RIP: FM Kevin Gentes

Canada has lost an interesting chess star, FM Kevin Gentes. He was the best player in Manitoba from the 1980s on. I remember him because we were juniors at the same time; he was a master, I was a fresh immigrant to Canada. My family arrived on the prairies in 1980.

Once, Kevin stopped by Saskatoon before heading to a big tournament in Edmonton. The top player in Saskatchewan, Robert Sasata, arranged a match for us. Easy rating points for Kevin, right? Wrong! I actually held him over two games.

Sadly, Kevin never submitted the match form to the Chess Federation of Canada. That's because he was a wild spirit. I had no idea Kevin was a well-known Winnipeg delinquent. With more discipline, he could have been an IM.

RIP.


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