09/24/2026
Our dear friend James was a gift to the Temecula Chess Club and everyone who knew him. He was an unmistakably warm and open person who always added a sense of relaxed comfort and humor to any room he entered. He was always kind and welcoming to new players, as well as familiar and connected with regulars. He was as exemplary as a competitor as a competitor can be. He won and lost with grace and humility. He played with his full heart and mind, and loved the game in a pure way. He was a USCF National Master, and played with considerable skill in his late 60's and throughout his 70's, when he was a cornerstone member of TCC since it's beginnings pre 2015, when we landed our current location. He was a rock of consistency and fully devoted to chess, while simultaneously being open minded and eager to chat on many other subjects of life he lovingly observed, like philosophy and science.
Speaking for myself, I miss my friend, and I wish that he was still here. Seeing him walk through the door as I was pairing rounds on Tuesday nights was always pleasing and reassuring. I would always think "James is here, that's good. Let's see what his shirt says this time". An irony of him was that although he was unassuming and modest, he would wear t-shirts with loud, and often obnoxious messages and pictures on them, like "brains are great, I wish everyone had one" or "if you're happy and you know it.." with a frustrated Tyrannosaurus on it. We would joke and go on about whether he was just expressing himself or using it as a deliberate psychological tactic. He would glowingly relay his perfect 2-0-0 score against Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, and then pause, give a humble wink and grin, and confess that both games were when Hikaru was only 8 years old.
My last interaction with him was very tender. It was in one of the final rounds of the July tournament. He beat me in a game and insisted that it was just luck, and I insisted that it wasn't. We kibitzed a bit, and found the key points of the game. When we finished, he said "thank you for making the old man happy tonight". I told him that he won a stake of the 2nd place prize money, but the cash drawer had been cleared out in a deposit and I would pay him next week. We owed him fifty bucks. He said not to worry about it and that he would take a break in August for a trip or something and then be back in September to play again. He passed on August 27th.
-P.G.
