Hilton Petrie Bennett RIP

I’ve been asked to write a few words for our website, as a memorial to Hilton. I don’t know where to start. I haven’t known him all that long; I only met him when I joined the chess community in New Zealand in 2007. And yet I feel like I have known him all my life. Everywhere you go in New Zealand chess, in every corner of our chess community, Hilton is (dammit, was) hugely respected, and beloved. He was always the guy who people turned to for advice, and he always did everything he could to help out. He shared his love of ancient chess literature with his fellow aficionados; his love of chess books in general with everyone. He was passionate about chess improvement and supported many projects to bring top class trainers and seminars to New Zealand. He organised, or helped to organise, or helped to run, many, many tournaments. Above all, he was a wildly enthusiastic player, with a flair for ferocious attacks, and boundless enthusiasm for the post mortem.

Post mortem. Indeed that is what this is. It is so hard to understand how a man who was enjoying chess and life to the full only a handful of days ago is now gone. Many will remember him as an entertainer – extremely witty, erudite, kind and compassionate, and full of empathy. He talked of his travels around the world (exotic chess locations a speciality). He was a connoisseur of food and drink, and a pretty good cook too. The home that he shared with his wife Robin is full of memorabilia from around the world – as well as chess books, of course! He knew every inch of New Zealand and I recall that no matter where I said I was going, he would advise me where to find second-hand bookshops in that location.

I have no doubt that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of chess players around the world, who have met him at Asian Teams or World Seniors or the Olympiad or…well, the list is long…will be reading about his death with shock, and great sadness. He made friends everywhere he went – to talk to him was to make a new lifelong friend. We are all going to miss him so very much. I wish he had made the FM title at his last tournament, the Asian Seniors. He came so close, losing out only on tiebreak. Above all, I wish he had had the opportunity to try again next year.

Helen Milligan