OCEANIA.- A Dedication to my Brother (by Alex Saint)

AUSTRALIA - Abril 2013

“What a tragedy. All would agree this was such a horrible end to a short life but what a life it was. Andrew lived life to the full - never wasting a moment. Andrew has no enemies. He was such a powerful force of good. Andrew I thank you most for your love, your character and your enthusiasm for life. Dad and I wish to thank the Australian Chess Community, and more recently to the Melbourne Chess Club, for such wonderful tributes to Andrew. He obviously made a big impact on many people.

I would like to write some things about Andrew - my brother and best friend:

If you want to really understand my dear brother you need to look back a decade ago when the Australian Chess Championships came to Adelaide. This was his finest hour. Andrew, the Wedding family and I were already involved in the University Open tournaments. After a few years, we made a bid for and were able to hold, with SACA, the Australian Chess Championships in Adelaide at the end of 2003 and start of 2004. We were all looking forward to this event, none more than Andrew. Others may look forward to going to an AFL grand final live watching their team, well this event was his grand final. As many know, Andrew loved to organise, he loved chess, and he loved to help people - and these three things came together in 2003. Robin Wedding and I were there as willing helpers but Andrew was the leading force. He was the driver, we were in the back seat. Without him, the event would not go down in many peoples eyes as one of the most memorable tournaments as stated by people including Grandmaster Ian Rogers.

It was Andrew who organised the most extravagant snack bar in the history of Australian chess!! He joked with me that we needed to 'go gourmet'. Well we certainly did! Most chess events supply foam cups, a big tin of Blend 43 coffee and a packet of out-of-date dry Arnotts biscuits. Well Andrew would have none of that. He arranged different coffee blends, herbal teas, fancy cordials, chocolate biscuits, a cheese platter, pate, dips, fruit, everything. I remember many people seeing it and saying, "wow". Andrew paid for stuff like the snack bar out of his own pocket - a lot of money for a uni student. He didn't want SACA to have to pay for that, which I think was a good thing for SACA! Why did he do it I hear you ask? He did it so you, the chess public could have a great time. The tournament was so well organised. Behind closed doors was someone who was living that tournament 100% from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep for 14 days. It always brought a smile to his face to see so many people enjoying the tournament. This event wasn't an attempt to puff up Andrew's pride or stroke his ego. Andrew humbly and quietly sought to please all. Andrew even said, "we need to go to a special newsagent which has all the interstate newspapers". He thought it would be a nice thing to do for all the interstate players.”

Fuente: Australian Chess Federation