{"id":552,"date":"2011-08-09T12:24:20","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T10:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/szachykorespondencyjne.org.pl\/?page_id=552"},"modified":"2012-05-14T17:55:30","modified_gmt":"2012-05-14T15:55:30","slug":"in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/?page_id=552","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contents<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Hans-Werner von Massow<\/a> by Erik Larsson<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Erik Larsson<\/a> by Lahrs Grahn and by Nol van \u2019t Riet<\/em><\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Henk J. Mostert<\/a> by Alan P. Borwell<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    ==<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    <—— Contents<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Next —–><\/a><\/p>\n

    Hans-Werner von Massow<\/h2>\n

    by Erik Larsson<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>

    Hans-Werner von Massow (1912-1988) pictured almost 50 years after participating in Propaganda-turnier 1928-30<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    I cannot remember the exact date when Hans-Werner von Massow and I had our first contact or when either of us wrote the first letter. The year must have been 1935 or 1936, as this corresponds to what Hans-Werner first stated himself.<\/p>\n

    I know we met face-to-face for the first time in early August 1937 in connection with the historical IFSB Congress in the Grand Hotel Royal, Stockholm.<\/p>\n

    No chess meeting has ever been so well represented by famous chess organisers and leading players which, among others, included FIDE President, A.Rueb, and the World Chess Champion, Max Euwe. This was accomplished thanks to the efforts of the IFSB\u2019s Vice-President and General Secretary, the then 25-year-old Hans-Werner von Massow.<\/p>\n

    However, at this time, Hans-Werner had been an active organiser, chess player and journalist since he was 15 years old.<\/p>\n

    In February 1928, the ICSB (International Correspondence Schach Bund) was founded by Erich Freienhagen from Berlin, and, at the meeting on August 15th 1928, Hans-Werner became the first editor of its organ \u201cFernschach-Courier\u201d.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    In the following poem, he paid tribute to correspondence chess [next to translation in English]:<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    Nur wer alle Kraft zusammenrafft<\/em>
    \nAus kleinem etwas Grosses schafft!<\/em>
    \nNur unerm\u00fcdliches, rastloses Streben<\/em>
    \nKann unserer Arbeit den Segen geben!<\/em>
    \nEs lebe der \u201cICSB\u201d!<\/em>
    \nEs lebe die neue Bundesf\u00fchrung!<\/em>
    \nEs lebe \u2013 unser Gr\u00fcnder<\/em>
    \nHerr Erich Freienhagen<\/em><\/td>\n    		Only those who use their strength together<\/em>
    \nCreate the Great from small beginnings<\/em>
    \nOnly our tireless and restless endeavour<\/em>
    \nCan give our work its blessing!<\/em>
    \nCheers to the ICSB<\/em>
    \nCheers to the new Federation Board<\/em>
    \nCheers \u2013 to our founder,<\/em>
    \nMr. Erich Freienhagen!<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    H-W von Massow., Dresden,
    \n15 August 1928<\/td>\n    		<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    When Hans-Werner and I strolled around in Stockholm old town and the Klara quarters and ended up for dinner in the Restaurang L\u00f6wenbr\u00e4u, I told him about a Swedish proverb, \u201cM\u00e5nga b\u00e4ckar sm\u00e5 g\u00f6ra en stor \u00e5\u201d, and he was particularly delighted. I then understood that Hans-Werner, some 9 years earlier in the Fernschach-Courier, had expressed the same sentiment, i.e. \u201cMany a little makes a mickle.\u201d You learn as long as you live. Mickle or muckle is an Anglo-Saxon\/Scots word, meaning \u201cgreat.\u201d<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s a small world, but out of ICSB 1928, we have today in year 2002, an ICCF with more than 30,000 players in the ratings database.<\/p>\n

    Hans-Werner liked good food and drinking. He told me once, in strictness confidence, that he had no faith in people who were keen advocates of the Temperance Society. We both believed in \u201cvino veritas.\u201d My first meal with Hans-Werner was boiled pickled pork together with beer and Swedish schnapps. An opening ceremony Hans-Werner and I never forgot!<\/p>\n

