Nathan Goldberg

I am sad to report the death of Nathan Goldberg who passed away suddenly in his home city of Glasgow at the weekend.

Nathan was a keen amateur chess player and entrepreneur. He was at one time the youngest recorded editor of a British daily newspaper when he edited the Scottish Daily News and used his journalistic skills to launch Chess Express which was very popular at the time. He used to tell stories of calls in the early hours from an excited Kasparov who had just played an interesting endgame!

At Horsham Chess Club Nathan was the driving force behind re-establishing our junior section back in the early part of the last decade. Without his enthusiasm and energy this would not have been the success it has remained ever since. He was Club Development Officer and true to his style was always coming up with ideas and schemes to keep the club fresh and relevant, an approach that would be taken forward by other club members and pushed us towards winning ECF Club of the Year in 2010.

I will remember Nathan for some moments in particular - his broad smile on letting GM Chris Ward sneak away with a draw at a simultaneous display held at the club in 2007, no rancour at missing the win, just a love of chess-playing. When he left for Glasgow around 2011 he gifted me his large display board for teaching the next generations of Horsham juniors which I have used ever since. I was planning to replace it - now, for a while at least, I won't.