  His usual words of advice for any upcoming player were "Study endgames, and play through lots of Karpov games", and we spent many hours together at the chess club doing both.

 

Peter Shaw

 

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Sad day - a great humble man who did a lot for junior chess in Wakefield.

 

Worked as a teacher and on retirement coached chess at Wakefield Boys and Girls for no payment.

 

He and I ran some chess days in Wakefield and unearthed some good talent.

 

Strong player, did well in British. Good chess strategist and excellent at helping others at all levels

 

Received one year an ECF award for services to chess

 

Peter Cloudsdale York 7.9.2024

 

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Sad to hear that Mike had died.  I didn't know him well, but he was a nice man.

 

Regards   Jeff Horner

 

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Have to write a quick post here saying RIP Mike Dennison.....

Saw him in person many times... and know he coached chess at WGHS for a number of years...

Didn't have chance to play him, maybe I wasn't good enough, but he was one of the strongest players in Yorkshire at his peak...

Quite sad the old chess teachers are dying off....

 

Mark Howitt

 

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Games Section

 

Mike apparently used to tell the story of him playing an 11-year-old Michael Adams, who seemingly paid little attention to the board, as juniors sometimes do, but nevertheless beat Mike. (It’s difficult to work out at what event this took place.  It was definitely not in the BCF Major Open.)

 

Peter Shaw hopes to gain access to Mike scorebook from around the 1980s.  (With any luck, it’ll contain Mike being stuffed by 11-year-old Michael Adams!)  Meanwhile, for starters, here are two games sent to me by Mike for this website a while ago (the simuls), two from Peter Shaw and one from BCM of the day.

 

Click on the game to play through it on screen in a new window:

 

Denison, D Michael 1-0 Gould, Donald 11/06/1960 *

Denison, D Michael1-0 Hughes, AF dd/04/1961 *

Haigh, Michael A 0-1 Denison, D Michael, dd/06/1962 *

Habershon, Paul F 0-1 Denison D Michael, 12/08/1071 (from Forum for English Chess, via John Saunders)

J Speelman 0-1 D M Denison (simul.) 22/02/1984

D M Denison 1-0 D Robertson, Calderdale Congress, 1986 (a splendid game, though Mike was on the receiving end)

Murray Chandler 0-1 Mike Denison (simul.) 06/10/1987)

Mike Denison 1-0 Richard Britton, Calderdale Congress, 30/04/1988 (451 entries!!  See page 5 of YCA Bulletin 232/233)

Dave M Adams 0-1 Mike Denison, Woodhouse Cup, 28/01/1989

 

* These three originate in an Ives family scrapbook of R. W. Ives’s column in the Yorkshire Evening Post, lent to John Saunders and digitised at https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/ivesr-viewer.html#yep (microfilms of that paper available also at Wakefield Local Studies Library).