Sheffield chess player competes at British Championships aged 93
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John Eddershaw, a 93-year-old chess enthusiast from Sheffield, has returned from the British Chess Championships in Coventry, where he was the tournament's oldest competitor. Taught the game by his vicar father, who died when Eddershaw was young, he has played chess continuously for over 80 years, alongside a life that included Army service during the Suez Campaign, a career representing Great Britain and Wales in race walking, and work manufacturing steel tools. His enduring dedication reflects chess's role as a lifelong source of discipline, community and enjoyment, particularly through the informal pub and working men's club leagues of South Yorkshire, where he has played for years at venues such as the Abbey Pub in Woodseats alongside Ecclesall Chess Club teammates.
At the championships, Eddershaw competed in the intermediate category with a ranking of 1,450, well below the 2,500-plus rankings of the top contenders, and modestly described himself as "just an average player." He forfeited his opening game after arriving late, but went on to win two matches and draw two more, still travelling to the tournament by public transport despite being its most senior player. Teammates and rivals alike praised his enthusiasm and longevity, with club captain Colin Reid calling him "inspiring" and noting he is "loved" across the local chess scene, a resilience Eddershaw attributes partly to the discipline instilled during his Army days.
- 93-year-old Sheffield man was oldest player at British Chess Championships
- Taught chess by his vicar father in 1941, aged eight
- Won two games, drew two, in Coventry tournament
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John Eddershaw is one of thousands of amateur and semi-professional players who take part in the British Chess Championships each year, a national tournament held in a different UK city and open to competitors across a wide range of skill levels, not just elite players. The event includes several divisions graded by ability, so club-level players compete separately from those with much higher rankings. Chess in Britain also has a strong grassroots tradition, with matches often played informally in pubs and social clubs rather than only in dedicated venues.
South Yorkshire in particular has a long-standing amateur chess scene built around local leagues, where clubs like Ecclesall Chess Club field teams that play regularly in pubs and working men's clubs. These leagues rely on committed long-term members, often playing for decades within the same small community of local enthusiasts.
Full account
A 93-year-old chess enthusiast from Sheffield has taken part in this year's British Chess Championships, held in Coventry, where he was the oldest competitor in the field. John Eddershaw, who has played the game since childhood, described chess as a fitting metaphor for existence itself, calling it both wonderful and unforgiving. He returned from the tournament having won two of his four games and drawn the remaining two, though he was forced to concede an early match after arriving late to the venue.
Eddershaw's connection to chess stretches back more than eight decades, to a summer afternoon in 1941 when his father, a vicar in Sheffield, first showed him how the pieces moved. The lesson has stayed with him precisely because of what followed: his father died only months later, leaving a gap Eddershaw has spoken of feeling ever since. He never married, has two younger brothers, and continues to live alone close to St Augustine's Church on Brocco Bank, where his father once served as vicar. Beyond chess, his life has taken in military service, a stint representing Great Britain in race walking, and a career manufacturing steel tools.
Rather than mixing with grandmasters in formal tournament settings, Eddershaw has spent most of his chess-playing years in the more informal surroundings of pubs and working men's clubs across South Yorkshire, playing down his own ability as merely average. For roughly the last decade he has been a fixture at the Abbey Pub in Woodseats, playing alongside Colin Reid, the 46-year-old captain of Ecclesall Chess Club's C-team. Their matches typically take the form of six-a-side team contests, with players ranked and paired off against opponents of similar standing; Reid jokes that the pair of them usually find themselves in the lower-ranked seats, some way off the top boards.
At the national championships, Eddershaw competed in the intermediate category, holding a grading of 1,450 against the 2,500-plus ratings of those contesting the top honours, yet still managed a solid personal showing. He remains a familiar and well-liked figure on the circuit, still making his own way to matches by public transport despite his age. Reid praised his teammate's enduring enthusiasm for the game, saying it stems purely from enjoyment rather than ambition, and noted that Eddershaw's long involvement has made him a widely recognised and respected presence across the region's clubs.
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