    When we left the restaurant L\u00f6wenbr\u00e4u, I remember that, outside the Opera House, we were met by about ten persons who started a hot-tempered discussion with Hans-Werner. In Sweden, ordinary people had a bad insight about Hitler\u2019s real policy. Hitler had just started the Rhineland occupation and they considered that it was the start of similar larger undertakings.<\/p>\n

    Today, I understand that the chess friends accused Hitler for his treatment of non-aryans and dissidents.<\/p>\n

    I understood later on, that Hans-Werner tried to calm down the crowd. Himself he had kept the Jew Edwin Weiss as the IFSB Treasurer as long as he dared and as often as he could, he gave Edwin all the praise he deserved. Hans-Werner was politically a Social Democrat and a friend of Israel. The only time he threatened to resign the ICCF Presidency was when the Soviet allies at Congress wanted to decide on an exclusion of Israel from ICCF.<\/p>\n

    Another episode I remember was at a banquet in Linz. I did not sit at the top table. The mayor of the town was unable to attend and had sent a substitute. The man showed a great ignorance of ICCF and made political statements to Hans-Werner. Suddenly Hans-Werner, his wife Bertl, and the General Secretary Lukas left the table and went out, but asked us Swedes to stay and enjoy the banquet.<\/p>\n

    Hans-Werner was usually friendly and he once taught me that if I had to take my stand with a proposal, then I should always start to praise its positive aspects, before giving ones criticisms of its disadvantages.<\/p>\n

    Hans-Werner avoided filling Fernschach with polemics (controversy) and he felt differences of opinion should always be solved in a narrow circle. There was only one incident I remember between us which was serious. Hans-Werner let me discuss and negotiate with some prominent officials who did not command the German language. When once, in an undiplomatic way, I mentioned the disadvantages of having a mono-lingual President, this person wrote to Hans-Werner even more undiplomatically. I was given a serious lecture by Hans-Werner!<\/p>\n

    One episode, which intimately has always affected me, happened in Austria. Hans-Werner and I went out for a walk in the twilight. Before us on the road we found a little lost young frog. We both had the same thought that we must rescue it from the traffic, so we placed it over a fence in safety into a garden.<\/p>\n

    Afterwards, I was stupid enough to mention it in an article about the Congress and an Austrian, who was discontent with a tournament decision (which Hans-Werner and I had agreed to), used the frog event in a most unfriendly way.<\/p>\n

    Once Hans-Werner\u2019s wife Bertl answered me on my question, \u201cwhy did you not have any children?\u201d She answered that they had all the troublesome chess players as their children! She once said that Hans-Werner became nervous with children about, but I doubt it – with Svea\u2019s and mine there were always friendly relations between them and Hans-Werner.<\/p>\n

    Of course, the relations between Bertl and Hans-Werner as a married couple was a most effective one. Bertl was a Sudeten German and her handling of the German language was extremely easy to understand by non-Germans. She liked the clerical chess work and could, as a trained nurse, look after Hans-Werner\u2019s state of health.<\/p>\n

    When they lived at Ottersbekallee in Hamburg, they regularly walked as far as the Hagenbeck Zoo and back again. Hans-Werner was powerfully built, but his mobility was good with a lively temperament. I liked to play table-tennis with him as he had difficulties with my spin service and returns. One of his most beloved physical exercises was swimming. I remember he would never leave the swimming pool before me and consoled myself that the Archimedes principle favoured Hans-Werner!<\/p>\n

    Hans-Werner was a very good chess player and IFSB President Abonyi granted him the title of an Internationaler Fernschachmeister (IM today) I cannot remember whether Hans-Werner ever availed himself of this title. Like myself, we had the opinion that playing and arbiter titles should be kept apart. Hans-Werner\u2019s knowledge of CC and its rules, on the other hand, was excellent.<\/p>\n

    Once I found an article in Fernschach about some serious CC rules problems and I asked Hans-Werner who had written it – \u201cIt must be a big expert in Rules\u201d? Ashamed, I got the reply that the writer was Hans-Werner himself.<\/p>\n

