 It is with much sadness we have to report the death of Harry Schofield, who recently passed at the age of 91 from pneumonia.
Harry left School at 14 and began working at Staveley Iron Works as a turner. He was fortunate to gain an engineering apprenticeship with the National Coal Board, subsequently qualifying as an engineer based at Duckmanton. He became active in the National Union of Mineworkers and rose to be appointed to Branch Secretary, a post previously held by Eric Varley, later Lord Varley}. He attended Sheffield University where he studied Economics, and was offered a place at Worcester College Oxford, which he was obliged to turn down because of family commitments. He was a member of St John`s Ambulance Brigade for most of his life and when he was ill, he could quote the first aid manual to the nurses in the hospital which looked after him. Harry was a fundraiser for the Thalidomide Society for many years. He loved his music and was an accomplished drummer and singer. He was passionate about poetry and even wrote some himself. Harry loved his chess. He was both a member of Clay Cross Chess Club and Chesterfield Chess Club. Even when he could not attend he paid his annual subscription to the club. He spent most of his time coaching our new members and this made him very popular in the club. His favourite chess opening was the semi-slav defence in the Queen`s gambit opening. He knew every variation up to twelve moves ! On one occasion, Harry arrived late at the club. There was an `A` Team match in progress with a player short on board two, Harry agreed to play rather than see the board lost by default. When the game reached move eleven, Harry`s opponent, who was graded 2120, unexpectedly offered Harry a draw, Harry who was graded 1360 at the time could not believe his luck and accepted the offer without hesitation, The drawn game helped Chesterfield `A` win the match. After the match we asked his opponent "why did you offer a draw on the eleventh move?" He explained that the standard of the opening play and the position that was reached on the eleventh move favoured Harry. He did not recognise Harry as a `B` team player. He had assumed Harry was one of our top players because of the quality of his opening play. At heart Harry was a family man. At his funeral it was apparent how grateful his two sons were for the support that their father had given them throughout their lives. Harry was particularly proud of his grandchildren, all of whom had graduated from university.
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