GrahamClayton: Here is the obituary notice for Koshnitsky, taken from the Australian Chess Federation bulletin #35 of September 1999VALE GARRY KOSHNITSKY
OBITUARY by ROBERT JAMIESON
Garry Koshnitsky MBE - Chess Master and Administrator.
Born: 6.10.1907 - Died: 17.9.1999
Garry Koshnitsky, along with Cecil Purdy the most prominent figure in
Australian Chess this century, has passed away in Adelaide at the age of 91
years.
The "Grand Old Man of Australian Chess", Grigory Semienovich Koshnitsky
(Garry) was born in Kishenev, Russia, in 1907 but his family moved to
Shanghai and Kosh joined his first chess club coming to prominence by
beating touring Master Boris Kostich in a simul.
In 1926 he moved to Australia, settled in Brisbane and won a hat trick of
Queensland Championships in 1926, 1927 and 1928. He moved to Sydney to
find better competition and met the young Cecil Purdy who became his
life-long friend and rival. Kosh won the Australian Championship at his
third attempt in 1933 and was successful again in 1939 with a record score
of 12.5 points out of 13 games.
Kosh enlisted during the war and was soon moved to the education section to
teach chess to the troops. He gave simuls and lectures throughout
Queensland, New South Wales and New Guinea and was promoted to Lieutenant.
After the war Kosh's first marriage broke up and in 1947 he started a chess
academy at Anthony Horden's store in Sydney which ran till 1960. In 1950
he married Evelyn Esau, herself a keen chess player and organiser, and
together they formed a unique partnership in world chess which culminated
in 1993 with them both being awarded Honorary Membership of the World Chess
Federation (FIDE).
In 1961 the Koshnitskys moved to Adelaide and Kosh began his involvement
with FIDE as President of Zone 10 (South-East Asia and the Pacific). He
was soon elected to the FIDE Central Committee and was Australia's delegate
to FIDE for many years and captain of our Olympiad Team in 1964, 1968 and
1970.
The Koshnitskys organised many International Tournaments in Adelaide,
starting with the Karlis Lidums International in 1971 and including the
World Junior Championship in 1988 when he was a mere 81 years of age! In
1979, when the Australian Chess Federation instituted the office of
President, Kosh was elected as the inaugural President and in 1994 both
Garry and Evelyn were presented with the "ACF Distinguished Service Award".
Garry Koshnitsky also excelled at correspondence chess, twice finishing
second in the Australian Championship and achieving the International
Master title in overseas play. He was President of the Correspondence
Chess League of Australia from 1937 to 1953.
Kosh wrote his first chess column in 1933 in the "Sydney Sun" and has
contributed numerous columns to various papers over the years, including a brief stint of over 45 years as editor of the chess column in the Sydney "Sun Herald" from 1949.
In his long life there has not been an area of Australian chess in which
Garry Koshnitsky has not made a significant contribution, whether it be
organising junior chess, women's chess, correspondence chess, national or international chess or as a champion chess player in his own right. His contribution will never be equalled.
Koshnitsky co-authored with Cecil Pursy the introductory work "Chess Made Easy", which is considered one of the best introductory books about the game ever written. First written in 1942, over 25 revised editions have been created.
Kibitzing