    He played a lot of CC, both in ICSB and IFSB and had a faculty to produce imaginative and original positions.<\/p>\n

    Well known, are the queens:<\/p>\n

    1game<\/p>\n

    Less well known, the strongest knight?<\/p>\n

    2game<\/p>\n

    I would really like it, if some CC historian could collect games played by H-W and publish them in a booklet or a CC magazine. I am ready to give all the games I know, but most interesting, would be to know whether somebody took care of more of his games from the flat at Ottersbekalee 21, where he died on 14th August 1988, at 14.30 hrs.<\/p>\n

    With this exact point of time for Hans-Werner\u2019s death, I cannot finalise this obituary by withholding from readers the following historical game between two of the biggest pioneers of organised international CC.<\/p>\n

    It was played in Section 1 of the ICSB 1928, between its founder, Erich Freienhagen, Berlin (White), and the editor of Fernschach-Courier, Hans-Werner von Massow, Dresden (Black).<\/p>\n

    3game<\/p>\n

    Hans Werner\u2019s idol was the philosopher Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) and I have tried to show how \u201cHegelianism\u201d was found in Hans-Werner\u2019s personality – \u201cTo be and to think\u201d is the same thing !<\/p>\n

    Chessplayers never die. We can always be brought up like I was with Hans-Werner in the above game and with his commentaries. That you feel them then, as a young teenager (15), is not any worse in my opinion. If my energy and time suffice, I will play through more of Hans-Werner\u2019s games and provide commentaries, similar to those I have written here, to bring out his philosophies on life, through chess.<\/p>\n

    If you want to know more about Hans-Werner in his older days, I would recommend you study Friedrich Hegel\u2019s philosophy (\u201cSein und Denken sind ein und dasselbe\u201d) Hans-Werner was indeed a \u201chegelianist\u201d!<\/p>\n

    ==<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    <—— Previous<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Next —–><\/a><\/p>\n

    Erik Larsson<\/h2>\n

    by Lahrs Grahn<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>

    Erik Larsson (1915-2009)<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The history of modern day international correspondence chess is to a great extent connected with Erik Larsson.<\/p>\n

    It all began in the 1920s, in the tiny village of Asmundtorp in the south of Sweden, when Erik\u2019s father taught his schoolboy son the basic rules of chess. Erik and chess did not exactly catch on like a house on fire, at least not straight away. He was much more into football, tennis and table tennis, and did not score any great wins at the chessboard.<\/p>\n

    However, in the spring of 1931 he had a glimpse of the highest echelons of chess when Yefim Bogoljubov came to the nearby town of Landskrona (Erik was born there in 1915) for a simultaneous exhibition. Bogoljubov was one of the world\u2019s leading players at the time; he had lost a match against Alexander Alekhine for the World Championship only two years previously.<\/p>\n

    Erik grabbed the opportunity to play the World Championship contender. In a Four Knights\u2019 Game Erik weakened his kingside by accepting a doubled pawn, something that Bogoljubov punished mercilessly with a mating attack. The adventure was over in a mere 22 moves, but most likely it contributed to Erik\u2019s growing fascination with chess<\/p>\n

    The following year he therefore decided to get a subscription for a chess magazine. Choosing between Tidskrift f\u00f6r Schack and Schackv\u00e4rlden (\u201cChess World\u201d), he went for the latter.<\/p>\n

    Very few national correspondence chess federations existed at the time, and the organisation of correspondence chess events was very much down to chess periodicals and weeklies.<\/p>\n

    In 1932, Erik took part in one of Schackv\u00e4rlden\u2019s Nordic CC events. Finishing in 2nd place made him realise that his forte lay in this field rather than in over-the-board chess. This was to spell the beginning of a life-long love affair.<\/p>\n

    Between 1934 and 1965 Erik lived in Stockholm. Erik refers to this part of his life as his \u201cmiddle game\u201d. Being on his own in the capital, chess brought him great pleasure. Apart from over-the-board chess, he played lower-division amateur league football. However, the greater part of his spare time was devoted to international CC tournaments.<\/p>\n

