Wrexham: Tributes paid to 'chess king' David Bennion

Leader Live

21-07-2025

On Friday, May 30, David Andrew Bennion sadly passed away, aged 64.
A beloved son to the late Mary and Denis, he was known to his nearest and dearest as 'the chess king', and he spent most of his life living in Ruabon, Wrexham.
David completed one-year at Keele University where he played bass and drums in an amateur punk rock band, which was honoured at his funeral by The Clash and Eddie & The Hot Rods.
A floral tribute of a Knight at David's funeral by Regent House of Flowers (July 16). (Image: UGC)
In his later life, his musical taste broadened to include popular and classic sounds from all eras. David was also interested in a wide variety of topics, including current affairs and politics, but his main passion in life was always chess.
David was a proud member of the Wrexham Chess Club in the 1980s, with the early 2000s being the best years of his career.
Graham Ives (Captain), Charles Higgie, Brian Whyte, Dave Bennion and Richard Bryant (Image: Oswestry Chess Team)
He represented his country and played in tournaments across the globe, regularly contesting the Welsh Championship, including Hensol Park 2006 where he shared fifth place.
He contested it again in Hensol in 2007 and later in Cardiff in 2009. But his greatest triumph was not in Britain, but the USA. The highest rated player he ever beat was Hungarian Grandmaster Emil Anka in June 2004 in the National Open, Las Vegas.
Friend Charles Higgie, who remembers their time playing the game together fondly, said: "His modesty was such that I only learned of these achievements after his death.
David playing chess (Image: Holmes Chapel Chess Club)
"As a chess player Dave had a very interesting style. He would frequently sacrifice material for an attack. When it came off it was most impressive.
"I used to joke with another chess player, Peter Lovatt, that Dave was the Mikhail Tal of the team and we gave up trying to predict the outcome of one of Dave's games while he was still playing."
It was when Covid struck that Dave gave up team chess. Unlike most other players, he didn't get into playing the game online, nor did he return to it once the pandemic ended.
But, more than anything, David was a much-loved family man.
His niece, Tamsin George, describes her uncle as extremely kind with a dry sense of humour.
She said: "We are very proud of our uncle, and happy that he found success in something he enjoyed.
"He managed to travel the world for chess tournaments, against the odds.
"He had a keen interest in current events, politics and so on, as well as football - he was a Wrexham supporter and used to take my grandmother to football matches, until it got a bit much for her."
David also hugely influenced her love of music, as that was another great passion of his, and would often come out with obscure trivia about a band he's seen or heard in documentaries.
Read more
Tamsin added: "He was funny, had quite a dry sense of humour and was quite stoical about things most of the time.
"He was very kind to us nieces, always asked if we were ok and liked to hear about what we had been doing."
A funeral was held for David on Wednesday, July 16.
His nieces wore a pendant in the shape of a King, and there was a beautiful floral tribute by Regent House of Flowers in the shape of a Knight to honour his love of chess.
David is survived by his sister Fiona. He was a much-loved uncle of Tamsin, Mhairi, Ailsa and Alex, and a dear great-uncle to Rohan and Eben.