Josef Tarnawski 90th birthday celebration – 22 July 2017

 

Four members past and present of The Gap Chess Club had the honour of attending the celebration of Josef Tarnawski’s
90th birthday at the Ashgrove Golf Club: Mark Winn, Phillip Kirkman, Brian Willcock and Andrew Robinson.

 

Josef, known at the club as Joe, was instrumental in the early days of our club in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

 

When he joined the club, Joe already had a strong chess pedigree which included a win over the Soviet Grandmaster
and Moscow City Champion Alexander Kotov in 1963 in a simul.

 

Perhaps Joe’s greatest chess triumph was his triple crown of Queensland Lightning Championship in 1971, 1972 and 1973,
which allowed him to keep the Frank Pugh Trophy awarded at the time for this competition by the CAQ.

 

Joe had a busy career in property development and only returned to our chess club in 1989. He was then a club regular between

1992 and 1998, a period he dominated over the chessboard with an awesome reputation for both skilful play and fairness.

 

Joe’s record at our club is covered in other areas of this website, but it was the great spirit and enthusiasm in which he played
the game which is remembered by those who played at the club in the 1990s.

 

It was brilliant to hear Joe relate to us how he beat Kotov, the game coming alive as he spoke. And how he continues to love the

game of chess

 

Happy Birthday Joe!!

 

 

[Index of news items]

[The Gap Chess Club homepage]