    In conjunction with the Chess Olympiad in Stockholm 1937, an IFSB congress was convened. This is a memorable year, both for Erik Larsson and the international CC community.<\/p>\n

    Showing me the group photograph from the congress, Erik recalls: \u201cI\u2019m standing immediately behind Istvan Abonyi, President, and Hans-Werner von Massow, General Secretary of the IFSB, proud and happy to have been elected head of the World Tournament Office of the international federation at the early age of 22, despite having no international tournament directing experience.<\/p>\n

    My qualifications for the job consisted of having played in various tournaments of Schackv\u00e4rlden, the IFSB and the BCCA for five years, and a knowledge of German, English, French, Esperanto and the Nordic languages. I know now that I made a good impression on the 24-year-old General Secretary. We spent many happy hours in the idyllic atmosphere of Stockholm.\u201d<\/p>\n

    At the time, the young von Massow had already been involved in the Fernschach magazine for nine years, i.e. for as long as the IFSB had been in existence. As time went by a deep friendship developed between him and Erik. Erik was considering changing his surname, but von Massow was the one who dissuaded him: \u201cWarum denn? Erik Larsson, das klinget so sch\u00f6n.\u201d (\u201cBut why? Erik Larsson\u2019s got such a nice ring to it\u201d). Together they came up with ICCF\u2019s motto, Amici Sumus.<\/p>\n

    At the 1937 Congress, a proposal was put up for discussion, to arrange a first individual World correspondence chess championship. Alexander Alekhine had given the motion his approval, which, in all likelihood, ensured its success. Since France did not take part in the Olympiad, Alekhine was unable to attend the congress in person. The congress passed a resolution to stage a World Championship tournament, but the war intervened.<\/p>\n

    The international correspondence chess community went into hibernation during the Second World War. At the end of the war, Erik Larsson was the only old IFSB official prepared to set about the task of reviving international correspondence chess. He founded the ICCA and appointed a presidium. As President of the new organisation Erik wanted to engage the services of Robert Robinson of the BCCA, but he was occupied with the research project which was to render him the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1947. The post was instead offered to and accepted by the editor of Chess, B.H. Wood.<\/p>\n

    Erik was able to pass on the experience gained by the IFSB between 1929 and 1939. During the war he had functioned as an official with the SKS and the SSKK in Sweden. Among other things he staged a team tournament between the Swedish administrative provinces (these are roughly equivalent in function to British counties). Each team consisted of six players and this format was to serve as a model for the World Team Championship, the first tournament organised by the ICCA. Erik also issued a stencilled newsletter, Monthly Resum\u00e9, which in 1947 turned into a more extensive periodical by the name of Mail Chess, a development opposed by B.H. Wood and half the presidium. Mail Chess was published until 1951, the last few years by the Yugoslav Chess Federation.<\/p>\n

    Erik Larsson was the chief architect behind the development of the ICCF tournament system. When he retired from his post as ICCF Tournament Director in 1987, he had been active in this field for 50 years, almost without interruption. He was a keen advocate of new ideas and his pioneering spirit never waned. Furthermore, and in contrast to many officials and organisers, he has remained an active CC player all his life.<\/p>\n

    Naturally, Erik has many fond memories from his six decades as a CC enthusiast. One memorable instance occurred when Miss Yoko of Japan entered a Thematic tournament. Erik said his pioneer heart started beating faster, not only because she was a woman, but also because she came from a country where correspondence chess was something of a rarity. After having exchanged several beautiful picture postcards and small gifts, she then participated in several tournaments.<\/p>\n

    Somehow they lost touch with each other, but a few years later, when Erik received the start list for a Thematic tournament he himself was participating in, he noticed Miss Yoko\u2019s name on the list. Their interrupted correspondence was resumed, and now she was able to tell him about the joy that correspondence chess had brought her:<\/p>\n

