Edward Lee Hutchens

At the 2003 State Championship, a gentleman from Arkansas asked, “Are you the Chuck Unruh from Dayton, Ohio?”. After thirty some odd years and adventures, I hardly recognized him. Although he had aged, one minute of his soft spoken, encouraging and reminiscing speech told me it was the Ed Hutchens of the Dayton Chess Club from a time when I was in my teens. I consider myself blessed and lucky to have been befriended by the likes of these wonderful adult role models during my first quest for the title of National Chess Master. I thank each and every one of them for their guidance and help. In all the chess lessons and games of the early years, Ed Hutchens taught the spirit of giving from the heart and asking nothing in return but enduring friendship. His dedication to chess and these principals lasted a lifetime. Over the last year, Ed attended several Oklahoma Chess events and consistent as always lent an ear and kind word to Destiny Sawyer and many of our junior players. His sincere words, advice and actions made Ed Hutchens a friend to all of us. On July 27^th , returning from the last round of the State Tournament, Ed suffered a heart attack and could not be revived. .His wife, Peggy found this game in Ed’s files from a time long ago.

Hutchens, Ed - Unruh,CD [C25]

January .1971, Modern Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Bc4 Bg7 4.d3 d6 5.Nge2 White stands better with the normal 6.0–0 Na5 7.Bb3 Nxb3 8.axb3 Nf6 9.f4 0–0 10. fxe5 dxe5 11.Bg5 += 5...Nc6 6.h4 Be6 7.Bg5 Qd7= 8.Nd5 h6 9.Be3 Na5 10.Bd2 Nxc4 11.dxc4 c6 12.Ne3 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.f4 e4!? Black should Castle and maintain an advantage. 15.Bc3 Bxc3+ 15....N-f6 16.Nxc3 Nf6 17.b3 d5= 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Qd4 Kf7 20.0–0–0 Rhd8 21.Rhf1 Rac8 22.g4 Rxc3? Making something happen, even if its a bad exchange trade. 23.Qxc3 d4 24.Qb4 Nd5 25.Nxd5 Qxd5 26.gxf5 Bxf5 27.Qc4 Ed gives back the overwhelming advantage in this Queen trade. 27...Qxc4 28.bxc4 Kf6 29.Rg1 Be6 30.c5 Bxa2 31.Rge1 Kf5 32.Kb2 Bf7 33.Rd2 e3 34.Rd3 Ke4 35.f5 Bc4 36.Rexe3+ dxe3 37.Rxd8 e2 38.Re8+ Kxf5 King moves toward the e pawn fail to 39.Kc3! 39.Kc1 Kg4 40.Kd2 Bd5 41.h5 Bf3 42.Re3 Kf4 An historic time in the life of a junior player encouraged by a younger Mr. Hutchens. Ed was 33 years old at the time. ½–½ .

We could all take a lesson from Ed’s chess legacy , and certainly, more scholastic and junior players would find the adult tournaments a kinder, gentler experience. Thank you Ed, we will all miss you!