    \u201cI feel so lucky and glory to play with you in the ICCF. I nearly jumped through the ceiling when I found your name in the start list, because it has for many years been my dream to play with you. I shall always try to be worthy of your great kindness to enter me in so many sections. The correspondence chess is my only hobby. Now that I have many good chess friends through you and ICCF I am completely overjoyed. Especially I love the ICCF Cup because we can play with all kinds of players regardless of their ability\u201d.<\/p>\n

    We are all greatly indebted to Erik Larsson for the important part he played in the development of international correspondence chess, into a sport knowing no boundaries and being a tremendous source of joy.<\/p>\n

    3x games<\/p>\n

    ===<\/p>\n

    Erik Larsson 1915 \u2013 2009<\/h2>\n

    by Nol van \u2019t Riet<\/em><\/p>\n

    On Saturday the 14th of February the last of the grand old men, although he was rather small, who were present at the foundation of ICCF in 1951, died in Sweden: Erik Jakob Larsson. His age was 93.<\/p>\n

    Many of us learned the game from our father. And Erik too, although his father thought that at the beginning of the game two pawn were allowed to go forward. But the game could not engage him so much. He preferred soccer, tennis and table tennis. But in Landskrona (where he was born on the 20th of May 1915) he participated in 1931 in a simultaneous display given by Bogoljubov. He lost the game in 22 moves, but this was the start of his fascination for the game of chess. He subscribed on the magazine Schackv\u00e4rlden and then he discovered that you also could play correspondence chess. At that time chess magazines often organized their own tournaments.<\/p>\n

    In 1934 Erik moved to Stockholm where he has worked for a big Swedish export company, before he \u2013 later-on \u2013 returned to the neighbourhood of Landskrona. And there, in Stockholm, during the OTB Olympiad of 1937, a Congress was held of the IFSB, the predecessor of ICCF, founded in 1928. Also present in Stockholm was Aljechin, who approved the plan to come to a seperated World Championship for correspondence chess players. It was also on this congress that Erik (22 years old!) was appointed as the leader of the World Tournament Office. Actually he held this position until 1987, when his successor Ragnar Wikman from Finland was elected at the ICCF Congress in Bloemendaal.<\/p>\n

    For fifty years Erik has been working on the growth and the development of international correspondence chess. The highlights were the World Championships and the Olympiads. But he also loved the promotional tournaments. They are very special as in those tournaments the stronger and the less stronger players can play internationally. There is no other sport where this is possible. Erik also was a convinced Esperantist. Together with the other grand old man of international correspondence chess, his friend Hans-Werner von Massow, who died in 1988, Erik belonged to the idealists who tried to use our game for the purpose of achieving more understanding between the people and the nations.<\/p>\n

    After the Second World War IFSB no longer existed. Erik then founded ICCA, which did not last for long due to quarrels and financial problems. This period ended in 1951 when ICCF was founded in London. In the meantime Erik had succeeded in the implementation of the numerical notation of the moves. ICCF got the structure which we still have nowadays: members are the national federations, each with one vote.<\/p>\n

    I met Erik for the first time at the 1980 ICCF Congress in Linz (Austria) where I was appointed as chairman of the Working Party Rating System. A job which \u201ckept me from the street\u201d until 1987. I immediately \u201cfell in love\u201d with Erik. Always friendly, always in good humour, working on his only goal: reform the world into a club of friends: Amici Sumus. The last Congress he visited was 1991 J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4.<\/p>\n

    Erik was always accompanied by his wife Svea. She always had a kind of a poetry album with her in which all Congress visitors constantly had to write something. For me one of the highlights were the moments when we were having the opening and\/or the closing banquets and Erik asked me to fill his glass of wine one more time, and one more time, and one more time. His doctor had instructed not to drink more than one glass a day. It was my task at those moments to pay attention that Svea should not catch him. But it never became a problem as Svea was much too busy with her poetry album. In the meantime Erik and I made a lot of fun. Because that\u2019s what he also could be: funny and naughty.<\/p>\n

    Erik kept playing correspondence chess until he died. At that moment he only played one game as his daughter Birgit wrote me, a game with his great-grandchild of ten years old. His last international tournament has been postal group 2 of the Open H. J. Mostert Memorial. When he started this tournament he asked me as tournament director to consider him a bit as on his age always something could happen. Unfortunately I had to answer him that in such cases I only could apply the rules. Of course Erik could respect and appreciate that point of view.<\/p>\n

    Founding ICCA in 1946 Erik wrote: \u201conce again in this century a terrible war has come to its end. Our hope is that shall have an ever lasting peace.\u201d May Erik rest in that peace.<\/p>\n

    ===<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    <—— Previous<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Contents —–><\/a><\/p>\n

    Henk J. Mostert<\/h2>\n

    by Alan P. Borwell<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>

    Henk J. Mostert (1925-2002)<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    This has been a sad year with the loss of so many dedicated friends of ICCF, none more so than ICCF Honorary President, Mr. H. J. Mostert who died peacefully on 29th July 2002, in Haarlem, Netherlands.<\/p>\n

    Henk Mostert was born on 24th January 1925, in Rotterdam, and was fascinated by chess from an early age. His first reported success was when he won an OTB tournament in Eindhoven, aged 17, but he was already playing correspondence chess even at that time with the KNSB, the Royal Dutch Chess Federation.<\/p>\n

    After the War, he played in both national and international tournaments and, in 1946, he was participating on the 4th board for the Netherlands II team in the first CC Olympiad Final. Although scoring only 2\u00bd\/6 pts, he contributed half of the total score of his team!<\/p>\n

    There was a period in the early 1950s when he must surely have been otherwise occupied (maybe family and business matters!), but he next appeared as a member of the new European CC Committee and began playing in the European Master Class groups. At that time, he was living in Alkmaar and was an important official of the local town chess club. He was TD of the European M-class events for 10 years and he played again in the 5th CC Olympiad. His last participation, as a regular CC player, was in the KNSB Championship in 1965\/6, having moved to Haarlem.<\/p>\n

    He became involved with a group of enthusiasts, which led to the creation of the NBC, the Dutch Correspondence Chess Federation. The first NBC board in 1966, was comprised of Perfors, Zaagman, Smit, Sarink and Mostert<\/p>\n

    He discontinued playing and put his energy into developing NBC \u2013 and in 10 years, there were 1000 members and another 500 after a further 10 yrs.!<\/p>\n

    In 1966, Henk Mostert became the NBC\u2019s delegate to ICCF and he began participating in its Congresses from 1967 in Krems. In that year, he was elected as one of the ICCF Vice Presidents, a position which he retained for 16 years, before gaining further promotion! He was the organiser of the first Ladies CC Olympiad starting in 1968. In 1971, he became TD of European Championships. During the next 10 years he was a very influential official of ICCF.<\/p>\n

    My first contact with Henk was at the ICCF Congress in London in 1981, when George Livie and I had meetings with H-W von Massow, Reg Gillman and Dr. Charles Hunter, about issues concerning the membership of countries in Great Britain. I soon realised Henk was a very influential figure, with great skills of debating and logical argument.<\/p>\n

    Over the next years, we became close friends, and spent many happy hours preparing the English versions of Congress Minutes etc. At the Peebles Congress, I remember working with his son Nick on the English version, whilst Herr von Massow and Henk prepared the German edition. Henk had a remarkable ability with words in many languages and it was invaluable for him and ICCF.<\/p>\n

    In the latter part of the 1980s, Henk and his wife Jopie visited us in our home and Moira and I were their guests in Haarlem. We enjoyed many hours of friendship in the late evenings of most Congresses, sharing a bottle of \u201cscotch\u201d or the Dutch equivalent of \u201cgenever\u201d!<\/p>\n

    Jopie Mostert was a talented and artistic person \u2013 a good pianist and painter \u2013 we still have a painting, which she and Henk presented to us on one of their visits to Scotland. Some of us will remember her piano playing in Blomendaal in 1987 (along with David Heap (USA) who sadly died a few years ago).<\/p>\n

    We had a particularly happy time during the Bloemendaal Congress, at which Henk Mostert became the ICCF President in succession to H-W von Massow on his retirement in 1987.<\/p>\n

    Henk had been \u201cgroomed\u201d for many years to succeed Hans-Werner but he was \u201chis own man\u201d and was a strong leader. There was to be no indication of the tragedy, which was to happen only a couple or so years later, with the sudden death of Jopie. She had been of great help and strength to Henk in his ICCF work – he was completely devastated.<\/p>\n

    Happily, he eventually met a new lady friend through his interest in bridge. He and Janny Tibboel came to visit us in Scotland, before she accompanied Henk to her first ICCF Congress in Finland in 1991. They travelled together regularly and Janny gave considerable support and happiness to Henk in his latter years.<\/p>\n

    During the 1990\u2019s, Henk and I were very much involved in the planning and arrangements at ICCF Congresses, including menus for Banquets \u2013 I knew what he really liked, and did not like!<\/p>\n

    In 1992, we worked closely in designing new ICCF Statutes, along with members of the Presidents Commission, and we presented proposals to the 1993 Congress in Gdansk. There was a most unusual Closing Banquet and we had to use considerable persuasion to get Henk to even come \u2013it was held in a forest, in the rain! He was traditional and rather fixed in his ideas about some things!<\/p>\n

    Henk was very particular about all Congress arrangements and he planned everything in the finest detail to ensure it progressed in an orderly and businesslike fashion. He was very well prepared for the unexpected and, as in earlier times, he sought to achieve unanimity. He also established good relationships with his closest colleagues, and these included Ing Paul Diaconescu and then Dr. Fritz Baumbach, as ICCF General Secretaries.<\/p>\n

    In 1994, Scotland hosted its second Congress in Perth. These were the early days of transition to other methods of playing CC. Henk, despite having some misgivings about the impact of the new technologies on correspondence chess, had been very instrumental in initiating experimental fax tournaments and he secured an excellent sponsorship, which included provision of fax machines, and also good prizes for the two tournaments.<\/p>\n

    He made a rare appearance in the ICCF versus Scotland match and had a really enjoyable game and much hilarity, with my very good friend, Ian Mitchell.<\/p>\n

    Of course, there were times when our relationship was tested, particularly in the latter years of his Presidency, but our friendship endured and we were able to communicate frankly with each other.<\/p>\n

    He was unsure about whether or not he should stand for re-election again in Norway in 1995 (being then 70 years old) but, eventually, he decided to do so and was re-elected unanimously.<\/p>\n

    However, at the opening of the Bad Neuenahr Congress in August 1996, he announced his intention to retire from the end of that year. Although he was petitioned to continue, he confirmed this intention. He was then elected as ICCF Honorary President, in recognition of his immense services to ICCF and the award was unanimously and warmly acclaimed.<\/p>\n

    Sadly, later in the same year, he suffered a crippling stroke and was to be confined to a nursing home for the rest of his life. I tried to visit him each year (sometimes with Moira), when we talked about our old times – his memory was excellent. When I visited him last November, he was rather cheerful and we enjoyed a glass of wine together \u2013 he seemed to be more at ease, despite his very limiting circumstances.<\/p>\n

    At Henk\u2019s funeral, Janny Tibboel and the Mostert family appreciated that ICCF was represented, and the day was a fittingly dignified occasion for such a fine gentleman. GM Hans Bouwmeister spoke very sincerely about the enormous contribution which Mr. H. J.Mostert had made to Dutch and International CC.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Here is a nice game played by Henk, in an ICCF tournament in 1965<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Saether,L – Mostert,H<\/p>\n

    [C02]<\/p>\n

    EU\/M\/GT19, 1965<\/p>\n

    [Mostert]<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    ==<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Contents Hans-Werner von Massow by Erik Larsson Erik Larsson by Lahrs Grahn and by Nol van \u2019t Riet Henk J. Mostert by Alan P. Borwell <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    ==<\/p>\n

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